ALUN Rossiter begins the season a more confident and respected team manager than the one that departed the Robins for Coventry at the end of 2009.

That is the view of the man himself, who returned to Blunsdon in November an Elite League winner, and with the support of the majority of speedway fans in Swindon.

In the past, Rossiter, despite his impressive record at the Abbey Stadium in his first stint in charge, has been something of a divisive figure.

But following the announcement that he had been reinstalled as boss of his home town club, the 46-year-old believes he saw a marked improvement in the reception he received.

“I feel a little bit more respected, just by the reaction of people stopping me in the street when I’m out,” he said.

“People say they are glad to see me back and until you experience it, it sounds like I’m blowing smoke up myself, but I was so shocked by the reaction.

“I know how I was perceived by supporters previously and it seems like a massive change round.

“I thought the reaction was going to be OK, but I didn’t expect it to be quite as good as it was.”

Rossiter has always been positive on the two seasons he spent at Brandon, especially the first in 2010, when Coventry stormed to the Elite League title despite a dreadful start to the year.

And the Stratton resident says his time away with the Bees will help him bring glory to Swindon at the second time of asking.

“I’ve always believed in myself, but sometimes you get it beaten out of you when people put you down,” he said. “I went away to Coventry and just got on with it. Now I’ve come back and I’m far more confident and assured, and I know what I want to do.

“Everyone says I’ve got the monkey off my back by winning the league because we were the nearly team at Swindon for so many years.

“Now let’s hope we can turn that back round and get this team back in the play-offs, because I want to be successful in Swindon.”

The Robins’ long wait for a top-flight title extends back 45 years, which always rankled with Rossiter, a lifelong supporter of the club.

His passion to end the dismal run only intensified following Swindon’s loss to Wolverhampton in the grand final in 2009, and Rossiter remains determined to bring the league title home one day.

“It’s still something I want to get rid of,” he said.

“I believe in this team quite highly and if they perform how we believe that they can, then we’re in for a good season.

“I’m very happy with the side we’ve got. The good thing is this team has got bags of scope and what we need is that improvement.”