Reading Jason Lowe’s comments about his time at the club, it was refreshing to hear that he had nothing but positive things to say about us despite having been released at the end of the season.
The midfielder had a difficult year having played just 11 times, being out of favour and suffering from injuries. Yet, even though his stay at St Andrews was brief, he did not make any excuses.
As an insider who was with the team throughout the 2017/18 season, two things seem to stand out:
1) There are healthy foundations at the club. The culture is geared towards success with all the coaching and support staff all on the same page.
2) The manager is the real deal. Despite being released by Garry Monk, Lowe has nothing but good things to say about him. Simple, straightforward instructions helped us get out of trouble he says, and he believes that the leadership that the Blues boss will provide will hold us in good stead going forward.
The midfielder even goes as far to say that the players must bear the brunt of the responsibility for last campaign’s struggles. At the start, there were a lot of new players that needed to adapt and gel as a team, but that wasn’t the issue as the season went on.
Having three managers in the same season would suggest that there are more deep-rooted problems at the club, but Lowe’s comments kind of blow those sort of theories out of the water.
Of course, three relegation battles in five years shows a club that is not functioning as well as it should, but for me, that’s more down to the poor decisions made on managerial appointments in recent seasons.
In Monk, I think that particular issue has been corrected. As Lowe states, there is everything in place to build an exciting team under this manager. The foundations are there with the fans, the support staff and the coaching team in place. Now, it’s time to build a team that befits this club’s potential.