April/May: Sky Bet Championship Winners!
Last month was an appalling month which I would rather forget about. However, it has to be mentioned purely because of the transition from then to now. We had looked to have thrown away our chances of not just gaining back to back promotions but also the league championship. Our confidence was slumping into the abyss and it was going to take a lot for us to get out of this slump and return to the form we had shown for the majority of the season. What was so different about this last month compared to that awful one? The answer is nothing; I didn’t change a thing.
Even though our title chances were looking less likely, I still had confidence in my players and the way I like to set this team out in terms of formation and how we approached each game. We continued to use the same 4-4-2 formation, which allowed for us to remain defensive as well as having options up front. I didn’t make drastic changes to my first choice eleven but instead continued to have trust in the players who had performed admirably all season long. I do feel that it was this continued faith in the players that saw us turn round the season back to being positive, which ultimately won us the league championship. Despite me sticking to the preferred starting eleven and formation, there was one big factor that had a huge impact on the outcome of this championship winning season. That was the return of Gozie Ugwu.
Ugwu had been absent from the squad for the majority of that abysmal month with an injury sustained in February. We had missed his prolific goal scoring ability which meant we had started to lose the reputation of being lethal in front of goal. Kysela did well in his place but he is still a very young player and the pressure certainly got to him. Samed Yesil is unfortunately very inconsistent so I didn’t feel confident enough to call upon him to lead the line I felt a sense of relief when Ugwu returned to the starting line up and he didn’t hang about by helping himself to a goal against Leeds United, which really did kick start the season again. I have already looked to ensure that Ugwu remains at the club for foreseeable future with him signing a new three year contract. I can see him being a big hit in the Premier League if he stays away from injury.
Walter quizzed me on my commitment to Notts County and whether I would stick with them if another job came my way. It was a thought provoking question that has then resulted in me applying for three other jobs. Two of the jobs were at clubs in Italy, with Inter Milan and AS Roma receiving my application form, as well as my beloved Liverpool FC in England acknowledging my interest after Roberto Mancini leaving the Merseyside club. Despite all three clubs acknowledging my applications, I was unsuccessful in all three of my applications. This made me realise that it is possibly a bit too early to think about one of those big clubs, or moving onto any other club for that matter. I have since then signed a new two year contract with three weeks on my current deal left to run. This will give me the chance to see how we fair in the Premier League without the lengthy contract restriction which could stop me moving onto a different challenge.
Player of the Season – Gozie Ugwu
