Togetherness is huge. I just can't see anybody getting results in team sport without being together.
— Chris Wilder
We used to get into other players' heads mentally and physically. In my day it was me versus you, my future versus your future.
There is a lot of crap spoken about footballers being nomads but when you get to a club and you create a spirit, there is no doubt players want to do well for their team-mates and club.
Everyone has their own background and some managers are Premier League footballers, international footballers, some of them find themselves getting jobs.
I'm one who will go and have a beer with my pals on a Sunday afternoon. I'll go on a Friday night and have an hour with my pals, lads that I've knocked about with for 20-25 years.
Certainly Sheffield United have been a good fit for me.
My players have to be competitors before footballers. They don't pull out of tackles in training. It's full-tilt and if we pick up injuries, we pick up injuries. They have to give everything on the pitch and leave it all out there.
You have to be calm as a manger.
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.
Sheffield has everything as far as I'm concerned and the football club is right in the heart of it.
I've come a different path to some and, while I respect everyone else's 100 per cent, I'm proud of mine. I'm proud of where I've come from and where I am trying to get to.
I don't want it to be a holiday camp, but it shouldn't be a concentration camp either. It is about getting the balance right with my relationship with them. I will do anything for the players but I'm not their pal as well.
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.
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.
My first job was at Alfreton Town and the chairman backed the club. He wanted to win so it made the job easier. I then went to Halifax, where I turned up and there was no balls, no training ground, no players. I had the other side of it.
I have always given 100% for every club I've been involved in.
I never had a dream of being in the Premier League.
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.
We are not trying to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes you have your off days. We have a way of going about things. Basically we are positive people trying to improve players and teams.
You can't sit back, rest on laurels and think about the past - what the journey has been.
Sometimes I get recognised and sometimes I don't. The bus drivers will sometimes stop to try and get a selfie at peak times with traffic all around you!
Obviously my knowledge of the game has improved but I've tried to keep true to what I believe in.
I can't stop people talking and linking me with teams I've played for.
I've always said that I'm an employee and I respect that status but I'm the type of guy who walks in the front door and I'll walk out the front door if it's not right.
I still live in the city. I still jump on the bus.
I don't want it to be comfortable for players to step in, stroll about and walk away with three points. But there won't be any old-school flat balls, cold tea or wet floors.
I'm not bothered how people feel. This is a real tough sport.
I have a short-term view, just keep going game after game. The position we end up will be what we deserve.
Dave Bassett was a key influence on me, the way he treated and talked to people. Wimbledon and Sheffield United were quite direct sides and he got the best out of what he had, but he was an innovator.
I've come across people who look smart in a suit who haven't really got a lot underneath. Football is an unforgiving business and you're easily found out if you're a bit of a fraud.
I'm delighted with the experiences I've had and I've had some experiences to say the least!
