Tony Mowbray is back in management – replacing Alex Neil at Championship side Sunderland.

Mowbray has taken charge at the Stadium of Light after a turbulent week on Wearside which saw Neil leave his position to join Stoke City.

His departure created a vacancy at Sunderland which has been quickly filled by the appointment of Mowbray.

He is back in management after a three-month break following his exit from Rovers in May and has signed a two-year contract on Wearside.

Mowbray was Rovers boss for over five years, taking charge of the club in February 2017 before leaving at the end of his contract this summer.

He won 108 of his 267 games in charge, leading Rovers to an eighth-placed finish last season.

The 58-year-old had always stated his intention to return to management, but only with a club that matched his ambitions of reaching the Premier League.

He joins a Sunderland side who were promoted back to the Championship last season and looking to establish themselves in the second tier after three years in League One.

Mowbray will reunite with Stuart Harvey, Sunderland’s head of recruitment who left a similar position at Ewood Park to join the Black Cats last summer.

Sunderland were also on the verge of signing Rovers’ reigning player of the year Jan Paul van Hecke on loan from Brighton prior to Neil’s exit.

For Mowbray it will be a seventh managerial role of his career which started with Hibernian in 2004.

Apart from a 45-game spell in charge of Celtic between June 2009 and March 2010, Mowbray has spent at least 18 months with every club he has been manager of.

Mowbray will be back at Ewood Park on Tuesday, October 18, with the return visit at the Stadium of Light coming on Boxing Day.

Of his new role, Mowbray said: “I grew up in the North East and I always remember my experiences at Roker Park with great fondness – the emotion, passion and size of Sunderland AFC.

“This is a huge opportunity to continue the good work that has taken place over the past two years and I hope the supporters can see that this football club is on its way back. It is a journey – I’ve just come from Blackburn Rovers and like here, it was a rebuilding process – but we want to win and we will be aggressive.

“The players must understand what they are fighting for because they are the standard-bearers for the city and win, lose or draw, we must ensure those who come to watch us see a team that gives everything in every game.”

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