I'LL be honest, last pre-season was a strange one.

The price of beer in Slovenia was nowhere near what it was two years previously, the Russian swimming team in our hotel hogged the narrowest of Wifi bands at the most inconvenient of times and it was all a bit too hot to be watching football, let alone playing it.

But let's not moan too much.

My gripe was with Albion. Roberto Di Matteo came in and all didn't seem well.

The players seemed down and the atmosphere seemed strained.

Firstly, footballers don't like change. I've seen it before, with every manager. Even those who were desperate for one manager to leave (going back a few years) can still end up looking miserable when the new bloke has come in. That's football.

In the case of last summer, Di Matteo had, after all, taken over a newly-relegated side on the first day of pre-season training.

The players were used to losing and he was replacing a popular manager. Mowbray was an intense man, who cared little for the attritional aspects of football but embraced freedom of expression. Every footballer north of centre-half loved Tony Mowbray. And even those at the back were, with one or two exceptions, encouraged to bring the ball out like some kind of modern-day Liberos.

I felt sorry for Di Matteo.

Yet slowly the mood in Slovenia lifted. Ptuj didn't seem too expensive after all, I got to respect the efforts of my Russian friends and slowly, but surely, a smile returned to the faces of two-dozen footballers.

So here we are now.

Albion should be promoted soon. Probably this Saturday at Doncaster, possibly next Saturday. But they owe a lot to Di Matteo.

Forget the myth about relegated football teams being favourites for promotion.

Newcastle and, hopefully, Albion buck a trend.

Leeds, Reading, Norwich, Southampton, Barnsley and many others have proven that what goes down doesn't always come back up.

Albion have been fortunate. Others less so. (Albion's tendency to be a yo-yo club is a discussion for another time...)

Gary Megson had done it twice, Tony Mowbray did it after needing to shed the club of the self-indulgent prima donnas left over by Bryan Robson's regime.

Di Matteo has had to do it with a relatively young side. One full of half-fit players, at times.

Yet the spirit this Albion side has shown has been second to none. Try to think of a bad patch? There have been none. Lose one, they generally bounce back. Albion's ability to come back from going a goal down has been outstanding. No set-back has been too great for them this season. There has been no wallowing in self-pity.

Only Chelsea have scored more goals - thanks to their victory over Villa. No other team has scored in every game of 2010. Albion have 98 goals this season. Even their defensive record isn't bad. And they're only a few points shy of taking the record haul of points for a season.

And then what of Roberto Di Matteo's best team? Good question. In all probability I doubt we've yet seen it. Have Bednar, Miller, Morrison, Barnes or Brunt all been fit at the same time? I doubt it.

The style of football isn't over-indulgent, but it isn't direct either.

Di Matteo veers to the left of Mowbray but nowhere near Megson's brand of football or the style adopted during Robson's final year in charge at The Hawthorns.

This promotion isn't as dramatic as the first. It's not as clinical as the second. It's not as carefree as the third.

But in many respects it ticks all of the boxes. And while Albion will need some cosmetic pre-Premier League surgery this summer, I hazard a guess that they'll be in decent shape next season.

Jeremy Peace's guide to football chairmanship is being read by more and more financial people in the game. The spending culture so common a few years ago is in decline to all but a few.

I expect Albion to go for a bit more experience next season.

Yet I still get the feeling that for all of his achievments, Di Matteo isn't being lauded as much as he should.

When Megson took over Albion he'd already built up a decent portfolio with previous clubs. He was a trouble-shooter who achieved way beyond expectation. Bryan Robson had taken Middlesbrough to three cup finals but relegated them and Bradford. Tony Mowbray had three years of SPL experience when he pitched up at B71. He rejected offers from Ipswich and Wolves before arriving at Albion.

Di Matteo still has nowhere near the level of experience that Mowbray had when he took over at Albion. Still, one near miss with MK Dons and a (probable) promotion with Albion is not bad by anyone's standards.

He will make errors of judgements. Some of his signings will fail miserably. He will be hit and miss at times. But he's young. He's learning. Tony Mowbray proved how much point and worth there was in pontificating about long-term projects. One job offer, one fall-out with the board, one bad patch of results can change the dynamics of a football manager's career. England's version of Villareal was swiftly left behind. Loyalty points are of no value in football.

RDM is doing well so far.

The Albion boss and his coaching staff should take a big chunk of credit if, when, the Baggies finally have a P stamped next to their name in the League table.

So when you celebrate promotion - celebrate the players' contributions, but also those of Di Matteo and those who stand alongside him on the touchline.

All of this has been achieved against the backdrop of increasing pressure and growing expectation. Albion fans have grown accustomed to not just wanting promotion, but demanding it.

It's no surprise Roberto Di Matteo looked pleased with himself at the pre-match press conference on Thursday. So he should.