The first team squad are into their second week of pre-season training and the manager reports that he's happy with the way things have been going so far.
"The players seem to be enjoying it.
Credit to them. Each player that we had with us last season had their weight and body fats taken at the end of the season. If they reported back higher than they were last season in either weight or body fat, then they would face a fine. I'm happy to say that we haven't had to fine anybody which shows they have all looked after themselves over the summer.
Although they had a six week break, they didn't have six weeks off. They were all given a booklet with a six week programme to follow. They had 10 days off then they had to start cycling, swimming, golf or similar things that got the legs moving and then during the final four weeks they were running and doing weights. Out of those final four weeks, they were working 16 out of the 28 days. A lot of work went on behind the scenes before last season finished to get the programmes in place, and our close season/pre-season planning was probably finished at the start of April.
The booklets had a lot of information. Not only did it have all the close season training, it also had the complete plan for our pre season schedule right up until our first competitive game on the 15th July. The players knew exactly when they were back, when they would have single or double sessions and whether those sessions would be on the pitch or in the gym. We like to be organised and methodical and I want to set standards that I was used to in my playing career for the players.
It also helps that players like Scott Mercer have already worked under us and he would be able to tell the others what to expect when they came back. 90% of our pre season work involves the ball and that has come as a bit of a surprise for players like John Rankin who have been brought up like me with an old school type of pre season where you ran non stop for two weeks before you touched a ball.
Andrew Lombard now does injury and pre-hab prevention with the boys each morning. This is something new we have introduced. Some players start this as early as 9.15am and all the lads are in the gym by 9.30am. The whole group starts at 9.30am however anybody with a specific weakness works an extra 15 minutes on that particular weakness each day.
In the afternoons at the start of pre -season, the boys follow a generic weights programme where most are doing the same for the first couple of weeks. They will then start to follow their own individual programmes as not every player needs to work on the same things.
By the time we play Cowdenbeath we will have had 16 training sessions. The players will be tired going into the first two games. Their legs will be heavy from the work we are doing so both the Cowdenbeath and Annan games will just be a continuation of pre-season. We will actually train the morning of the Annan game.
I've gone with three friendly games as I think with those three games and then four cup games that seven games before the first league game on the 5th of August will be enough for the players.
It is also important that the players eat within a certain time of finishing their exercise and we have made improvements in that department. We make sure that the players are fed every day straight after training and this also allows us to control what they eat whilst they are at the club and that the correct food is going back into their system to help them refuel quickly.
One other addition is the introduction of heart rate monitors. When the lads first came back, we spent the first day they came in carrying out tests. From those tests, one of the things that Andrew was able to work out was each players maximum heart rate. Its stored into a live computer system and the players have all got their own individual belts that they'll wear each day. We can monitor what they are doing every day and how hard they are working during each part of a session. The system is "live" on Andrews computer and if someone isn't working to the level we expect, we can quickly ask them to work harder as they are currently not working hard enough. There is now no where to hide for the players during each session.
Under 20 coach, Eddie Warwick has been up watching how we do our sessions and taking notes as we want to the Under 20's pre-season to be the same as the first team. We want it planned so that the 20s are on the same training programme so that if they have to train with the first team they're already used to the same type of training which is a lot of ball work at high intensity. Andrew has already designed a weight programme for the Under 20s so when Eddie gives them a gym session its all already written by Andrew.
Of course, there are still improvements that we would like to make but it all takes time, it takes money and it's not all going to happen overnight. The board have bought into everything I have asked for in regards to improving standards off the pitch for the players and I am grateful for the backing they have shown me.
I have to say, pre-season is the best time for us as coaches/managers. For the first two weeks especially, there is no pressure to get results and you don't have to spend a lot of time away from the training ground doing video analysis or scouting as no one is playing games It's just you and the players. Training is intense and serious but the first two weeks allows us time to bond a relationship between ourselves and the players and for us all to get to know what we expect from each other throughout the season ahead".
