Jon Whitney's eyes wide open to Walsall task

Just three weeks on from the agony of play-off defeat, the 45-year-old physio-turned-boss is approaching his first full season as the Saddlers main man with eyes wide open, conscious of the changing dynamic both for himself and the club.

The best season at the Banks's in more than a decade seems set to be followed by a summer of upheaval, with several key players poised to move on. Whitney will be charged with leading the rebuild while aiming to match understandably raised expectations. The pressure is considerable, yet it does not faze him.

"Of course it's a gamble – it's football management!" he says. "It's a hell of a risk. But I like risks – and it's a calculated risk.

"People will always be watching to see if I can be successful but I like that, I like the fact that there's no givens and that I have to try to prove myself."

Having guided the Saddlers to eight wins in their final 13 games and within a point of automatic promotion during his spell as interim boss, Whitney seemed the obvious choice to continue the job full-time.

Yet he took time before deciding to accept the club's offer of a three-year contract.

"My mind wasn't made up at the end of the season," he says. "I had some really good offers, from other sports as well because of my skill-set with sports science, strength and conditioning. I sat down with my wife and my two boys and asked them 'what would you do?'

"Some of the clubs who were interested in me were big clubs but the biggest thing for me, is I don't feel the job is done.

"Deep down my gut is telling me there is a reason why this has all happened. The job is not finished yet."

For Whitney, who first took interim charge following Dean Smith's exit last November and was then promoted to performance and first-team coach during Sean O'Driscoll's brief reign, the past few months have been a whirlwind.

But it has also served to re-energise a man who admits he once came close to leaving the club having become disillusioned with the game.

Put simply – and to paraphrase Whitney himself – he now has his mojo back.

"I need to see where this takes me," he said. "To be honest, I have not felt right as a physio for the last four or five years.

"Back when Dean came in as manager I was planning to leave because I had lost my love for the game.

"I don't want my players to get lost in all the other attractions. I want them to have the drive of just being a footballer. As a manager, I can influence that."

Refreshingly, amid all the talk of ambition, is a recognition he still has much to learn. An acceptance that, for all the praise directed his way in recent weeks and months, he is now effectively back at the beginning.

"I understand it is a totally different playing field now and I am starting from fresh," he says. "I am the manager. I have to know there are areas I have to work on – not weaknesses but areas to improve.

"I need to get consistency to the way I coach and players can hopefully get confidence from me. It will be a challenge but that is what I am here for. If I am going to be successful as a football manager, it will not be through a lack of effort."