Mark Bower column

It's traditional at this time of the year to look back on the past 12 months and they have certainly been very eventful for the club.

It goes without saying that suffering relegation at the end of last season came as a massive blow to everyone - and what probably made it hurt even more was that few of us would have predicted it happening until the bitter end.

If you look back to this time last year, I don't think many people could have seen it coming. If anything, going into January we were probably thinking we were still in with a shout of getting into the play-offs. We were still just in the top half of the table and looking upwards but obviously it wasn't to be and nobody needs reminding what happened next.

But there's no doubt at all that we suffered with the loss of some of our best players. Losing Deano, Nathan Doyle and Jermaine Johnson in one big rush in January really hit us and, with the manager going shortly after that, there was a lot of upheaval, which is never ideal.

Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to replace those big players and, with a bit of bad luck along the way and some poor performances, we probably ended up getting what we deserved.

There were some really disappointing days during that period and obviously culminating with the Chesterfield game, which for me was the lowest point I've experienced in the game.

It certainly took a while to recover from that setback. But the summer brought a lot of enthusiasm and good feeling about the place - especially with the season-ticket offer, which has been so well received by the fans.

The atmosphere has really improved but that doesn't guarantee instant success for the team. There have been a lot of changes and Stuart hasn't got a magic wand. Our situation will not change overnight and it's a long job ahead.

But hopefully we are starting to put down the foundations off the field over the last few months and we can carry that forward into next year.

We're still aiming to push towards that top seven and there's no reason why we shouldn't think like that. We've got decent quality in the squad and I'm sure that will be added to in the January transfer window.

We know there is a long way to go but there are reasons to be positive now and hopefully we can deliver.

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