Sleepless Nights

The root cause of these can be one of two things. One is if a session goes particularly badly. I’ll be rolling around in bed for hours, frustrated at why it wasn’t up to scratch. The other is if it goes particularly well. In that case I’ll come home buzzing and won’t be able to relax sufficiently to drift off to sleep.

The last two nights of training have left me sleepless for the right reasons. As I mentioned already, Diarmuid Laffan has joined myself and Conan in leading training. With each passing session we are beginning to gel and land on the same wavelength. That combined with the lads’ application has contributed to a very positive start.

Mainly due to our work commitments, we have yet to sit together to lay out the plan. Instead, we have been relying on text, emails and phone calls for planning purposes. It has meant there have been a few bumps but nothing that the players would have picked up on.

In terms of our manner at training, I would normally be more on the grumpy side. It takes a bit more to push Conan over the edge but his frustration has come out from time to time too. That’s why getting Laffan on board is so important as it brings enthusiasm and a fresh voice.

Coming mainly from a rugby background, I’m hoping he can bring guys out of their shells. The group is the quietest team I have ever been involved with but that’s not to say the lads don’t work hard or have a lot to offer. I’ve always been impressed with how in rugby, they are very good at creating a supportive environment for the players. We’re looking to Laffan to try and bring a bit of that.

So far, Conan and himself have put together some excellent sessions. I’m involved in the planning but more on the periphery and that’s ideal for me as I can focus on my fitness.

We’ve tried different approaches to pre-season in previous years. 2008 and 2011 would have heavily focused on ball/skill work whilst 2009 and 2010 would have been more running. This year, we want to get a tough five or six weeks under our belt to lay solid foundations for the year. We need to train at a higher tempo and to do that the roadwork needs doing.

Everyone has access to a google spreadsheet where they can log their own attendance and also times for some of the runs we are doing. This is optional but I’d like to see everyone buy into it.

One of the things we have been doing at training is a 1.6km run at the start. It’s been good to see lads logging their times afterwards. Sometimes there may be a tendency not to bother if your time wasn’t impressive but that hasn’t been the case. No-one is being judged at this stage but I think by putting your time against everyone else’s, it says you are challenging yourself. I certainly feel that way and was pissed off when I had to put down a time on Monday which was six seconds slower than Thursday. I don’t want to have to do that again.

So far the attitude of everyone has been top notch. That will give us something extra this year but I’m under no illusions that we have to improve our football if we are to bridge the gap in quality that existed last year.

On Saturday we go to The Hague to play in their annual invitational and that will give us a good indication where we are at. It will also allow us try out different players and tactics which we would be too cautious to do in a competitive tournament. We will then have a month to improve the fitness and tune the football before returning to The Hague for the first Benelux round.