Second part of our Paul Thirlwell interview
In the second part of our interview with club captain Paul Thirlwell he spoke first about the importance of getting back for pre-season in good shape and ready to go.
“These next few weeks are important for every player,” he said.
“I think we all have a few weeks at the end of the season where we do very little, but then it’s important that you start to kick things on again. I’ve got a little girl and a new baby son to run after as well, so that’s helping to keep me on my toes.
“But I’m the oldest in the squad now and that doesn’t make life any easier when it comes to keeping your place in the team. All I can do is give it my best shot again next year, and that starts with getting things right in pre-season.”
Looking back at his time with the club – a series of near misses one way or another since he turned his loan move from Derby into a permanent switch in January 2007 – he said: “Overall it’s been a successful period.
“We’ve stabilised as a League One club and we all want better than that now. When I got here it felt like a good place to be and we’ve had some interesting times over the years. We could have gone up a couple of times, and we had that last day survival against Millwall, so it’s been interesting and exciting.
“The club captain job is something I’ve done almost since I first got here as well, and I’m quite proud of that. I’ve done it for a few managers so I suppose you feel like you must be doing something right, on and off the pitch.”
As for who will fill the gaps so recently vacated, he told us: “There are some good players and some good lads who have left the club and we will miss them.
“You become good friends, just like in any walk of life, but this happens in football. It’s the type of career it is and you just have to accept that it's sometimes the way it can go if you do have to move on. Once the current group get back together we’ll see some new faces and that in itself brings a fresh energy to it all.
“I think you get used to the way summer goes with player rumours and things like that. I think we knew with the number of lads who were out of contract that there was going to be some kind of shake up and we just have to wait and see what the gaffer has in mind.
“It’s not an easy task to pull it all together again, because finances are tight in the game at the moment, but the majority of signings he’s made in the past have been a success. We just have to hope he can do the same again.”
Click HERE for part one of our interview with Paul Thirlwell.
