There you go, full email, a worthwhile read, you can almost hear Darrens voice saying it;
I just wanted to take a few minutes to write to you ahead of the start of the season and, primarily, thank you for the huge vote of confidence that you have given me and the Albion by getting behind the team ahead of the new season.
Last season ended in disappointment when we lost our Premier League status but over the last few weeks of that campaign, what was encouraging was the way everybody in the dressing room, in the staff, at the football club, and especially the supporters all pulled together and tried to make something incredible happen. That gives us something to build on this season.
If anything, we will need that togetherness, that self-belief, even more in the Championship than we did in those last few weeks of last season. It’s more vital than ever before because the mentality with which we approach the season is going to be key.
I’m calling on all our fans to get to The Hawthorns in numbers, to travel around the country and back us in numbers, because if we want to have a successful season we will only do it if we are all pushing in the same direction, every minute of every day.
We’ve brought some new faces into the football club this summer, players who I think will excite you over the next nine months. One of the things that attracted them to The Hawthorns was what they’d heard about the support we get and the atmosphere you help to create, home and away. I need you to make those new boys feel welcome, to get right behind them and to help them give their best so that in the years ahead, they can become the next wave of Albion heroes.
I want a team that will excite you, I want a team that is full of energy and enthusiasm. Equally, I want a team that works very, very hard because if you don’t have that, you’ve got nothing.
I want my team to fight for every ball, for every yard on the pitch. I want them to be desperate to succeed and wanting to do well for the football club. If we get that, their ability will come into its own. But first and foremost, we have to work hard, we have to be energetic, we have to be determined and we have to want to win, every challenge, every game, every week.
That includes supporters too, because you’ve got a massive part to play. The impact you can have on the players is huge. You must not underestimate how much you can help the team. As I said time and again last season, it’s about all of us, about togetherness, not about individuals. Let’s be a united force throughout the season and let’s all do our very best to get the season off to the right start.