SAINTS Women’s head coach Marieanne Spacey-Cale insisted there is “nothing better” than being able to sound ideas off the likes of Ralph Hasenhuttl at Staplewood Campus.

Spacey-Cale’s side have made an excellent start to life as a full-time professional football team, picking up five points from their opening four Championship matches.

It is the first time Saints have competed at this level after National League promotion last campaign, and with it they made the switch from part-time to in training nearly every day.

Their results have come at the homes of established professional setups in Crystal Palace – a 2-1 victory – and Bristol City – which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Spacey-Cale has spearheaded a meteoric rise since she came in from England’s national setup and with the additional financial commitment, the setup is only getting stronger.

“You can walk down the corridor and I’ll see Ralph will be around,” the women’s footballing legend told the Daily Echo, now situated barely a shot-put throw from the Austrian.

“And then there’s Dave Horseman and Mikey Harris from the B team and under-18s and you’ve got the academy coaches, the girls RTC and academy coaches.

“So it’s great that you can just have real football, technical, tactical conversations and bounce things off, not just your own staff, but the other staff as well.”

Spacey-Cale added: “We all want to learn and we all want to get better and there’s nothing better than being able to just knock on the door and walk in the door of other coach’s rooms.

“You can say say ‘right, I’m wrestling with this, talk me through what your thoughts are’. To have that on the same corridor as you is a great opportunity to just continue to learn and grow.”

It is a big change for the players, though, who lost their match at St Mary’s versus Charlton Athletic on the opening day of the season and their first game as full-time professionals.

Goalkeeper Kayla Rendell was among those who swapped her job working on the counter at the likes of Screwfix, while Saints fan Ella Morris told of her awe walking past James Ward-Prowse as an equal every day.

“When people talk about full-time, they kind of just think of it as a job, but it’s actually a lifestyle change,” Spacey-Cale identified.

“Because they still have a couple of days in the week where they’re not with us, but their lifestyle has to change slightly, because it’s a profession, it’s not a job.

“The most important thing is we continue to educate them on what it means to be a professional. Not just being a professional footballer, but what it means to be within that profession.

“So we’re doing a lot of workshops and conversations with players around, just because you’re not with us, it doesn’t mean this isn’t your profession, this is your lifestyle.”

The boss added: “So there’s been some adaption, there’s been some adjustment, and for some it’s quicker than others.

“But that’s the beauty of at least we’re in this position to be learning and growing into what it means to be a professional in this wonderful game.”

Saints did add seasoned Championship experience in the summer, though. Not least the likes of two-time Championship player of the year Katie Wilkinson.

Spacey-Cale pondered: “Every year we’ve got to this point it’s been, what’s going to make us better? What’s going to make us stronger?”

“Not just on the pitch, but off the pitch as well. So you’re always looking at the players that are a division above,” she said.

“They come in with experience, but they’re good people that share the experiences and will have good, constructive conversations of ‘that’s not what we should be doing, that’s what we need to be doing’.

“Because if we don’t play at this intensity, if we don’t play at this level, then it’s hard to pick up points.”

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