'I haven't stopped smiling' - Steven Schumacher looks back at a year in charge of Plymouth Argyle
Watch ITV News West Country reporter Jacquie Bird talk to Steven Schumacher
It's a year today since Steven Schumacher took the reins at Plymouth Argyle after the departure of Ryan Lowe to Preston North End.
An immediate fan favourite after his first game in charge with fans chanting 'Schuey's at the Wheel', Schumacher's calm presence and his team's expansive play have seen the Pilgrims exceeding many expectations by topping the League One table.
Last Friday saw their first home defeat in the league in nine games but results elsewhere mean Argyle stay top of the table, and while Schuey says there's a long way to go, he told ITV News he's confident of big things to come for the Green Army.
Sitting down for a chat with Jacquie Bird, Schuey talked about his decision to stay in Plymouth, not just for him, but for his family too.
He said: "Being from Liverpool and living so far away from a young family, that would have been a stress for everybody.
"My kids were at the age where they would have been casing their mum, saying when's me dad coming back and when's he home from work? And for us and our family dynamic, that wouldn't have worked.....once we'd been here and got settled and been to places like this and you're walking around, you realise what a brilliant place it is to bring up your family."
After the disappointment of the end of last season, where Argyle missed out on the play-off's on the last day of the season, Schuey has had time to reflect and take positives from the successes of his first spell in charge.
But he also used that disappointment to help bring in new players this season and motivate those who stayed.
"Last season, obviously the success we had, when we were talking to players this year about why we want to recruit you, why we want to bring you to the team, we spoke about that disappointment of getting 80 points and only just missing out on the play-offs.
"So we spoke to them about, we think you could be the difference. Come and join us."
After his success already, Schumacher has been linked with a number of vacant managers' jobs, but has just signed a two year extension to his contract.
"Everyone knows how important the job is to me and everyone sees how much I enjoy it", he said.
"The first twelve months have been brilliant, I haven't stopped smiling for a year. And I know there's going to be times where it's not going to go all our own way, and I'm going to have tough times.
"But yeah, I think it's not lost on me how much this club means to the people of the city and we'll do our best and keep trying to pack out Home Park as much as we can and keep trying to get better."