Team-bonding was one of my big things. Everyone who was at the club understood what they were there for, and that was to be successful footballers, but having the right atmosphere was a big deal too. I think the manager always made sure he knew the personality of the players he was signing as well as their football ability, and while he did his research on the kind of person joining the group, I think he was always very secure in the fact that anyone he brought would be made to feel at home straight away.
I’d found that to be the case in my own career, when I first came into the seniors.