Having already commented that Paul Simpson is the easiest manager he’s ever had to work with, Greg Abbott lifted the lid a little further for us to give us a peek at how their relationship works.
“He doesn’t tell me what to do or where to go and, in fact, sometimes he doesn’t even want me to be in!” he joked.
“He gives people the opportunity to do their jobs and that’s important, because everybody feels trusted. He really is the best I’ve worked with.
“You want to do well for him because he shows so much respect to the people he works with. He listens to any issues you have, he helps wherever he can, and he really has your back if he sees that you’re willing to work hard.
“He wants to see that you share the same ambition. If you do that, he’s brilliant with you. He wants every aspect of this club to be continually improving and that’s why he wants the right people in all the different positions.
“There are times when there’s a bit of fun, others when he’s serious, and the good thing is you always know where you stand.
“He doesn’t hold back if he thinks there’s something wrong and he also doesn’t hesitate to acknowledge things that he thinks are good.
“There was an agent in the summer he gave a real talking to – I thought it would be me doing that kind of thing, by the way – and it worked because the player ended up signing for us.
“The way he pulled him back into line was brutal, but when he came up here to finalise the deal we were all friends and we got on with it in a professional way.
“He’s got an edge to him if it’s needed. He's driven, he wants everyone to match that work rate, but I think he wants us to have fun and enjoy the jobs we’re doing as well.”
But when there are things to be discussed, that’s also an option on the table.
“We don’t have massive disagreements, but he does like to hear your opinion,” he said. “I actually don’t think it would work if we weren’t on the same page.
“Sometimes we aren’t always in the same paragraph, but that’s healthy. He's the manager, I do what I do, he does what he does. He makes the decisions, and I’m there to help if it’s needed.
“What I want most is to find him the ammunition he needs to get us out of a period of too many ups and downs. He wants this club to stabilise and push on.
“You have a real fighting chance of that happening when you’re with good people and there’s a sense of unity and togetherness.
“Paul’s aim in the summer was for us to set out to improve and I think we’re doing that. Let’s not make wild predictions but if we continue to show progress it’ll bring us what we want anyway.”
With five loan slots on the match day team sheet available, we also discussed the difficulties that the loans of young players can throw up.
“With young players it’s important that you try to get it right,” he agreed. “You want them to develop and improve as they’re helping your team, and their parent club wants the same.
“The difficulty is that it can be so different for some of them and they can end up not getting the game time they wanted or expected.
“If somebody comes in and they don’t play that isn’t a successful loan. It’s the same process as it is for a permanent signing, you identify the player, find out about their character, and try to judge whether or not they’ll be able to replicate what they do in the 21s or 23s at this level.
“Some do it with flying colours and others struggle, and some you just don’t know until you get them in and try them. That’s the risk you accept that’s attached to taking young players.
“As a club we’ve been hit before when we’ve had fantastic young players on loan and somebody else takes them. You can’t do anything about it, it’s football.
“If they aren’t going back to their club to play, or to be loaned higher up, they might as well stay where they are. All of the lads with us now have really enjoyed themselves, and that’s a massive positive in so many ways. If someone they know gets the chance to come they’ll hear about how good it is.
“The clubs we have players from now, I know Paul has spoken to some and I’ve spoken to them. It’s letting the clubs know exactly where we think their players are at the moment.
“They tend to have a good idea anyway, because they can see how many minutes they’re getting and the results we’re getting. Some are improving or developing, but the decision on whether or not they go back is all on the parent club.
“That’s the downside of the loan system, and that’s why you always look to sign permanent deals if you can, because you know they’re your players on your terms.”
But even the permanent signings can have their difficulties to overcome.
“We chased a player all the way from May right through to him signing In July, and that sort of thing does frustrate the life out of me,” he admitted. “In my mind I thought it was a really good fit for us and him, but we couldn’t convince him to just get it done.
“Eventually he signed and I spent so many days thinking, I wish he’d just come so I can scratch that position off the list.
“You get used to working away at it and sometimes feeling disappointed doing this job, but that’s the same for every role in this game.
“All you can do is move on quickly, don’t get strung up over it, and I think I deal with that kind of thing so much better these days. Hopefully anyway, because I’m sure there’ll be a lot more of it to come!”