Micky Mellon is 'the helper' for Shrewsbury

But Micky Mellon has a more modest nickname for himself after masterminding Shrewsbury Town's League One survival.

Mellon said: "In my head I call myself 'the helper' – I wasn't there shouting and bawling at them when things went wrong, I'd help them put it right again.

"That's how I've got myself through the season. It was never about me and I never thought about how I felt.

"It was always making sure I got the players ready and helped them and I was always there for them."

Mellon believes the experience helping Barnsley pull off one of the unlikeliest rescue acts of all time to stay in the Championship in 2012-13 helped him deal with the pressure at Shrewsbury.

He said: "That experience helped me this season with a lot of decisions and the way my mentality went.

"When everyone kept saying 'pressure, pressure, pressure' I never really knew what they were on about because I knew there would be stages and steps we had to go through.

"I'd done it before at Barnsley and it was just about making sure I was there for my players."

But now it's all done, he admits he is drained. After 56 games, 161 goals, a high-profile FA Cup run and a nailbiting but successful survival fight to stay in League One, Mellon can finally take stock.

The Town boss has already claimed he has endured his toughest season in football. The 44-year-old Scot is now on a well-earned break and can reflect on an emotional rollercoaster.

It saw him lose his two best players, rebuild his squad, lead them into a first-ever meeting against a £190m Manchester United side and stay up despite losing six of the last eight games.

He said: "I'm tired. I'd love fans to live where I've been living for the last 10 months and see how they deal with it.

"It's like the sword of damocles (fear for those in power of something very bad hanging over them).

"They should come under the sword and see if they fancy it before they start shouting and bawling about what should happen in dream world, because this is the real world.

"Us managers constantly live under that sword. We're frayed every weekend and your family sees that so it's the life they lead too. But we're able to love it.

"It's tough, but I'm pleased with what I found out about myself because, if I was weak, I'd have gone under. We achieved what we had to."

So is he ready for a break? He continued: "Yes. I spoke to an experienced manager at a Premier League club last week – it wouldn't be fair to name him because he's very high profile.

"I asked him 'does it get easier as you get older?' and he said 'You just drink more red wine!' I think that's what I'll try to do!"