Huddersfield Town have been one of the biggest surprise packages in the EFL this season and Carlos Corberan put together a strong case for Manager of the Season in the Championship.
The Terriers looked shaky and were threatened by relegation at times in Corberan's first season at the helm, but they have been a completely new team this time around, very solid at the back with incredibly consistent chance creation from wide areas causing so many problems for opposition.
Tom Lees has been a crucial member of the backline since leaving Sheffield Wednesday for the John Smith's Stadium in the summer, and the 31-year-old gave his insight into Corberan's methods when he spoke to The Athletic.
He said: "He’s probably the definition of the phrase, ‘Student of the game’.
"Every second of his day is football, he’s absolutely obsessed.
"I feel lucky to have learned so much this year.
"Carlos has helped me step outside my comfort zone, which is definitely something I had to do.
"I needed to broaden my mind.
"I’d probably been a bit guilty in my career of thinking, ‘This is the Championship and this is the way things are done’.
"Coming here has made me much more open-minded to new ideas.
"I’ve learned so much from him.
"He’s always watching football, clipping football, and gathering examples that he can then show you about what he has learned.
"Everyone talks about Bielsa’s influence, but there is definitely more to it than that.
"He takes things from coaches all over the world.
"We watch football from lots of different leagues.
"The manager is always coming to you with ideas or something he has seen and saying, ‘You can incorporate this into your game’.
"The way this manager works is very different to anything I’ve ever experienced before.
"Even in my first couple of meetings with Carlos, I came out thinking, ‘I’ve learned loads there’.
"I have been playing a long time and had heard a lot of people’s thoughts on football but here was something genuinely new.
"Huddersfield’s success can only help the manager going forward, too.
"Players will think, ‘Look what he’s achieved — if I do open my mind and listen to him, he can develop me as a player’."
The sky is the limit for the Spaniard at this point, at 39 there will be plenty of sides, possibly even in the Premier League, interested in his services next season, especially if the Terriers are unable to achieve promotion via the play-offs.
The Verdict
The Terriers were relegation candidates at the start of the season and the squad deserve a lot of credit for buying into Corberan's methods so much.
Lees spent the entirety of the 2020/21 campaign battling against relegation with the Owls and with his deal expiring, aged 31, the centre back was at something of a crossroads in his career, so to be fighting for promotion just a season later is a credit to him and the recruitment staff at the club.
It has been a rocky ride since dropping out of the top-flight in 2018/19 for the Terriers, but the togetherness of the group and the smart decisions of the club hierarchy have made heading into next season, potentially without parachute payments in the second tier, far less concerning.