Danny Cowley - ''From The Dug-out'' - July
Thirty days, nine training sessions and four games into pre-season we are making good progress in our preparations for the new season. The players attitude and work ethic has been excellent and everybody is focused on being in the best possible physical condition come the 20th August. The four games played so far have all led to victories and we have only conceded one goal. That being said, we still feel that there is a lot more to come in terms of fitness levels, team organisation and individual performances. This is to be expected bearing in mind that we still have twenty-five days, six pre-season games left and five training sessions before the start of the season.
So far we have had the opportunity to have a look at a number of players and have been impressed by a number of their individual performances. In fact this year we have been inundated by players wanting to trial at the club. I suppose this is another sign of the progress that we have made as a football club. There is always a difficult balance to achieve for a manager in pre- season between looking at players in order to identify potential signings and providing enough game time for the players already signed. Dan and I allocate a lot of time to the planning of pre-season to ensure that we have enough games available to identify potential new players and make sure that all players have enough game time and training sessions in order to get their fitness levels to the required level and to ensure that all the players understand what is required of them within our team organisation.
Our style of play requires the players to be very fit and mobile. Consequently we try to sign players that naturally possess these qualities and then work very hard to get the maximum out of the players in these areas. This means that we demand an awful lot from the players in the fitness work that we do in training sessions and some of the sessions can be gruelling to say the least. To be fair to the boys, they buy into it, and show great determination and commitment. We have a rule that there is no place for moaning and groaning – It is important for team spirit that we don’t have ‘energy sappers’. If we all demand only the highest possible standards from ourselves and each other and rather than cut corners we all go the extra yard, it will help us in our quest for continued success.
We now come to the business end of pre-season and the focus shifts slightly from fitness to our team organisation and pattern of play. It is important that we continue to develop little partnerships all over the pitch and that all the players know our team organisation and more importantly can apply this in the changing situations that a football match creates. It is also crucial that as a team we are adaptable so that we can use different styles of play and formations in order to combat the strengths of opposition teams and also expose their weaknesses. The fact that we have managed to re-sign fifteen of last year’s squad should mean that our team organisation should be in a good place come the 20th August.
Over the next couple of weeks, Dan and I will be making final decisions regarding the squad. We hope to start the season with a squad of twenty players which will be made up of fourteen or fifteen ‘senior’ players and some talented younger players that we hope to get out on loan in order for them to gain some much needed experience of non -league football. Nine training sessions and four games into pre-season we are making good progress in our preparations for the new season. The players attitude and work ethic has been excellent and everybody is focused on being in the best possible physical condition come the 20th August. The four games played so far have all led to victories and we have only conceded one goal. That being said, we still feel that there is a lot more to come in terms of fitness levels, team organisation and individual performances. This is to be expected bearing in mind that we still have six pre-season games left and five training sessions before the start of the season.
So far we have had the opportunity to have a look at a number of trialists and have been impressed by a number of individual performances. In fact this year we have been inundated by players wanting to trial at the club. I suppose this is another sign of the progress that we have made as a football club. There is always a difficult balance to achieve for a manager in pre season between looking at players in order to identify potential signings and providing enough game time for the players already signed ensuring that they are match fit come the beginning of the season. Dan and I allocate a lot of time to the planning of pre-season to ensure that we have enough games available to look at players and make sure that all players have enough game time and training sessions in order to get their fitness levels to the required level and to ensure that all the players understand what is required of them within our team organisation.
Our style of play requires the players to be very fit and mobile. Consequently we try to sign players that naturally possess these qualities and then work very hard to get the maximum out of the players in these areas. This means that we demand an awful lot from the players in the fitness work that we do in training sessions and some of the sessions can be gruelling to say the least. To be fair to the boys, they buy into it, and show great determination and commitment. We have a rule that there is no place for moaning and groaning – It is important for team spirit that we don’t have ‘energy sappers’. If we all demand only the highest possible standards from ourselves and each other and rather than cut corners we all go the extra yard, it will help us in our quest for continued success.
We now come to the business end of pre-season and the focus will shift from fitness to our team organisation and pattern of play. It is important that we continue to develop little partnerships all over the pitch and that all the players know our team organisation and more importantly can apply this in the changing situations that a football match creates. It is also crucial that as a team we are adaptable so that we can use different styles of play and formations in order to combat the strengths of opposition teams and also expose their weaknesses. The fact that we have managed to re-sign fifteen of last year’s squad should mean that we are in strong position come the 20th August.
On the injury front, Tony Stokes and new signing Sam Holloway have been suffering from muscular injuries, which has prevented them from training over the last week. Nicky Cowley has stepped up his rehab and is making good progress since he had cortisone injections in his knees during the close season to cure a long standing tendonitis issue in his knees. All of these players are obviously crucial to us and with the help of our physio Adam, we are hoping that they will all be fit come the start of the season.
Over the next couple of weeks, Dan and I will be making final decisions regarding the squad.
We hope to start the season with a squad of twenty players which will be made up of fourteen or fifteen ‘senior’ players and some talented younger players that we hope to get out on loan in order for them to gain some much needed experience of non-league football.
Danny Cowley.