I think the major difference was that in November we could all (well, maybe some of us?) see the players’ fitness levels dropping rapidly. We were quickly going backwards.
This season by November we were seeing Gary starting to get the team to gel after a difficult start.
The sign of good senior management at CEO and Chairman level is not just to take a snapshot of where we are, but in recognising the direction of travel and act decisively.
Under OC we were rapidly going backwards; even now under GC we can see us improving.