West Brom considering hiring veteran manager on short-term basis as Eric Ramsay successor | OneFootball

With relegation to League One looking increasingly likely, West Brom may go back to a familiar face for a short-term answer to their woes.

Without a league win in 2026 and in serious danger of relegation from the Championship, West Bromwich Albion are considering a short-term move for a manager they sacked less than 12 months ago.

The departure of Eric Ramsay doesn't seem to have done the Baggies too many immediate favours.

A 2-1 defeat at The Kassam Stadium against Oxford United on Saturday not only did nothing to help their chances of staying in the Championship come the end of this season, but also allowed Oxford to move within three points of safety themselves at the foot of the table.

Ramsay was sacked last week after just 44 days in charge of the club, during which he could only manage four draws and four defeats in his eight League games in charge of the team.

West Brom remain without a League win in 2026, with their last being a 2-1 victory against Queens Park Rangers on the 29th December. Defeat at Oxford stretched their winless Championship run to 11 games, almost a quarter of the entire season.

Tony Mowbray could be in line for a shock return to The Hawthorns

Football Insider have reported that former Baggies manager Tony Mowbray could be in line for a shock return to The Hawthorns as a short-term fix for West Brom's managerial woes.

They confirm that "Preliminary talks have been held by the Championship club with the view of appointing the 62-year-old", as well as with Mowbray's long-time assistant Mark Venus, with a view to Mowbray returning to the club to seek to steady their ship and secure Championship football for them for another season.

Were Mowbray to return to the club, it would be his third stint as their manager, and his last one with the club ended less than a year ago. He was sacked by them on April 21, 2025 after a poor run of results, despite only having been hired by the club three months earlier.

It was a reunion that did not go to plan for either party, but if reports are to be believed, Shilen Patel could be willing to give Mowbray one last chance to try and rescue the club's fortunes as their results continue to spiral out of control.

Tony Mowbray's return would be his third spell as West Brom boss - the job could be a poisoned chalice

If Mowbray accepts the position, it will be the third time that he's taken the reins at The Hawthorns.

His first spell as their manager came from 2006 to 2009, during which time he returned the club to the Premier League, before leaving the club at the end of the 2008-09 season to assume the managerial role at Celtic.

Following a lengthy spell elsewhere, during which time he also managed Middlesbrough, Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland and Birmingham City, he returned to The Hawthorns in January 2025, four weeks after the departure of Carlos Corberan to Valencia. After a reasonable start, though, he was sacked on the 21st April following a run of five defeats in six games which saw the club's hopes of reaching the play-offs evaporate.

The task at hand would be a very different one this time around, though. Mowbray would be their third manager, not only of the season but of 2026, following on from the departure of Ryan Mason on the 6th January and Eric Ramsay just over six weeks later. The Oxford United defeat showed the scale of the task ahead of him, if West Brom are to avoid falling into the third tier for the first time in 33 years.