Mansfield Town misery now seen as a plus for Melton star Paul Anderson

Anderson, 35, who announced his retirement from playing last week to take up a new future in full-time coaching, enjoyed great years with clubs like Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town, Bristol City and Northampton Town before he joined the Stags in 2017 under Steve Evans and started out well.

But when Evans quit and David Holdsworth took over as boss, Anderson quickly found himself inexplicably out in the cold and made to train away from the first team.

So distraight, he ended up needing counselling after it badly affected his mental health.

But as he hung up his boots this week after finishing his career with hometown club Melton Town, to embark on a coaching career, he said: “Even though they were really difficult times for me, it sounds really strange but I now think it's the best thing that ever happened to me.

“I now know how not to be as a coach.

“It has taught me a hell of a lot how to treat people and treat players. They are not just players, they are people.

“It's been one of the best learning curves I have had to be honest.

“So I am very grateful what Mansfield did for me.”

Capped at England U19 level, a young Anderson was spotted by Liverpool while playing for Hull City's academy side.

“I look back on my career with immense pride and I am very proud of what I have done,” he said.

“There are not many people that can say they have gone on to do what I have.

“But when I came out of the pro game, if I am honest I felt like I had failed – and to this day I still believe I could have gone on and achieved more than I actually did.

“I feel like I could have played a lot higher than I did, whatever the reason.

“But now I look back on it and see how many people do not get to the levels I did – I played at the very top – I now feel very proud.”

On his time at Mansfield, he added: “When certain things happen, now I am on the coaching side of things, you realise that politics come into it and it's not always about how good a player is.

“There are other things that go on in a club and I think there were other things that went on at Mansfield.

“I will be honest - my performances weren't as good as they should have been.

“It was difficult dropping down the levels as the expectations are that you're going to be the huge standout player that will win games on your own.

“But that wasn't me as a player – I was a huge team player and I did everything for the team. I wasn't able to be that person that was expected.

“Don't get me wrong, I still think my performances were good, they just were not on the level of expectations of someone coming from the Championship.

“You would have to ask the manager at the time what happened.

“I got on really well with Steve Evans. But then he left the club and as soon as the new manager came in I got totally pushed aside.

“I was put in with the youth team and not allowed anywhere near the first team.

“And he made comments about me and questioned my character and me as a person.

“If you ask any other person that I have played with, that's one thing that would never be questioned of me.

“I personally feel that the new manager came in and tried to push me out the door and use me as an example that he was the boss.”