Bounce

We concluded our year's training in Parc50 last night. With no lights and the evenings closing in, we have no option but to relocate. Our home for the remaining ten sessions of the season will be the BSB. Better forward planning this year means we have the nice pitch out there but we are still stuck with the 19h slot which is difficult for a lot of lads to make. It is also out in Tervuren and that is a very busy route at rush hour.

On top of this hurdle is the fact that numbers have begun to tailor off at training and the atmosphere has become a bit flat. The departures of key personalities is a contributing factor as well as people's workloads getting back to normal after the summer break. It's been a long season, stretching back to January and we've covered a lot of ground around Europe since then. It seems to be taking its toll.

My mood has become more irritable too which never helps things. Fellas not bringing gloves, arriving late, not telling me when they won't arrive at all etc are all getting on my nerves more frequently. The group needs a few characters with a bit of bounce in them. Not the type of p1ss artist who mucks around constantly at training, more the lad with the one liner and well timed interjections. I didn't hear anyone make a concerted effort to try and get some momentum into things last night. As with everything, fellas need to step up, especially when the mood is down.

I'm not so concerned ahead of Budapest though. Maybe we were all too wound up prior to Munich. We have Eamonn Ryan coming this weekend for some coaching sessions and his positive energy should transmit itself to the lads. Two good sessions next week and we'll head down in good shape. We've big numbers travelling and some lads are showing particularly well. Ricky kicked three points on the trot last night and is looking lively. Others need to pick it up in the next three sessions and earn their places.

I'd be half depressed after a poor training session and last night would fall into that category. When fellas look like they are going through the motions and not enjoying themselves, a fair share of the responsibility for that falls on the trainer. However, the trainer feeds off the enthusiasm of the group and that stimulates your mind to come up with new ideas. We put down a tough enough week this week but over the course of a long year, weeks like this are inevitable.

Expectation over the next 9 days is clear. Get out of your comfort zone of doing things who wouldn't normally do. Be more vocal and more positive. Show for balls in positions you normally wouldn't. Think about how you are going to make a difference in Budapest. And then actually do what you think/say you are going to do.