Following the creditable draw with the doomed Cottagers was a hard fought and narrow loss against a team looking to secure a place in Europe.

This is probably the first time we have played reasonably decently back to back for the whole of the season and PJ is absolutely right – if we had played like this all season we would not be where we are now.

The mystery for me is how do you get a team to perform like that when for all season it has performed abjectly and sometimes not even that. What is it that makes the difference? For me, it all boils down to a sense of responsibility on the part of individual players.

For some, it is a matter of professional pride and they go out and perform as best as they can no matter what difficulties they may have. For others, they need either some cosseting or some harsh words to wind them up.

My suspicion is that there were too many players of the latter description, which places an even greater reliance on the manager to get it right. PJ's mantra (if there is one) seems to be focused on getting the former – professional footballers who will take responsibility for themselves and their attitudes on the field when it needs to matter.

It was this attribute that Clough recognised when talking about ‘Gladys' Hinton and bravery. When the pressure was on, be it a free kick or a penalty or a need for a really good cross into the box, Hinton would always try and deliver as best as he can. Self-doubt would be banished and concentration would focus on whatever needed to be done. He did not need shouting at or an arm round the shoulder.

Hence, the turn-over of personnel. PJ seems to have decided that most of those out on loan were either not good enough or lacked the necessary mental aptitude to turn in a performance no matter how dire they were playing and how out-played they were.

Those that he has brought seem to be players who will turn in a performance as a matter of routine professional pride. That lessens the need for the manager to wave a magic wand called “people-management” as it is called these PC days. For me, that shows the difference between the current incumbent and the previous post-holder. I have a suspicion that the previous manager was a little over-fond of his own motivational skills and so brought in players that he could use those skills on. We all know too well when it went badly wrong.

PJ seems to be cut from a very different cloth and prefers to concentrate on getting the players with the right attitudes and then he can focus on working on tactics, training etc and not to have to worry overmuch on whether or not they will go out and perform.

For my part, it is this that gives me renewed hope for next season. It is beginning to look like we will have a team of players who will go out and take responsibility for their own performances on the park when it matters. We can now concentrate on getting fitness levels right, finding the correct tactics for any particular match and so on.

Bring on next season – no matter where we finish up, we'll be making progress as this kind of steely professionalism permeates the dressing room and lasts for a long time before it disintegrates.

Photo: Action Images

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