Jones Outlines Pre-Season Plans

Assistant Manager happy to have training underway and confident ahead of new season

Preparations have begun for the 2010-11 Barclays Premier League season at Christopher Park with the players returning to training last Friday, ready to start building towards kick-off on August 14th.

Speaking after the lads’ first session Assistant Manager Graeme Jones outlined the focus of the work to be completed over the next five weeks, with a simple plan to make the coming season a big success;

“We need to be a competitive Premier League outfit in every single game, that’s the plan,” said Jones.

“As long as we are just that we’ll improve on last season.

“It’s a tough start, I don’t think anyone wanted to play Blackpool in the first game with the momentum they finished with last season.

“I watched them at Newcastle in April and they were excellent, especially on the ball. So it will be a demanding test, but I don’t know of any easy games in football never mind the Premier League alone so we’ll be prepared for the game.”

So far the club have tied-up the services of Steve Gohouri on a permanent deal after his impressive loan-spell last season, and brought in Argentine striker Mauro Boselli from Estudiantes, and Jones is confident both will bring new elements to the team;

“Mauro is a very good all-round player, but his biggest strength is his movement and his goals. We all felt that was what was needed to help improve on last season and we’re delighted to have him here.

“The big thing with Steve is that he got himself in the right physical condition last season, which took around six weeks.

“He got himself into a position where he could push himself physically, which benefitted him a lot and he’ll be coming back a few days earlier than the other World Cup representatives which says a lot about his hunger for the new season.”

The lads get back to work on Friday as pre-season training gets underway again

In the meantime, with training underway, Jones hopes that two trips abroad will not only raise the intensity of the players’ work effort but also do wonders for team-spirit, a vital ingredient for any team as the World Cup has showed;

He said; “We’ve all been looking forward to getting back to work, and I was really pleased with their attitude on the first day back.

“We’re a year-on now and we all know each other a lot better and their application to the work put in front of them has been perfect.

“We’ll be using a few new methods this time round, but they’re all based upon the same policy of huge volume early on with moderate intensity, and progress to lower the volume and raise the intensity as the season gets closer.

“Sessions gradually become shorter, but the intensity of the work grows which is how we set out last summer.

“We’ll be going to Sweden for five days and get three sessions a day in whilst we’re there.

“As a result we’ll quickly make-up a lot of sessions on other teams, and do the same when we travel to Austria where we’ll also play a couple of games.

“The trips will also bring the players closer together and I think we’ve all seen during the World Cup the importance of team-spirit. Teams like Argentina, Germany and the Netherlands showed how much that contributes, and it’s highlighted when you consider the negativity within the French camp.”

Jones also spoke about the differences he’s experienced of pre-season training from being a player to Assistant Manager;

“I never thought too deeply about it until it actually started and then I thought ‘I’ve got a bit of catching-up to do here!’

“It’s completely different now in the position I’m in. As a player you turn-up and you’re responsible for your own performances.

“Now, we as a team are responsible for 40-professional players, so there’s a great deal of thought that goes into it, and we’ve had a good start.

“We know how great it is to be involved in football and I’ve told them never to take that for granted.”

Is bobby still at the World Cup?