TWO years since becoming the owner of Nottingham Forest, Fawaz Al Hasawi cuts a far more slender figure.
But he has lost none of his appetite for success.
As Stuart Pearce jokingly put it, the club's Kuwaiti chairman 'looks to have had a good pre-season', returning from his summer break looking decidedly trim.
But, crucially, Al Hasawi also seems to have the club looking in good shape too.
The appointment of Stuart Pearce has had precisely the impact he would have hoped for, when he persuaded the club's legendary former defender to take on the role of manager back in April.
But Al Hasawi's work goes beyond that, with the arrival of Paul Faulkner as chief executive also providing some important support – and experience – when it comes to the running of the club.
And you get the feeling that Al Hasawi has rarely been happier with life at the club, since taking control.
"I love it, it is amazing," said Al Hasawi when asked if he is still enjoying his role as the owner of the Championship club.
"When we brought the club, I was asked when we would get into the Premier League. I said then that it would not be easy.
"Our target was to do it within three or four years.
"We will fight for that, we will. But it is not easy. We work hard, but other clubs will work hard too. We will invest money – but other clubs will invest money too.
"We have good players, but there are other sides with good players as well.
"We are trying to learn from our mistakes, we are trying to improve. This season, we will be strong.
"I am very happy to be here."
Amid an unbeaten start to the campaign that has lifted Forest to the top of the table, it is no surprise that it is Pearce who has found himself cast into the spotlight of attention.
Having heavily reshaped the squad he inherited from Billy Davies, adding pace and attacking threat, Pearce has made a positive start.
But quietly, behind the scenes, Faulkner has also started to address some of the fall out left behind following the departure of the previous manager.
Al Hasawi believes there is a fresh sense of unity behind the scenes.
"When I first came to the club, Mark Arthur was the chief executive. I know it was a long time before we brought somebody else in, after he left, but I did not want to rush," he said. "It was a very important decision. We could have brought in six or seven different people, but we wanted to find the right one.
"Paul has experience, he has worked with a big club in the Premier League, in Aston Villa. Everyone has spoken about Paul positively.
"I trust Paul and all the staff to do their job.
"Paul has a good connection with Stuart and with the staff here, that is important. It is important that people like each other and can work together.
"I don't want to mention names, but what happened before was that everyone was working alone.
"Now, we are all together; we are one family and one group."
One task that is very much in Al Hasawi's hands is the quest to secure sponsorship from his homeland.
The owner reveals that he did hold discussions with the Kuwaiti government in an attempt to secure a sponsorship package for the City Ground stadium.
That is an idea the club may return to in the future but, at the same time, Al Hasawi is keen to reassure supporters that nothing will be done at the expense of the club's proud history – something that he very much embraces.
"I tried to sit with the government in Kuwait, to give them an opportunity to become our shirt sponsor and also to talk about sponsoring the stadium," said Al Hasawi.
"People in Nottingham, I think, were concerned that we were going to change the name of the ground completely.
"I like things the way they are, I like the history of the club and I don't want to change that.
"I just wanted to add, potentially, a name before the City Ground. It might become the Kuwait City Ground, for example.
"This name, if we did add it, would give us a sponsor to help back up the club, financially. Perhaps we could buy another player with that support or, even, not have to sell a player.
"I do not want to call the stadium that just because I am from Kuwait, it is not like that. It could be anything (before City Ground), as long as it is the right sponsorship deal for the club.
"It is about the finance, that is the most important thing. I hope people understand that."
The £500m figure mentioned in some reports was vastly inflated. But it remains a lucrative potential source of revenue for the club.
"If it happens, we will talk to the fans to explain it. But it did not happen, so we did not say anything," said Al Hasawi.
If Al Hasawi has learned one major lesson since arriving at Forest, it is over how significant a part luck can play in success – or failure.
Forest, at one stage, had 14 players sidelined with injury last season which, combined with the growing divide between manager and club, inspired a slide away from the promotion places.
Forest have had fewer problems so far this season – with the exception of the crippling blow of losing skipper Chris Cohen to another major knee injury.
"We started the season well last season, but we ended up dropping out, after picking up many injuries," said Al Hasawi. "Hopefully we can continue without any injuries this time."
"With Chris, I can feel what he feels. You can see that he desperately wants to play. He is one of the better players we have on the team.
"All of the players are good players, but he is the captain, he is the leader and he means a lot to the team."
Beyond the disappointment of seeing a good man suffer another undeserved moment of misfortune, the mood at the City Ground remains decidedly upbeat.
There is a sense that something special is slowly being built at Forest.
"This is all because of Stuart Pearce. He was a player and a legend at this club. He knows where the weaknesses were and are," said Al Hasawi.
"I trust him and trust the staff as well, everyone works with him, everyone works together.
"He brought in players who will be important for the team.
"He covered the weaknesses in the side. He knows what to do.
"He is doing a good job and we hope that will continue to the end of the season."
Much has changed over the last six months at Forest but, in another six months, the club will hope that they are in an even healthier place.
