MY re-appointment as Reds coach for next season means a lot to me and I greatly appreciate the board's decision.

Having been involved in the club from day one and leaving under a cloud a few years later, I consider myself fortunate to have another chance to work here.

I'm prone to being a bit nostalgic and I will always hark back to the early days and the things that helped make the club successful.

I'm a confirmed traditionalist in that I believe some old fashioned values still have a place in modern sport. Those such as loyalty - to the shirt, to the club, and of course teammates.

Adelaide United has to be a club that players want to come to and never really want to leave because of its culture and the environment it provides to play in. And it's always got to be about the team, not the individual.

Work ethic is another. At risk of sounding cliched, you can't be successful without work and you do only get out what you put in.

There are another couple of "W" words that need to be part of the mix for the club to become a consistent force - words that are sometimes overused but are nevertheless very relevant.

Winners and Warriors. The two go hand in hand. They are inextricably linked. You can't be one without the other.

I remember talking to the coach of the Barcelona youth team that played in a tournament here in Adelaide seven years ago and an important character trait they looked for in players was the "warrior mentality".

He believed a player couldn't succeed without it. So do I. And this is probably the single most important factor that defines a player in an individual sense.

Are you a winner or just another player? Every player is not going to be a warrior but the more you've got the more chance of being successful.

The warrior mentality breeds a winning culture. So when I'm asked what I plan to do for next season I will start by looking for the things I've just described.

I believe there's a lot more substance to the squad as it stands than the results show.

Circumstances sometimes dictate outcomes and this is the case with the club this season. The team got off to a bad start and never really recovered, but I believe the potential exists within the group.

In the short-term, however, the focus must be purely and simply the Asian Champions League (ACL). The parameters have been defined and the players here now are who they are. There will be no changes.

The majority are under contract for next season so the next two months will be the important for them in regard to next season and even their futures beyond that.

These next weeks can be career-defining for everyone so there has to be a single-minded approach to how we go about our business.

Our two ACL games have shown everyone what we are capable of.

The games will get harder as we go along so we need to get harder and better at what we do in what has to be a relentless pursuit of success.