The job is always with you, 24/7. I played over 400 games as a player and the highs aren't as high when you win and when you're a player the low isn't as low when you get beaten. It really spikes and dips as a manager.

That was how I felt at non-league. I never looked at it then and said, 'I want to be a Premier League manager one day'. I just wanted to do a good job and see where it could take me.

In winning cycles you're linked with everything or if you lose a few games on the bounce there is talk of you going. I just put my head down and get on with it.

It all goes back to the players putting everything out on the pitch. They commit to the game, so the support gets behind them straight away. They don't see half-hearted performances, they don't see people that are not running around. They see players competing, putting in the effort and enthusiasm.

I think, in every situation, it's important to find the right balance. If you have to spend money, try and spend that money in the right way to take players with the right characteristics for your idea of football.

By the nature of the sport and the danger we face daily, we are very close knit. Some of us have spent most of our lives together. To give you an example, having spent two decades sitting next to Richard Johnson and seeing him virtually every day, I have probably spent more time with him than I have my family, and he the same.

As a football team, you head into the season the same way with confidence and a positive mindset that you are going to win a bunch of football games.

When you're a kid football is, and should be, sheer enjoyment.