West Brom star's revelation about 'desperate' squad members
James Morrison made a critical impact when he took the reins from late February - and there was one key appointment to help along the way.
Defender Nat Phillips revealed “desperate” Albion players were delighted assistant boss Matt Gill committed his future to the club.
Gill, 45, was hailed as a crucial influence in assisting head coach James Morrison in the push to Championship survival in the spring.
The former Swansea, Southampton and Rangers assistant to Russell Martin proved a huge hit with Albion players, who enjoyed the energy levels and ball drills in Gill’s sessions.
Centre-back Phillips, a regular in his first season at the club, admitted Gill’s permanent appointment was something all players wanted to see confirmed.
"There's a really positive feeling,” Phillips said. “It's nice that we've managed to hold on to Matt Gill. I think all the lads were desperate for Gilly to stay - I don't think that was a secret, we're delighted that he has.
"And the gaffer has added two more staff members as well in Tony McMahon and also Gavin Strachan, who I knew from when I was at Celtic. They've slotted in seamlessly and brought a lot of energy to training.
"That's set the tone for how pre-season has been so far. Training has been intense, high energy and they've laid down their principles and how they want us to play early on - you can see that in the sessions we're doing.
"It's really exciting to put that into practice with a few games in pre-season."
Former Liverpool stopper Phillips, 29, explained that a “good feeling” from the run to survival under Morrison had continued in the early weeks of pre-season.
The defender said of the new campaign: "I can't wait. It's going to be a good season. It's a really competitive league this year and there are a few unknowns.
“We've seen that it is always an unpredictable league, but I'm really looking forward to building on what we started with James Morrison at the end of last season.
"We had a solid record in those final games and now he's got a full pre-season to implement exactly how he wants us to play. I'm excited to take that into the new season and hit the ground running."
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