Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury says the uncertainty surrounding coach Nathan Buckley last year was difficult to deal with and that he wouldnโt have been surprised if he go sacked.
While his team were struggling on field all season last year, the media were coming for the Collingwood coach.
He was eventually re-signed in August last year and Pendlebury says the atmosphere at the club is much more positive this season.
โI think every player was worried every week because you didnโt know,โ Pendlebury told on the Jock & Journo podcast.
โI wouldnโt have been shocked either way if Round 3 he was re-signed, or Round 3 he had have got the arse because you just didnโt know.
โThere was just so much pressure on this football club. Credit to how he handled himself last year, I thought he was brilliant.โ
The Pies skipper says he was always confident in Buckleyโs ability to lead the team.
โEvery day there was a camera here waiting, whether we won or lost,โ Pendlebury said.
โNo one knew what was going to happen and that is pretty unsettling for a playing group, and it wasnโt (just) Bucks, it was all the coaches as well.
โIt feels like weโre back to being a football club that not everyoneโs talking about every single day.
โWho knows what would have happened if a different coach had come in here (and) decided the list isnโt good enough.
โI was incredibly confident that we had the right man, we just needed time as a side (and to) get a better run with injuries.โ
Collingwood have taken great improvement from last season and are sitting eighth on the ladder with a genuine finals chance.
โItโs always better if youโre winning, but the way weโre playing is the thing we enjoy the most,โ he said.
โThereโs excitement, thereโs run and dare, thereโs creativity but thereโs still that element that makes Collingwood, that high-pressure side โ tackle, chase, harass.โ
