Coventry City have appointed Boro legend Tony Mowbray as their new manager.
The former Boro boss has today signed a deal with the League One club until the end of the season.
The Teesside favourite has been out of work since leaving Boro in October 2013, his last match being a dismal 3-2 defeat at Barnsley.
But after spending a year out of the game, Mowbray has been looking for a way back into football - and was the first person interviewed for the Coventry job.
It is understood he was approached by Coventry chief executive Steve Waggott, rather than having to apply for the post.
Terms were agreed for Mowbray's return to football management yesterday , and he travelled down to Coventry from Teesside today to sign on the dotted line.
Speaking about the appointment, Waggott expressed his delight at landing Mowbray.
"We are absolutely delighted to welcome Tony Mowbray to Coventry City as our new manager," he told the club's official website.
"We've secured the services of a highly-rated, experienced candidate for the job and Tony is a manager who has enjoyed plenty of success at a higher level.
"He has experience in coming into a club in challenging times and steering them through to safety and, on top of that, has enjoyed promotion too.
"We were all very impressed with Tony during the interview process and it speaks volumes that the club are able to attract a manager of Tony's calibre.
"We wanted someone who could come in and hit the ground running because we have 14 important games left in this season and the number one priority is to preserve our League One status.
“We have agreed terms until the end of the season and then, immediately after the final ball is kicked, we can reassess and look at a longer term deal. It was just vital, at this stage, to get the right man in to help steer us through the current situation between now and the end of the season.
"We believe Tony is exactly the right man for Coventry City and everyone here, from supporters to staff, will get right behind him."
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Tony Mowbray
The former West Brom and Celtic manager appears to be a popular choice, with 80% of Sky Blues fans recently saying in a poll conducted by the Coventry Telegraph that Mowbray would be the right man to replace Steven Pressley.
Mowbray previously stated his ambition to manage in the Championship again, but with turbulent times off the field hopefully a thing of the past at City, he is now confident of keeping the club in League One this season and building on that in the next campaign.
He could now look to bring in his own back room staff. Gazette columnist Mark Proctor, who was Mogga's assistant at Boro, believes his friend will be the perfect man for Coventry.
"Coventry is a massive club in League One and has a good fan base. It’s had plenty of issues in the last few years moving out of the stadium and then back in, and I’m not sure what the politics are behind the scenes," Proctor said.
"But if they are all sorted out then it’s a really good job for anyone.
"What I do know about Tony is that he’s very organised, very thorough and has a philosophy of how he wants his teams to play football. He likes his teams to play in an entertaining way, albeit the bottom line is it’s a results business and it’s all about winning.
"But if you can win in style then even better. Football is also an entertainment business, and that’s what Tony wants to achieve. He is renowned for his style of play - he took West Brom up to the Premier League playing some great football.
"He started out at Hibernian and finished in the top four in both seasons and won the Scottish Football Writers’ Association manager of the year.
"So any Coventry fans that don’t know what Tony is about only need to search for him on the internet and see what he’s achieved."
The 51-year-old will watch his new team from the stands as they travel to Barnsley tonight. He will be reunited with Boro youngster Luke Williams , who is currently on loan at Coventry until the end of the season.
Neil MacFarlane and Dave Hockaday will continue to take the team, with Mowbray's first game in charge coming against promotion-chasing Port Vale at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday.
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