The good news isn’t just about the return of a popular West Bromwich Albion manager; it’s about the return to health of a great man.
Tony Mowbray checking back into The Hawthorns after nearly 16 years is as good a news story as you can get, regardless of all else.
It is nearly 12 months since Mowbray’s life was derailed with a diagnosis of the most intrusive and difficult of illnesses, forcing him to eventually leave his role as manager of Birmingham City.
Who’d have thought that he’d be kicking off 2025, not only with the all-clear, but back at the club where he has, to date, enjoyed his best time as manager?
If there are younger people reading this – I class anyone in their late 20s as being part of this category, by the way - then you might be wondering what all the fuss is all about.
I can’t remember the exact date, or the game, but I remember Mowbray was pretty perplexed.
It was during Copa America 2007. Albion were on their pre-season tour of Slovenia. Argentina were about to take to the pitch - I do remember that - and it was about midnight local time. Not one Albion player felt the want to watch the match. That, or they were knackered.
Mowbray joined the Baggies coaches, backroom staff, and media in the bar at the Murska Sobota-based hotel ahead of this particular late-night football match.
There he was, ready for a football match involving one of the heavyweights of football, and none of Mowbray's players were there to be seen.
The Albion boss duly summoned the players down to the bar – ‘watch and learn’ was the instruction. One-by-one they filed down, some bleary-eyed, some wondering what the hell was going on.
While the footballers struggled to stay awake during the match, Mowbray sat utterly spellbound, transfixed, watching Riquelme, Crespo, Tevez and some youngster called Lionel Messi freewheel their way to a victory against somebody or other.
He barely spoke. It was like watching the news as a kid with your parents - you daren't speak for fear of being told to be quiet.
And that is Tony Mowbray. Consumed and invested in football, especially good football. And he expects the same from everyone around him.
Some months later, during a random moment and apropos of absolutely nothing, Mowbray sat in his office before a press briefing, rocked back on his chair, threw open his arms, and declared: ‘Football, football, football!’
To this day, I have no idea what prompted that outburst.
Thing is, Tony mainlines football, drop by drop. And when it comes to aesthetics, he is a sentimentalist, a romantic, someone who takes pride in how his sides look to the outside.
Football is an emotional investment for him, not just a way of earning a living.
There are Albion fans born in the 2000s who may not grasp the enormity of his first reign as Baggies boss - more so, why he is so revered.
Sure, Gary Megson brought a team into the Premier League. Without him all that followed for the next two decades would not have been possible. Roy Hodgson brought gravitas and provided growth. Steve Clarke achieved a best-ever finish in what is now the post-1992 rebranded top flight.
But Mowbray brought an identity back to Black Country football.
On the day he was last unveiled, he promised to recreate the playing style of the late 1970s’ side. He name-checked Cyrille Regis, he purred about Laurie Cunningham, he saluted Tony Brown, he spoke of his admiration for Bryan Robson – the very man he had just succeeded as manager.
My God, he’d only been there five minutes, but he completely got it.
Yet, it wasn’t all beer and skittles to start with.
One local media organisation took their videographer to West Bromwich town centre to ask what supporters thought of Albion’s decision to replace Robson with Tony Mowbray in 2006. “Tony who?” was the general gist.
His arrival was a surprise.
Alex McLeish was interviewed, as was Cardiff manager Dave Jones, who rejected it. Thank God. Gordon Strachan was also considered. Steve Cotterill, Steve Round and Micky Adams were all involved in the process.
And then came a call from north of the border. The well-networked Albion director Jeff Farmer spoke to a confidant who was firmly of the view that the job was ideal for Hibernian boss Mowbray and his assistant Mark Venus.
Hibs had challenged Celtic and Rangers - not to the point of winning trophies perhaps, or even creating a de facto ‘New Firm’ - but enough to create an impression. And they were doing so playing a sweeping, attacking style of football, with promising schemers Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson bringing rhythm to a midfield that fed the talented forward Derek Riordan. (All three were pursued by Mowbray during his time at The Hawthorns, without success.)
It was Mowbray’s willingness to embrace Albion’s then new management structure – he would work with a sporting and technical director eventually (first Simon Hunt, then Dan Ashworth) – that prompted Jeremy Peace to take the gamble.
Albion got to the Play-Off Final that season, in 2007, losing to Derby.
Highlights during that campaign included a seven-goal haul against Barnsley, several wins against Wolves, and a form of footballing wizardry that had Albion supporters rubbing their eyes, and opposition fans envious as hell. But Albion’s new-found attacking ability was at the expense of a defence that, frankly, didn’t always defend very well.
More so, Mowbray and his trusted No2 Mark Venus were having problems behind the scenes, inheriting a Robson squad that was rich with ability, but subordinate at times.
For starters, there were a few players who lived some 80+ miles from the West Midlands and couldn’t wait to leave training every day. Their card was marked; that wouldn’t be continuing. One player was asked to go on as a substitute during a match, and duly flicked his boots off in a gesture of petulance. There was another who read a newspaper report that a rival for his position was a major doubt for the forthcoming game. “He better be fit, because I won’t be playing,” remarked the rebellious journeyman to everyone and anyone who could hear him.
I recall one staff member witnessing certain Albion players scoffing at the delipidated Roots Hall stadium as they alighted from the team coach at Southend - as if they were too good for such a New Year’s Day fixture. Albion lost 3-1. It could have been 6-1.
And then, just to top it off, two players expressed a desire to leave just a few days before the Championship Play-Off Final against Derby. It was that kind of dressing room.
From the outside it looked as if Mowbray had inherited the most talented side in the division. That might well have been true, but it was a squad sprinkled with faction, entitlement and some who had coasted on the easy bus for too long and simply weren't buying into the high demands imposed by Mowbray, nor his assistant Mark Venus.
Win or lose at Wembley, Mowbray intended to make massive changes. That team was going to be dismantled, regardless of the result.
Mowbray said at the time: “If we go up, fantastic, but our problems still don’t change, and they will need to be addressed. There will be decisions which people outside may not understand but I will give them an inkling as to why I’m getting rid of someone they might perceive to be one of our best players.”
Albion fans might not have known it at the time, but that defeat to Derby was a blessing – at least the rebuild would come in the Championship, not in the less forgiving Premier League.
Albion won the Championship title in 2008 following a major rebuild the previous summer. It was the club’s first proper trophy since 1968. That they did so owed a lot to the improving recruitment system at the club, but also the brilliant management of the coaching staff.
They did so playing a style of football that, on good days, felt like it was all being played down-hill, with a strong wind behind it.
It was team of imperfection - in many respects that was its charm. The title-winning team took 81 points, scoring 88 goals, but also conceding 55 times, more goals than relegated Leicester City.
The Baggies also got to the FA Cup semi-final, losing to a Portsmouth side built on the never-never, spending money they didn’t have on expensive players. These days, Pompey would have literally been accused of taken the P out of PSR, such was their financial manipulation.
I digress.
If vulnerability was part of the team’s allure in 2007/08, it was to become a nuisance in the Premier League. A failure to adequately replace Kevin Phillips and Zoltan Gera left the Baggies side bereft of goals, with no sign of the defensive holes being plugged. By the end of that campaign Albion were relegated.
There were complaints that Mowbray’s Premier League side were sophisticated in play, but weak of mind and matter. There was an element of truth to that, but Mowbray did try to address that. He had been desperate to recruit Scott Brown in 2007, while finally landing Youssouf Mulumbu in January 2009, only to find his new signing immediately ruled out injured until April.
Record signing Borja Valero – signed to play deep in midfield, but with licence to create – ended up surrounded by similar craftsmen who possessed no shortage of finesse, but with barely any physicality to beef-up the midfield’s overall delicate poise. It made relegation a certainty, not least when striker Roman Bednar suffered his own issues off the pitch and became the fall guy of a Sunday tabloid sting.
Mowbray walked out for Celtic just after the season ended. In truth, he dived before he was pushed – such was the deterioration of his relationship with Jeremy Peace that a parting seemed inevitable.
Celtic also brought a significant emotional hook. Mowbray had been Parkhead captain when his wife Bernadette was diagnosed with breast cancer – an illness that would ultimately take her life on New Year's Day 1995. Mowbray documented the story in a moving book Kissed By An Angel. I urge you to read it, if you can.
All of this leads us to now.
Since leaving Celtic in 2010, Mowbray has managed five clubs. He has changed as a manager. His philosophies – he will no doubt talk about these a lot – are still based around aesthetics and playing football a certain way. But, certainly based on what I've seen at his more recent clubs, he has tempered some of that when needed.
There is a hue of pragmatism to the way his teams play these days. And that’s fine. If there was one criticism of his first time at Albion, it would appear that he has addressed that in the intervening years since.
One other thing: he brings with him Mark Venus, who has been his trusted No2 since their time at Hibernian. Last time they inherited and worked with Craig Shakespeare, Michael Appleton and Joe Corrigan. Unlike some coaches, 'Mogga' and 'Veno' do not feel threatened by new voices and fresh ideas.
Mowbray will want to invest time and energy in youngsters. He leans towards more technical players. I’m not sure who will benefit most from his guidance, but I wouldn’t be surprised if John Swift, Grady Diangana and Alex Mowatt are afforded time due to their natural ball-playing aptitude. It's such a shame Josh Maja is injured - he'd be right up Mowbray's street.
And supporters – those who weren’t old enough between 2006-2009 – will find a man who cares and appreciates those who watch from the stands.
I also challenge you to find somebody who has the good-will of so many fans of his former clubs, including Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Birmingham, Blackburn and, certainly for his time as a player, Celtic.
On a personal level, I asked Tony for a job reference a good few years ago. It coincided with a tough period at his then club, so I assumed he would not have the time, let alone the inclination. He could have said 'no', he could have sent me back a typed up generic sentence.
He replied with a handwritten two-sided letter. I'll always be grateful for that act of kindness. That's what he's like.
I don’t know how this will go for Mowbray. A part of me wishes he could have returned to a better West Bromwich Albion; more like the one he took on and built in 2006.
I'm not a big believer in the 'never go back' narrative - each case is different, each person is different, each circumstance is different. Nor do I subscribe to the nonsensical and trite 'he knows the club' mantra - not least when so much time has elapsed between his spells. I'm pretty sure bin day has changed since 2009.
In any case, the all-clear on his health out-weighs all. He's lost a year of his career, and he'll be wanting to make up lost time.
I know that Mowbray has been keeping his eye on developments at The Hawthorns for a while. He has always been drawn to the club.
And, let’s face it - if you disregard Mowbray’s past links with the club - he is exactly the kind of manager Albion should be looking at.
But one mustn't lost sight this is also about his return from major illness. He was only given the all-clear on Tuesday of this week. And that news beats everything else. I just hope he is given time and patience to manage change to instil his own ideas and methods.
I wish him and Mark Venus all the best.
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