Terry Butcher takes a spoonful of pasta with tuna sauce, hesitates, glances warily at the chef and then wolfs it down. It is like being on set with the Man From Del Monte as he nods approvingly.
It is a big day at Brentford's training ground as kitman Dave Carter makes his first foray into the kitchen in a bid to satisfy the manager's quest to keep his players off the junk food.
"The danger is that they go off to the pub or McDonald's," said Butcher, speaking to the Daily Mail. "But we want them eating pasta and salads, baked beans and
Professional chefs are beyond the budget, so Carter is showcasing his culinary skills. As he sidles into the manager's cluttered office with two slices of home-baked bread pudding, he looks to have clinched the role permanently.
Butcher said: "Cooking for the players can be a big cost when you end up feeding 30 players every day. We're trying to do a deal with Tesco for them to provide food in exchange for some advertising.
"We've only got a limited amount of money to spend and we have to spend it as wisely as we can."
He stirs in a cookery allegory for good measure: "You're like a chef making a sponge cake and the jam in the middle is your budget, which you're trying to spread as evenly as you can. Sometimes the jam has to be a bit thin in places but you do your best to make sure it doesn't spoil the taste."
Butcher became Brentford's fourth manager in 12 months when he was appointed in April but, with the club already relegated from League One, he stayed in the background until the season had dwindled to its sad end.
Since then he has tried to inject new energy and ideas into the club, searching for new recruits with the help of assistant manager Andy Scott.
It can be a frustrating business. Butcher said: "You get names and targets but you want to cross-reference them with people you know. So you go off and do your homework and get to the point where you're ready to make an offer, only to find out they've got an offer from somewhere else for three or four hundred pounds a week more than you can afford.
"Like all the divisions, it's not a level playing field. Teams like
Butcher, who had brief spells in charge of Coventry and Sunderland at the end of his playing career, went on to manage Motherwell for four years in dire financial circumstances and led them to the Scottish League Cup Final in 2005 before heading to Australia last year to manage Sydney.
He will not use his shoestring budget as an excuse on his return to English football. Now 48, he has signed a two-year contract at
Butcher said: "We're already introducing lunch into our training ground routine and we've brought in sports scientists, masseurs and ice-baths. We're trying to be as professional as we can.
"We've got new Puma kit but the players have to wash it themselves. That's what happens in the lower leagues. I've never washed my own kit in my career but I'm doing it now. Well, my wife's doing it."
Luckily, Butcher was not washing his own kit after
"I don't think I've changed," said Butcher. 'Maybe I've put on a few pounds and have a few more grey hairs. And I need two new knees, but that's the price you pay. I played a lot of games when I shouldn't have.
"Walking downhill is murder. I still love to strike a ball but if I catch it wrong I'm in trouble. There's so much floating stuff in my knees it locks or gives way. They're beyond salvage. I'll have to get them done eventually."
Despite a wonderful playing career, which earned him 77
Nine months in
Butcher said: "I know it's going to be difficult in League Two but it's nice to be back in the game and it's nice to be back in
"I want to prove to myself and to others that I can still do it down here. There's always a desire inside me to do well.
"Even at this level it thrills me and excites me because you want to make players better, make them aware and give them a belief in this game. I remember when I first went to
"It's the smell of a football club — the kit, the liniment, the cleaning fluids — it's the atmosphere. I'll always remember that. And you miss that smell when you're not in the game."