The official season preview edition of the In Black & White magazine is here, with new coach Nathan Buckley featuring on the cover.

You can find more great features such as Herald Sun journalist Scott Gullan's chat with Buckley in the magazine, available for purchase for just $7.95 at SHOP.collingwoodfc.com.au, in the Collingwood Superstore or at a newsagent year you.

He knows what it’s like on the other side. He knows all about sitting in the commentary box and having every comment, every sentence, even every word monitored, analysed, and in some cases twisted, when it comes to Collingwood.

That’s why Nathan Buckley is expecting to this season receive the odd phone-call from Mick Malthouse as his old boss begins a new life in the media.

‘I have been on the other side, in 2008-09, when I was in the media,’ Buckley says. ‘I only had to put one word out of place and it was jumped on. Now the shoe’s on the other foot. I often rang Mick in that 2008-09 time and said that something didn’t mean to come out like that; it was not what I meant.

‘I expect he and I will have discussions like that over the next two or three years, let alone this 12 months. We are forever entwined and a part of one another’s futures so I’m more than prepared for that.’

Preparation has always been a Buckley strong point. It marked every one of his 284 AFL games, a sense of detail and commitment that drove one of his football club’s - and arguably the game’s - finest playing careers. Yet even those traits will be surely and sorely tested in 2012, for it’s unlikely in the history of this game that a debutant coach has started the job with the spotlight on full beam from day one.

First, there is the looming shadow of Malthouse, his long-time coach then boss. It’s accompanied by the lingering spectre of the controversial job handover, a succession plan that seemingly drew more attention, and for longer, than more recent events in Canberra.

If that were not enough, Buckley has had to deal with rebuilding a playing group devastated by a Grand Final loss, then an injury crisis of sorts thrown in for good measure during his first pre-season.

He returns to the verbage of the commentary box to encapsulate the opening months of his tenure as senior coach.

‘There’s never a dull moment at Collingwood,’ the former Magpie captain says with a smile. ‘I knew what I was getting myself into and we know how quickly things can change in footy with a bit of good or bad luck.’

Buckley understands that comparisons with Malthouse, who coached the former from 2000 to his 2007 retirement, are going to walk alongside him on a daily basis as he finds his feet in the senior role.

‘A large part of the way I see the game has come from Mick,’ he states.

‘I played half of my career under Mick, and probably the greatest stage of my evolution as a person and as a footballer was with Mick as a coach. So he has had a massive impact on the way I see things. But every football person will say that. They are moulded by the people that they have been involved with but you have your own ideas as well.

‘We have got great football people in our organisation that have different experiences and you have got to know the right times to back your own experiences and when to take the other opinions and perspectives on board.’

It is a dramatically different looking coaching box which Buckley will command compared to the 2011 model. On top of Malthouse’s departure, key assistants Mark Neeld and Scott Watters won senior jobs at Melbourne and St Kilda, respectively, while ex-Saint Max Hudghton, who was a part-time defensive coach, returned to his former club.

Former Blue Matthew Lappin is the only assistant to be retained - he will take up a more senior role with St Kilda great Robert Harvey and former Adelaide star defender Ben Hart joining the panel. Rodney Eade, who finished up after seven years at Western Bulldogs at the end of last season, takes up the newly created position of football and coaching strategist.

Many new faces, plus a familiar one at the helm. Question is, how will the Buckley way differ from the Malthouse era?

Buckley recalls a common term in taking the temperature of the Westpac Centre.

‘It’s an evolution, not a revolution,’ he says. ‘We need to be better than we were. In 2011, we needed to be better than we were in 2010 - and in many ways we were - but it wasn’t enough improvement, ultimately. This year we are going to have to be better than last year so, if you are breaking it down, what are you after?

‘Fundamentally, you are after improvement from every individual at the club. Primarily that’s the players but the coaches have to coach better, the sports science (staff) need to be better at what they are doing and find competitive advantages, the medical staff, and so on. That’s where it starts.

‘As far as on-field, of course, there are going to be tactical shifts and strategic changes but for the most part it’s going to be the same, a very similar group of players are taking the field. So you’ll see a similarly competitive attitude and we hope to be exciting in attack and very strong and robust in defence, winning contested possession as every club wants to focus on. Really, not much change but there are nuisances you try to evolve.’

The Buckley Show has already had its fair share of roadblocks. All-Australian defender Ben Reid injured his shoulder while on holiday in Thailand. Alan Didak’s brilliant summer ended when he tore his adductor, then the new coach was dealt season-ending knee injuries to Brent Macaffer and Andrew Krakouer. The latter is hoping for an earlier return, but time (ie; his recovery from surgery) will determine the feasibility of that.

There also was the somewhat overlooked departure of Leon Davis, an All-Australian defender who returned to Western Australia.

This came on top of picking up the pieces following the Grand Final loss to Geelong. Given Buckley has been in that situation on two occasions - he won the Norm Smith Medal in a losing Collingwood side in 2002 - he knows what to look for.

‘I’m not disappointed at all with how the group has carried itself, how it has bounced back from the disappointment,’ he says.

‘We haven’t harped on it, we have mainly looked forward and I suppose explored what success looks to us going forward. Your past is something you want to learn from but just because we succeeded in 2010 it doesn’t mean you are better placed to succeed going forward.

‘Likewise, because we failed in 2011, it doesn’t mean we are better placed to turn it around. Everything is a product of what we do now. Individually, we have had guys who have run PBs and trained really well and done so in a limited time frame. So in the early stages I couldn’t be happier because you can’t win a premiership in your pre-season but you can definitely give yourself the best chance.’

One of the exciting parts of the job for Buckley is trying to unearth the gold from the bottom part of the club’s list. History tells him these nuggets holds some of the keys to success.

‘We’ve got what we reckon is a pretty good 25 at AFL level talent but it’s the guys in the middle there, the 15 players who are either first or second year, including rookies, that’s where you’re looking for seven or eight of those guys to take the next step,’ he says.

‘In 2010, I think we had half-a-dozen players who had played less than 50 games. Guys like Macaffer, (Chris) Dawes, (Jarryd) Blair, Reid plus Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams had only played one year. Those first four they weren’t even seen as legit, they hadn’t proven themselves at AFL level at the beginning of 2010 but in the space of a one-off season and six months of footy they have gone from being not first choice 22 to premiership players.

‘You look at Geelong last year, you might have said that about (Mitch) Duncan, you could have said that about (Allen) Christensen, (Daniel) Menzel, (Trent) West … so if you are going to improve as an organisation you’ve got to have those guys who come out of the blue in many ways.’

Buckley throws up names like Simon Buckley, Tom Young, Ben Sinclair, Alex Fasolo, Tyson Goldsack, Jamie Elliott, Lachlan Keeffe, Jarrod Witts, Peter Yagmoor and rookie Marley Williams as possible candidates. Consider that the Krakouer and Macaffer injuries have opened up spots in the 22 (plus on the senior list for rookie elevation), and the carrot dangling in front of the younger brigade is tantalising.

‘(Jarryd) Blair was a rookie in 2010 and became a premiership player, so you know that can happen. It’s just a matter of providing opportunity and that will come as we rotate through the list.’

Asked about pervading emotion of his first six months in the job, the man with what many see as the toughest role in the country doesn’t miss a beat: ‘It is what it is.’

He then expands.

‘I’ve really enjoyed the first few months. I’m learning every day and I hope to be saying that in 10 years’ time. It’s obviously a very dynamic environment and we have got great people in the club, you feed off the passion of others as much as anything. The players have driven themselves and the leadership group have been excellent in that regard; I’ve enjoyed watching those guys in the infancy of this new leadership group and the impact on the group.’

There is another emotion that is palpable in the Collingwood football department offices: excitement. Some of that comes with new faces, the high turnover of the coaching staff bringing an enthusiasm that’s understandable after the lengthy role of Buckley’s predecessor. That is not a knock on Malthouse - far from it, for he oversaw a decade of absolute professionalism as the club grew towards that 2010 premiership.

Rather, despite the setbacks that have leapt out in front of the train, the Collingwood express feels nicely poised to set about righting the wrongs of October 1, 2011. The new head coach allows himself to muse on the positive vibe, only to revert to type.

‘There are so many little things that I’ve seen and been involved in that you give you a good feeling about what’s to come,’ Buckley says. ‘But in the end that’s the preparation part of it. It’s going to be all about the demonstration of it when the whips are cracking.’