down-the-slope
31-07-2010, 08:39 AM
It was always going to be a hard ask to come back so early and try and get a decent pre-season training for the SPL while trying to fit in the Europa league matches and contrasting styles required.
After this week that is not going to get any easier for the Manager / Team / Fans with the visit to Carlise on Sunday sandwiched between the Maribor games.
Whay exactly does Yogi do? ....play the team / style he wants for Thursday...or continue SPL prep by giving majority of squad a work out :rolleyes:...glad its not me trying to decide. There will be big numbers down on Sunday and given some of the reactions on here (if they are mirrored by those who attend matches regularly?) there may be less of a tendancy for the fans to see it as just pre-season work out and more Manager / Team on trial?
If we want to be getting into Europe regularly (and I think we do and will) it is going to involve the early stages and this conflict every year...so we have to find a way round it (praise due to Motherwell and Pa Broon here :agree:)
In the past we often seemed statisfyed with beating an EPL team at ER pre-season....(even although if you looked closely we would be 2/3 weks ahead in training and they less bothered about result / rotating squad etc)....only to go on and have a mediocre season....so thats not the answer
Do we have to bring the players back even earlier? Play in some of those invatation tournaments to get more compeditively sharp? Forget Europe and only prepare with SPL in mind? Play first choice 11 for all / most of all pre-season...even if that means some of squad is behind in fitness / match sharpness, but gives main 11 greater pitch time?
Lots of questions....not many answers....and the clock is ticking
After this week that is not going to get any easier for the Manager / Team / Fans with the visit to Carlise on Sunday sandwiched between the Maribor games.
Whay exactly does Yogi do? ....play the team / style he wants for Thursday...or continue SPL prep by giving majority of squad a work out :rolleyes:...glad its not me trying to decide. There will be big numbers down on Sunday and given some of the reactions on here (if they are mirrored by those who attend matches regularly?) there may be less of a tendancy for the fans to see it as just pre-season work out and more Manager / Team on trial?
If we want to be getting into Europe regularly (and I think we do and will) it is going to involve the early stages and this conflict every year...so we have to find a way round it (praise due to Motherwell and Pa Broon here :agree:)
In the past we often seemed statisfyed with beating an EPL team at ER pre-season....(even although if you looked closely we would be 2/3 weks ahead in training and they less bothered about result / rotating squad etc)....only to go on and have a mediocre season....so thats not the answer
Do we have to bring the players back even earlier? Play in some of those invatation tournaments to get more compeditively sharp? Forget Europe and only prepare with SPL in mind? Play first choice 11 for all / most of all pre-season...even if that means some of squad is behind in fitness / match sharpness, but gives main 11 greater pitch time?
Lots of questions....not many answers....and the clock is ticking