It had to come. This team is by no means anywhere near what it needs to be to compete at the highest level of the Championship with the likes of Birmingham or Reading so it was inevitable that we would falter.

Two things stick in my mind however – first, the refusal to accept defeat at Blackpool, the second, the stubborn defending for most of the second half at the Ricoh stadium against Coventry. Both are indications that this team is beginning to add considerable steel to its soul. That is heartening and a reminder of what BD's team was like.

BD's team in the Championship did not lack for grit or determination, the number of draws or wins that were achieved against superior opponents in matches where we should not have come away with anything was testament to that.

With hindsight, this mental toughness was but a chimera once we got into the Premiership, the team simply and meekly allowed their superior opponents walk all over them. It was a mystery to many of us as to how this collapse of mental steel and resolve happened so quickly and barely with a whimper. I suggested at the time that resolve might have emanated solely from the manager and that for some reason or other, he had not been able to continue transmitting this to his players in the Premiership.

The lack of resolve on the pitch was picked up by PJ as he stated that he was concerned by the non-existence of leadership on the pitch. A manager can scream and shout at his players only so often, the impact lessens with every succeeding rant as players become inured to his temper. Which is what I suspect happened last season – PJ was able to galvanise his players only up to a point but once on the pitch it is up to the players. I think it is clear that PJ brought in Savage to be his inspiration on the park, and was probably bitterly disappointed when that turned out not to be the case.

So PJ embarked on a risky venture – that of dismantling a very considerable portion of the squad and replacing them with different players, albeit those with a stronger mental resolve. It was risky as it takes a lot of time for a team to gel and also for people to settle, and there was every indication that if a large number of newcomers did not make the move successfully we could have gone on a sustained losing run. As it was, we did that, but soon managed to get into a groove of not losing.

Now that has been broken, it will be seen as to how the team responds to that. The indications are that as an important first step, there is an air of togetherness, and a resolve to battle. The fightback at Blackpool was not due to a rant from the manager, but from players who have a pride in themselves and a dislike of losing. Coventry would have been beaten but for a momentary lapse of concentration and if this team has anything about them, they will learn not to let it happen again for some time.

However heartening this sense of resolve has been, the surprising thing is that it has taken a graduate from the Academy to be a catalyst for the team to coalesce more rapidly than might otherwise have been the case. Addison's sheer physical presence and willingness to crunch into tackles regardless of reputation (Carsley for instance) enables the team to concentrate on its respective tasks knowing that the midfield is more or less secure.

If one compares that with BD's team, where there was no-one comparable in midfield and the only physical presence between the opposing team and the goal was Darren Moore and Michael Johnson, one starts to see why having a midfield enforcer becomes of paramount importance. The defence is better protected, there is less need to resort to hoofing the ball up (although we are still guilty of resorting to that too often), and the more creative midfield players can break forward in support of the forwards knowing that there is no yawning chasm behind them.

This team is some way off from being serious Championship contenders, but in my opinion it is already better balanced than BD's team ever was. Hulse, for example, is a better all-round forward than Howard despite fierce criticism from some quarters, and adds shape to the team in a way that Howard never did. The midfield has a balance between creativity and physical presence with Green adding persistence and tenacity similar to Oakley.

All of this suggests to me that PJ knows what he is about, while BD is still waiting for a letter to plop in through his letterbox offering him the opportunity to manage another team.

Photo: Action Images

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