the players have been training until 6pm every day. Is this a good thing? The InterToto isn't worth the players being cream crackered by October.. Separately,. he says that Craig Bellamy has been great in training and that he adds a new dimension as basically Al and Cort are target men who lack pace and movement..

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Answers

AP.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Al and Cort are target men who lack pace and movement..

Wozza said THAT? Not in so many words surely?

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Did he go on to say, "Robert Lee is too slow now, Gary Speed was a waste of money & we're rubbish without Byer & Solano on form" that would be a welcome bit of honesty.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

They probably would've trained until 6pm at the Riverside but were charged by the hour so kept it to a minimum to acheive mid table obscurity.

Bartman should choose his words carefully; adding a third dimension could confuse me.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

I'm sure they weren't physically working out for 8hrs straight. Probably just having 2 sessions with a few hours break in the middle. For a week or two, it won't kill them. If theywere going at that pace throughout the season, then it could be a problem.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Jonno - no. I'll post the statement. it's more praising Craig Beallmy and pointing out that Shearer and Cort lack these characteristics. There's an expanded version on one of the Internet sites, which I'll post as well. Ciara - thing is, the internationals have only had three weeks holiday. If that isn't a tailor-made excuse for another crap season, I don't know what is...

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

IMO, that's all it is...an excuse. Part of being a professional footballer playing well enough to get picked for international duty is shortened breaks and more work. Those who find it that much of a problem don't play internationals. I really think part of our problem is that our players don't train hard enough...or perhaps I should say 'properly'. Another problem we have is that we flog our 'best' players to death rather than resting them when they need it and giving our younger players a chance. That's something that I think should be on-going, not just at the start of the season. From what I've read it seems most teams work harder in preseason, then settle into more of routine during hte season.

Re the internationals who aren't injured(Speed and Given?), weren't they given an extra week or at least a few extra days before having to report back? And is this really any different to World Cup years when internationals get a similarly short break?

As I said before, I really doubt they're running around for 8hrs straight. Double sessions are not a new concept, and hopefully the coaching staff is watching out for individual needs during the sessions. So players who've had shorter breaks(and therefore should be closer to fitness) would not be worked as hard as those who had the full month off.

Of course given the history of our staff, assuming is even more dangerous than usual(!) ;-))

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Ciara, I thought that Speed et al were getting another week but Aaron was in the pics from training in this week's Ronnie so I presume they were all forced to come back with the rest of the players.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

In fairness, if we had proper training facilities and a sensible training staff who are intelligent about training methods, instead of the players running on the beach at Tynemouth, I'd be less concerned about the wisdom of them coming straight back to intensive training...

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

LOL....good point. Maybe they're trying to get all the training in now before Tynemouth sands freeze over. Then they'll be left knocking on Softie's door begging to use his multigym. ;-)

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

I really doubt they're running around for 8hrs straight

I think you're on a safe bet there Ciara. Most of them can't (or won't?) run around for 90 minutes straight. :-)

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Besides, if they did run for 8 hrs straight (or even 90 mins) they'd faal in the watta at St Mary's Lighthoose.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

That's one way of getting rid of Marcelino.... >:-)

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Nah - he wouldn't get that far. He'd probably slip on a piece of fish and chip paper.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

So it took seven days for someone to say something nice about Bellamy. Remarkable (or remarketable if you're Coventry CFC). I bet it was like Chariots of Fire down there: a bunch of imposters running in slow motion. Harrumph!

-- Anonymous, July 08, 2001

When Liverpool were good the last time they spent all of pre season getting fit. Once season started ball work kept them going.

Poor darlings - only 3 weeks off - they earn more in a week than probably all of us on here earn in a year. A bit of sweat won't hurt.

People may ridicule the Intertot cup - bottom line it's a passport to the EUFA cup and on ability we should have a chance of getting through - most of the clubs in this are there on merit - ie they ain't good enough. The only stopper is that we aren't fit enough - hence work your guts out lads.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 2001