Town midfielder Jay Tabb has revealed how “a kick up the backside” from manager Mick McCarthy has transformed his season.
Tabb was called into McCarthy’s office at the training ground for a recent heart-to-heart meeting that resulted in him regaining his place in the first team.
He said: "I had to improve my performances. I started the season okay but later on, whenever the manager had brought me in, I hadn’t really done well enough. He pulled me into his office just to let me know that but it was probably something I knew deep down anyway.
"We had a good chat about it and he asked me why I hadn’t been playing so well. We looked at it and decided that when I’m not in the team I’ve got to do a little bit extra before or after training just to keep my sharpness up.
"I started doing that and once I got back in the team I felt it had helped me and I think I’ve done okay in the last couple of games.”
Tabb, who will be 30 later this month, scored his first Town goal in the 2-1 opening-day defeat at Reading, his former club and where he had failed to find the net in 105 appearances.
But he added: "I picked up a shoulder injury a few days later. It set me back a little bit but it was one of those injuries where I could just about play through it.
"I played the next couple of games and then after we’d lost three of the first four league games the manager made some changes, which he had every right to do.
"Tunners came in and played really well, and I found my chances were few and far between. But then after I played at Blackpool and didn’t do very well there were games where I just felt I was coming in to fill a hole rather than make an impression.
"The manager said to me ‘You did really well here last year on loan and I want to see that player again’. Sometimes, as a player, you need to take a step back and look at your own performances and look at why you are maybe not playing so well. I did that and in the last couple of games it has gone quite well.
"The manager said ‘You haven’t been good enough’. That’s the thing with the manager, he is straight down the line. There’s no hiding and he doesn’t dress things up. He just said I had done well when I came in on loan but said ‘Recently you haven’t been the player that I know you can be and you need to sort it out’.
"If the manager says that you make sure you do it. I did a bit extra in training with TC, some things to sharpen me up, and I felt better for it. Sometimes you sit there and think ‘I’ll just do a job when I’m needed’ and you don’t actually go on and make an impact. I think that’s what I was doing.
"I knew the midfield lads were doing well and accepted my position was on the bench. The manager reminded me that I had to be fighting for my place and that when he put me in I played well.
"As a player over 20 years, or maybe less, there are going to be seasons when you are great and others when you are not so good. You’ve got to strive for consistency in your performances and that’s what I am trying to do.”
Tabb admits McCarthy was right to bring matters to a head. He said: "I came here on loan last season and did well. I got a contract and the fans liked me but this season I haven’t really featured too much and obviously there’s a reason for that.
"I haven’t played well enough when I have been in the team. The gaffer was right. He’s a great manager and I really enjoy working for him, as all the other players do, so I think if he pulls you into his office and tells you that you’re not doing well enough you need to take that on board and make sure you improve.
"We had a little chat and both tried to put our finger on why I hadn’t been playing well. We came to a conclusion but I’ll keep that between me and him. Sometimes you maybe get a bit complacent and you just need a wake-up call every now and again.
"I’ve been a pro long enough to know that things can change overnight. The manager put me back in at Leeds and I thought I did quite well and then Bolton as well. It would be nice to keep my place on Saturday against Barnsley but if I don’t I’ll have to make sure I do well again the next time I come in.
"I just needed that chat from the manager — I needed him to give me a bit of a kick up the backside and that’s what happened.”
McCarthy says a kick up the backside is overstating his intervention: "He’s a great lad, a kick up the arse is probably the wrong way to put it, it was me reminding him of what he’s all about.
"It was me just pricking his conscience as much as anything and I think it worked because he’s been excellent in the last couple of games.
"I thought he was the best player at Millwall and in every game he’s played he’s been good since.”