Overwhelming pride, elation, satisfaction and almost certainly exhaustion... just a few of the emotions a manger experiences as his side is promoted to the Premiership. Sunderland is back amongst English footballs elite, earning Mick McCarthy the LMA Championship Manager of the Year award. He spoke exclusively from his holiday in Portugal to the LMA’s Sue McCann.

HAVE YOU MANAGED TO COME BACK DOWN TO EARTH AFTER THE SEASON YOU'VE JUST HAD?

"It's not last season that I'm buzzing with... it's trying to get players in for this season. Everyday I am talking to the Chairman, Chief Exec and Vice Chairman. Usually we have a conference call once a day. It's just been busy; I've not switched off at all - not one bit."

SINCE JOINING SUNDERLAND IN 2003 YOU'VE EXPERIENCED RELEGATION, DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE FOLLOWING SEASON’S PLAY-OFFS AND PROMOTION BACK TO THE PREMIERSHIP AS CHAMPIONSHIP CHAMPIONS. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT YOURSELF IN WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN A FRENETIC FEW YEARS?

"I don't do the whole self-analysis thing. I'm not into that one at all. I think I learnt enough about myself from the whole Republic of Ireland job.... when things got tough it was demanding. I just think I can cope well enough, I can deal with it. I know it's been a tough couple of years at Sunderland because I realised at the end of the season I was shattered. But things don't faze me, I just get on with it and maybe I'm resilient, that’s all."

PLAYERS MAY HAVE ABILITY BUT HOW IMPORTANT IS THEIR OWN SELF-BELIEF AS THEY TAKE THE STEP UP TO THE PREMIERSHIP?

"I think it's the character that you get out of the players you've got. People want to do well, improve and believe that they can succeed. I see that happening all the time, even in training...they're competitive and want to win. When you know the type of players they are and the type of characters they should be... you know you have got a chance."

INEVITABLY AS YOU RE-STRUCTURE TO COMPETE IN THE PREMIERSHIP YOU'VE HAD TO RELEASE PLAYERS WHO HELPED YOU GET THERE... HOW DIFFICULT HAS THAT BEEN?

"It is a difficult part that. You get promoted and you sense the overwhelming feeling of a buzz about the place and excitement for next season. Everybody is looking forward to it and then of course "Big Bad Wolf" has to go and pull the rug from under your feet. But what can you do that's the Management side of the game. When you ask what you learn... you learn what decisions you have to make. You can't sit-down and write it down and tell everybody, some might be able to, but I couldn’t. It's recognising the next thing to do at a given moment ... that's what you learn."

WHEN YOU JOINED SUNDERLAND YOU STRESSED THAT IT WAS A 'PROPER CLUB'.. HAS IT LIVED UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS?

“Every bit the Club I hoped for...as you said when I joined I said it was a proper Club. There was a considerable amount of apathy being shown toward the Club as well because of the relegation. As a Team we were extremely poor and the fans weren't very much in love with the Team anymore and I did find that difficult. But the players have won them over again. I'm sure being back in the Premiership will live up to everybody’s expectations...it's just keeping us there."

YOUR GOOD FRIEND DAVID MOYES WON THE OVERALL LMA MANAGER OF THE YEAR AND YOU THE LMA CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER OF THE YEAR. WOULD YOU LIKE TO THINK THAT THIS COULD BE THE START OF TIME-SERVED BRITISH MANAGERS COMING UP THROUGH THE RANKS AGAIN?

"Isn't it nice that two lads who came through the Football League system if you like got those two awards. It was really good and I was delighted.... great for Moyesy because he's done a wonderful job. I don't see why they shouldn't. I'm certainly not anti-foreign Manager but I think a lot of them were given the top jobs. I think some of the British lads like Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley would have gone on and done far greater things if they had the resources. They've done brilliant things and so has Moyesy with meagre resources. So perhaps given the opportunity to have a few quid on a bigger stage they might have done better than some of the foreign imports have done."