'It will live with me for a long time'

I would like to begin my final column of the season by paying tribute to my players and staff for retaining our Women's Super League title in the most dramatic of circumstances possible.

I'd also like to offer a huge debt of gratitude to the amazing Liverpool supporters at Anfield for the overwhelming reception they afforded us when we went out onto the pitch with our trophy before the first-team game with Hull City last weekend. Believe me, that is a memory that will live with me for a long time.

To win the title again was some achievement and looking back at how we did it, I can only be an extremely proud manager of an incredible team.

Our goal at the start of the season was to finish in the top two. Of course, we wanted to give it a good go to try to retain the league - but it was crucial we qualified for the Women's Champions League.

Going into the final game, I'd told the players in training the day before that all we could do was concentrate on getting the three points and hope that was enough. We had to not worry about the other games.

We actually even attempted to deliberately not find out what Manchester City and Chelsea's scorelines were on the day, but that didn't happen and, in hindsight, it was actually beneficial that we did - going into half-time at 0-0, I said to the girls I believed Chelsea would score, so we still needed to win by two clear goals.

It meant our second-half performance was fantastic. The wait for confirmation at the end of the game felt like an eternity, but once we got the news, it was obviously a fantastic feeling.

Overall, I thought we got our just rewards for the way we performed last season, especially the way we kept going and didn't give up. We weren't as fluent going forward as we were in the previous season but there were circumstances behind that, particularly as we suffered lots of injuries, especially in the attacking areas of the pitch. Defensively, we were solid and the players deserve a lot of credit - as do my staff.

During those final games of the campaign, we had some big, big moments. Fara Williams scored an incredible winner from the halfway line against Birmingham seconds after it looked like we had dropped what would have been a massive two points, and then Gemma Davison scored in stoppage time to earn us a draw at Arsenal. Gemma has outstanding ability and that strike was a pivotal moment for us in retaining our title.

Unfortunately, we didn't make the next round of the Champions League after our defeat in Linkopings. We deserved to win the first leg but then in the return in Sweden, I feel the occasion maybe got to one or two of our players. It was our fourth game in 11 days and I think it showed.

We'd had some tough games and then we had to get two flights to travel to Sweden, so it wasn't easy for the players and I just think it proved too much for us physically. In saying that, it wasn't a 3-0 scoreline in my opinion. We had some good chances, should have had a penalty but maybe we used all of our luck up when we won the title on the Sunday.

Hopefully we will be seeded in the Champions League next year, so that will work in our favour. Having had a taste of it we have learned some lessons - myself included as a manager - and we want to do well in the competition next season.

We have also said a fond farewell to Amanda Da Costa, who has decided to go back to the USA. We are going to miss not only her talent as a player but also her as a person. She is a bubbly character, a winner and a leader. She was great for me in the two years I worked with her at Liverpool. She scored some important goals in big games and she was outstanding in the title run-in. Amanda will be a big miss but we wish her all the best.

Finally, I would like to once again pay tribute to our fantastic and loyal supporters. They are so loud and make a big difference for us, and we appreciate it massively.