Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury says the uncertainty surrounding coach Nathan Buckley last year was difficult to deal with and that he wouldn’t 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.
“I think every player was worried every week because you didn’t know,” Pendlebury told on the Jock & Journo podcast.
“I wouldn’t have been shocked either way if Round 3 he was re-signed, or Round 3 he had have got the arse because you just didn’t know.
“There was just so much pressure on this football club. Credit to how he handled himself last year, I thought he was brilliant.”
The Pies skipper says he was always confident in Buckley’s ability to lead the team.
“Every day there was a camera here waiting, whether we won or lost,” Pendlebury said.
“No one knew what was going to happen and that is pretty unsettling for a playing group, and it wasn’t (just) Bucks, it was all the coaches as well.
“It feels like we’re back to being a football club that not everyone’s talking about every single day.
“Who knows what would have happened if a different coach had come in here (and) decided the list isn’t good enough.
“I was incredibly confident that we had the right man, we just needed time as a side (and to) get a better run with injuries.”
Collingwood have taken great improvement from last season and are sitting eighth on the ladder with a genuine finals chance.
“It’s always better if you’re winning, but the way we’re playing is the thing we enjoy the most,” he said.
“There’s excitement, there’s run and dare, there’s creativity but there’s still that element that makes Collingwood, that high-pressure side — tackle, chase, harass.”