Tony Mowbray is expected to return to West Bromwich Albion as head coach, almost 16 years after he left the Hawthorns for Celtic and just a few days after being given the all-clear from cancer.
Mowbray, 61, has spent the last year undergoing treatment for bowel cancer. On Tuesday, having spent months recovering from surgery and chemotherapy, he was given positive news from his hospital in Manchester and clearance to resume a coaching career that began at Hibernian in 2004.
He and the club were finalising contractual details on Friday morning with no major issues anticipated.
It was success at Hibs that led Mowbray to West Brom and, in 2008, he guided the club to promotion from the Championship and into the Premier League in his second season in charge. He led them to the FA Cup semi final the same campaign and became a popular figure at the Hawthorns due to his personality and his preferred style of play.
The next season, West Brom were relegated and Mowbray departed for Celtic, but he remained highly thought of in the west Midlands and now returns following Carlos Corberan’s move to Valencia.
West Brom are under new ownership having been taken over by Florida businessman Shilen Patel last February. They finished fifth in last season’s Championship and lost the play-off semi-final to Southampton. They are currently seventh, one place outside the play-off positions, and host Stoke City at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
If the deal is concluded as anticipated, Mowbray is expected to attend the game as an observer and take charge before West Brom’s next match, at Middlesbrough on Tuesday night. That is Mowbray’s hometown club, where his career began as a player in the early 1980s.
Mowbray had just started managing Birmingham City last February when he was informed he had cancer. He stepped aside temporarily, then took leave of absence in March and, as treatment escalated, he resigned in May. He has been recuperating since and following a public appearance in November found clubs getting in contact.
West Brom lost Corberan to Valencia on Christmas Eve. The 41-year-old, who represented Valencia’s B team as a player, made the switch with the Spanish club bottom of La Liga.
Mowbray — who has also had stints as manager at Ipswich, Coventry, Middlesbrough, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland over his career — will be accompanied by his assistant Mark Venus and is likely to retain caretaker staff such as Chris Brunt, whom he signed as a West Brom player first time around in 2007.
(Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
