“It wasn’t to be [the Champions League] but qualifying for Europe was just an incredible season. George won Manager of the Year, deservedly so, and players’ reputations had been enhanced.”

The following season it was very much back down to earth as the Blues were relegated with Magilton struggling with injury throughout the season.

“On the last day of pre-season I injured my hamstring and I never recovered, in all honesty,” he recalled.

“At Christmas there were games in which I felt comfortable, Sunderland at home, there were a little spate of games but I couldn’t regain full fitness and I was in and out, stop-start and things just got away from us and then obviously we were in a situation.

“Around Christmas, we got out of it, we were in a really good position and then we had the international break and then after that it went a pear-shaped.

“The game after, Southampton at home, in our opinion we lost badly, we didn’t play particularly well and Southampton took advantage of that and just wore us down, they were just gritty and Chris Marsden scored a worldy.

“And then that was the end for me really, I didn’t play the last 10 games, I wasn’t involved and that was a huge disappointment for me. It was deflating watching the agony at Anfield, being relegated.

“I’ve had many discussions over it, I’m not sure what the right answer is. Did we lose our way potentially, did we become maybe a little arrogant in terms of thinking that we’d got out of it and maybe were taking it for granted? I’ve no idea. It’s hard.

“When you have momentum going one way, it’s fabulous. When there’s momentum being built the other way, it’s very difficult to stop. Everyone worked their socks off, everyone was determined not to get relegated but unfortunately we were and it was a really tough, tough time.”

George Burley’s summer signings and the additional games and travelling that the UEFA Cup brought have often been cited as factors behind the relegation and Magilton agrees.

“I think so, I think it all adds up,” he reflected. “Signings, you couldn’t be critical up to a point with George because he made so many fantastic signings that improved the group and he had a way of being able to select those players and make them part of the group.

“They always added massive credibility to the group and there was an input from all of them and a lot of the lads were low maintenance, high output players, which is exactly what you want.

“If you’re high maintenance and low output then you’re struggling, but we didn’t have many of them in all fairness. It was just, did they fit into what had already been built over many, many years? I don’t know.

“You’d have to ask George basically. Did I feel that in the dressing room? Not really no. At the end of the day, Finidi [George] and Matteo [Sereni] all mixed in. Footballers are footballers, they’re different because they’ve been brought up in different countries, playing different games in a different environment, in terms of the boys, no, I didn’t feel distant or anything with them. That’s not my gig.

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