It was two years exactly that Scott Cuthbert's time as a player at Stevenage had ended - released as a player, one of 19 to be shown the door by the recently appointed Steve Evans.

That ended a four-year stint, 18 months of which had been under the stewardship of Alex Revell.

It was perhaps fitting then that May 10 was the day he was sit next to his former team-mate, and boss, as Revell was officially unveiled as manager for a second time.

It makes Cuthbert uniquely positioned to comment on the vast changes that have taken place at the club over the previous 24 months, and crucially in the new boss himself.

"He's a completely different person than he was two years ago," said the 36-year-old who has officially retired after spending the intervening years at National League Woking.

"He doesn't blame anyone else from the past, he’s taken ownership of that, and instead of sitting feeling sorry for himself and sulking, or maybe moving on and going elsewhere, he's taken this chance to really learn and develop and to build an understanding of what he wants to be as a manager. 

"It says a lot about him as a person that he was willing to do that. 

"And from my conversation with him recently, he knows exactly what he wants, he knows exactly what's expected from his staff and from himself and from his players. 

"And he's obviously really excited to start implementing that and get going.  

"It’s a positive time for the club and we just want to continue that positivity."

It's not just the manager that has moved on since Cuthbert's last time down Broadhall Way.

Gone was a club teetering on the edge of demotion back to non-league and in it's place is one disappointed not to have made the League One play-offs.

The Scot though is not totally surprised in the rapid improvement, and points to the quality of the squad as one of the main reasons for making a return to Hertfordshire.

He said: "I did see it coming to the extent of I knew how Steve Evans operated, he was obviously the manager for two months while I was here. 

"I knew his standards and that of his coaching staff, I knew he would be successful because he's had history of being successful. 

"I'll be honest, there was part of me that was sitting there thinking ‘I wish we’d had this group of players when I was there’ because I’d have loved to play alongside some of the boys we have now. 

"But it's absolutely great and I'm really pleased for the club that they’ve moved on. 

"I'm so excited to be back. I can't wait to come back in and for pre-season to start. 

"The squad is fantastic and that’s the whole lure of this opportunity, to get to coach people like, you know, being a centre-back myself, people like Dan Sweeney and Piergianni, TVC as well and Luther. 

"I've played with those last two players and they were fighting to make a career for themselves in the Football League, never mind League One. 

"They've done fantastic and shown everyone that they can compete in League One. 

"But there's quality throughout the squad and our job as coaches and gaffers is to try and recruit more quality, to add to that group and make us even better."

Coaching does mean the end of his playing career but there was another thing that has been a long time in the making.

Cuthbert said: "I got injured when I was 24 at Leyton Orient and it was kind of a bad injury, my hamstring, and it was touch and go whether I would be able to play again or not, if the operation wasn't successful. 

"That got me focusing on getting my qualifications so I got my B licence and naturally I moved onto getting my A. 

"It wasn't really until I came here, around 31, 32-years-old, that I started really paying attention to the way managers behaved and the way they operated on a day-to-day basis, the way they held team talks, the coaching sessions and all that. 

"Over the last couple of years, I've made a habit of noting down all the coaching sessions I've done over the past 15 to 20 years - what I liked, what I didn't like, what suited me, what I think suits other players. 

"I then fell into the player-coach role at Woking which gave me a whole kind of understanding and knowledge of what the day-to-day operations of our club are, because there's so much more than just being a coach on the grass. 

"Yeah, it was always the plan to eventually retire and move into coaching and I honestly couldn't have asked for a better opportunity than this."