There is a real hunger about new West Bromwich Albion head coach Tony Mowbray – and not because he has run out of packets of Revels.
He is, after all, still working his way through 200 family packs of them kindly sent to him by the Sunderland Supporters Club as a ‘Get Well Soon’ present when he was recovering from his brush over the last year with bowel cancer.
His love of chocolate has even made him a social media sensation.
But while at 61 years of age Mowbray may have had to change his eating habits, it has not altered his appetite for getting the Baggies back in the Championship promotion race.
Mowbray’s first game in charge is back at his beloved boyhood club Middlesbrough.
He takes over an Albion side who led the table in mid-September, lost their way in a deluge of autumn draws, but who are still in the play-off mix in sixth.
The Baggies are 15 points behind leaders Leeds United, 12 off third-placed Burnley and within sight of two more of his former clubs – Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers.
“It’s been a tough year for the family as well as me,” he told BBC Radio WM. “You see what an impact it’s had on them. But I’m full of energy again and I hope the supporters can hear the enthusiasm in my voice.
“It’s humbling the reception I’ve had. I really don’t feel I deserve some of the things I’ve seen and heard and read – but I’m back at work now and my only aim is to get this club firing again. And this has all possibly made me even more hungry than I ever was. I can feel it bouncing out of me.
“The teams in front of us might be 12 or more points ahead and we know what the reality might be, but let’s see if we can’t put some pressure on them. Let’s see if can run them down.”
