Changing Tune

This time last year we were preparing to go to Budapest for the second round of the Pan-Euro Championship/Shield. My frustration with everything had peaked. I'd told Collie B that I was done with it once the season finished. I'd been thinking about it for a good while so it wasn't just a knee-jerk reaction.

For fear of sounding like a broken record (!), I won't regurgitate all the factors that would bring one to that point of disillusionment but they could be summarised in a few headline one; Munich, team selection, organisation, players buy-in, trainer-player role.

My biggest issue is always the players as Colin leads the off field logistics. The size of the gap between what I would expect as trainer and what players actually do has always fluctuated and rarely aligned (speaking generally). In my mind, the expectations are very straight forward.

- Make every possible effort to turn up to training and be available for tournaments
- Show up on time
- If you can't make training or will be late, communicate that to myself, Colin or Conan
- If you are injured or sick, proactively keep us up to date on your status and what you are doing to solve it
- Don't treat being part of the group as a recreational pastime; it is more important than that!!

Stealing a phrase coined by Cork Ladies Football coach Eamonn Ryan, it's about making the 'winning choices'. I like his play on words. He uses the phrase instead of the word sacrifices, which he hates when it comes to G.A.A. Sacrifice implies some sort of pain or loss. In his mind and mine, being involved in hurling and football is a joy, not a pain. The things which need to be cast aside on the journey are sometimes unfortunate but always necessary if you are going to enjoy it, improve and ultimately win.

I struggle to understand many of the reasons lads give for missing training/tournaments. If you are busy at work, start earlier, work through lunch and a little later.

Lateness is down to the individual in most cases. The same guys are always late, no matter what time training is. In general, it's their own carelessness for not organising themselves properly.

Since Guernsey, a good few guys have gone totally AWOL. Not a word from them. I know their status because I ask their friends what the story with them is. I find it hard to believe that you'd want to be part of something and not be keeping the people running it in the loop. I used to contact fellas when they were injured or absent. Now I don't. The communication channel is two way and thus I'd expect a more proactive approach.

I've tried to disconnect from all the above issues in the last couple of months. It's not that you don't care or you don't think it's important to push home these points but at a certain point, you have to protect what you are getting out of it. As importantly, you must protect what those who are out training and doing the right things are getting out of it. I'm sure there is some consequence to stepping back like this. There will always be a few more that you will get out if you constantly harass them. We may have lost them or get less out of them now.

Back to the current situation and those present. The week immediately after our home tournament we only had six and eight players on the nights we trained that week. Now it is around 12-14. Far from the number we would normally expect or be happy with. The fact I've sidelined the aforementioned frustrations means I've focused more on the positives i.e those at training, and credit to all the lads, the effort has been fantastic.

I've sat out a few of the sessions and from that placing, you can easily observe who is putting it in and who is not. You can tell by the concentration on their faces, the way their body is moving, how they react to a mistake and how vocal they are. It's been very good and it would be difficult to find fault with anyone.
I think the players would generally agree that the sessions have gone well. We've got a good mix of ball drills, running and games. We've also taken on board some of the feedback from the training before the last tournament and incorporated it i.e. more point shooting!!

The tone at training has been a lot more positive too. I’ve ranted less and guys have talked more. A throw away comment by Timmy a couple of weeks ago about how close he’s come on occasions to snapping back at me gives me a good idea where the line is. The relationship between player and trainer is difficult in our situation. We’ve always managed to manage it without conflict and must continue to do so.

Tomorrow, we’ll know where we are at in terms of Guernsey and will use the last two sessions to tune things up. We’ll be down lads but we will again highlight Maastricht 7’s as a turning point in our mentality. The collective is more important than the individual.