Training Tomorrow

Come on media department, stop keeping us on tenterhooks and post up a first day back gallery, so we can see who took training

 

Hearing stories Mr Styles is still in Dubai.

But as I don't do instagram .......

 

Is he joining Ronaldo!?

 

I kind of think this week is okay as long as the fitness and sports science coaches are around - do we know who is still there though and who has or hasn't gone with Duff?

However, one thing players do like is to see up front is the overview of the whole plan for the pre-season and that won't be finalisable until the new HC is in place. Also there are subtleties even in the fitness programmes that depend on the style of play the HC uses.

Therefore, whilst I don't think there's yet need to panic there is need to act with urgency and have the right person in by, say, next Monday - this time next week should be plenty if the focus and energy is there from the Board.

The thing that is really perturbing (and some of the dismissive rebuttals on here remind me of the MK Dons last pre-season) is the lack of player recruitment. The plain fact of the matter is that when Mads goes in the next day or two we will have lost 6 of the 18 on duty at Wembley including 4 starters. We have signed 0 players with L1/EFL experience and there is seemingly nobody in the pipeline - this despite recruitment working independently of the HC, we are constantly told.

There is no room for complacency - today marks the 50th signing by other L1 clubs - and I, for one, would like to see us urgently at least getting the team back to the level of proven ability it had last season, if not improving on it, particularly up front.

 

I would hope to have somebody in by Wednesday or Thursday considering we have our first pre season game on Saturday.

 

If the Board have a mind to appoint one of the Martins as Duff's replacement then a pre-season friendly might be a chance for one of them to ensure the Board have a choice to make - appoint externally or from within.

 

Extended time due to internationals

 

Khaled said he'd been given a few extra days off with him being on international duty.

 

So each team in the division has roughly averaged 2 signings so far with us only having made one ,therefore by maths we are indeed 1 player short of the league average , right I am not sure that is enough reason to be pressing the panic button , if & when a new coach is appointed I am sure any player shortage will be addressed & with the loan market not likely to fully kick in until the premier league league clubs have formulated their squads then it could be a while before any loans arrive but I feel sure they will.

 

so who did take training today ?

 

Toby doing bleep tests, and Tina massaging any achy groins.

 

Don't think there was ever any likelihood of him starting at Worksop somehow if we're trying to sell him to the highest bidder.

 

What it does do, every day we are without a head coach is possibly put us on the back foot in terms of player recruitment.

Will this end up being a season where we panic and bring in players on deadline day for instance.

If we had identified targets, we should be already be all over em otherwise other clubs will also be shopping at the same store!

 

Khaled referenced at length in the past about the ideal requirement to have players in for a full pre season otherwise you end up in the scenario when you spend the first couple of months getting a player up to speed (I.e. Norwood) but the longer we don’t have a head coach the longer it’s going to take to get players to commit also. We don’t need to panic we just need to be complete the process as quickly as we can given the circumstances.

 

Are players likely to come when they don't know who the head coach will be.

 

My point exactly. We should be all over our targets now but can't because we have to wait for recruitment of a new head coach.

 

Khaled said they had every scenario covered before duff went. So I imagine they had a list of candidates. Hopefully make a appointment soon.

 

Probably not. Most people in any line of work would expect and want to see their boss who they will work with day in day out, before committing.

 

My fear is that we’ll be playing catch up once again over the first 2-3 months of the season.
The club has known for a couple of weeks that Duff was leaving and a replacement should’ve been in place by now.

 

What about if hes in work and we're sorting compo and the legal bits.