Jay Knows Loyalty Pays Ahead Of BT Sport Showdown

On one hand he could easily have been managing in the Football League this weekend after an opportunity came his way this summer.

On the other, he also knows he could well have found himself on the managerial scrapheap. He has just finished his most challenging season yet in charge.

“It’s funny when you assess it I suppose,” he said.

“I guess loyalty works both ways. Last season was really difficult. I didn’t like it much to be honest.

“It could have easily ended with me out of work, but I’m at a good club who appreciate the situation.

“They know we are ahead of schedule and they stuck by me when perhaps other clubs would have made a change. What we set out to do in ten years we managed in four. The criticism was hard to take sometimes but the club were loyal to me.

“So I had to do the same in the summer. It wasn’t right to leave and I’ve made the right decision.

“You learn more about yourself in the difficult times and I picked up so much last year.

“Thankfully we seemed to have left last season where in last season and things are already looking up.”

Things cetainly are. Their win over Barrow last weekend was their second already having come away from Dagenham with victory earlier in August.

They now face a screen test, live on BT Sport as they head to Maidenhead and the boss doesn’t fear the cameras.

“We’ve got a good record on BT,” the manager said. “We beat Stevenage in the FA Cup and drew with York and Aldershot too.

“We did lose to Wrexham, but that doesn’t count - that was on BBC Wales!

“The live games bring a lot of extra excitement and for the players it’s a great chance to showcase their skills.”

Saunders couldn’t care less if Maidenhead haven’t won yet - August tells you nothing, he was quick to say.

“Form mean nothing at this stage,” he said. “Look at Tranmere last season and how poorly they started. They went up at Wembley, so it’s silly to look closely at it.

“Maidenhead are always very difficult to play against, they are tough and they are hard to beat.

“We’ve got a young side, only three of our players are over 24. We’re learning and we’re developing and with a bit of luck we’ll show we’re progressing at the weekend.”