Are Ayr Manager's comments on the knocker? (fitness)

[Forza Fred]

Brian Reid quoted in the Daily Ranger as saying...

“My biggest worry when coming here was match fitness, having had only one game in the last seven or eight weeks.
“But I don’t think they looked any less fit than Hibs"


If he is accurate and we struggle to match it fitness wise with a part time outift, no wonder we are struggling in the SPL..or is it just bravado?

[Phil D. Rolls]

I think Hibs are unfit as well, and have been all season. Does anyone know how easy it is to get a squad fit mid season?

[PapillonVert]

"You can take a horse to water....etc"

In other words, unless they want to improve and get fit, it ain't gonna happen.

For some reason, Hibs seem cowed by "player power" and won't address the central issue - a bunch of essentially lazy gits who are more concerned about their social outings and clubbing than knuckling down and being professional sportsmen.

As someone said yesterday, RP must now be sorely regretting not giving 100% backing to John Collins and allowing that crew of unprofessional wage thieves to dictate what happens in the dressing room and on the training field.

Time to start reading the Riot Act in the dressing room....the alternative is continuing decline, although we can't be far from rock bottom now.

Maybe Eddie Turnbull could volunteer to be the one who delivers a few home truths? I would pay good money to witness that one!

[Rattus Norvegicus]

When Jefferies came in at Hearts the first thing he noticed was that the players were unfit. A long summer of fitness training coinciding with the departure of Tom Ritchie has resulted in a far fitter squad.

The second change was in the changing room. Getting the players to work as a team rather than individuals/cliques as was the case under Laslo.

IMO the rot at Hibs started when Petrie went behind JC's back and allowed player power to take a hold. If JC had remained, one thing you would not be arguing over would be fitness. The composition of the current squad however is a moot point.

It was very noticeable how tired the Hibs' defence looked at the goal in the derby.

[Bostonhibby]

"You can take a horse to water....etc"

In other words, unless they want to improve and get fit, it ain't gonna happen.

For some reason, Hibs seem cowed by "player power" and won't address the central issue - a bunch of essentially lazy gits who are more concerned about their social outings and clubbing than knuckling down and being professional sportsmen.

As someone said yesterday, RP must now be sorely regretting not giving 100% backing to John Collins and allowing that crew of unprofessional wage thieves to dictate what happens in the dressing room and on the training field.

Time to start reading the Riot Act in the dressing room....the alternative is continuing decline, although we can't be far from rock bottom now.

Maybe Eddie Turnbull could volunteer to be the one who delivers a few home truths? I would pay good money to witness that one!

:agree: every word, a shower of watery horses!:wink:

Its one thing being fit, another wanting to be and using it, this ones in the heads of quite a few and I would prefer to see us park them as early as possible. The rot has set in to such an extent that it is probably better to have a few new but perhaps unknown faces in whose hearts are in it and maybe have a bit of pride in the job.
It may not be the worst team in my time following Hibs but I do think some of the worst attitudes are on display and I think Calderwood has got one of the toughest jobs any Hibs manager has had for some time.

With hindsight, if the player revolt thing was true, I wish Collins had been allowed to sack quite a few then and only bring in players with the professional approach he was looking for,(I know he signed some dummies as well).

We now look like we have a significant group of players who fit the football bit in around their social life or at least doing it properly to the best of their ability is not as high on their list of priorities as it should be.

[PaulSmith]

When Calderwood came into the club he brought in a new fitness coach from Aston Villa, Jim Hendry, but it's the tall baldy guy who can be seen pre-match out with the players.

[lucky]

Apart from Lewis Stevenson and Hogg no one else is left from the JC time at ER. So i doubt we can trace it back to then. Hogg and Stevenson by all accounts are model professionals. So it appears that the players brought in by Mixu and Yogi have poor attitudes. cant comment on CC players cos he has not brought anyone in.

But we are in a piss poor state and are in free fall. Going by yesterdays game the 1st division is going to be hard going.

[Phil D. Rolls]

When Jefferies came in at Hearts the first thing he noticed was that the players were unfit. A long summer of fitness training coinciding with the departure of Tom Ritchie has resulted in a far fitter squad.

The second change was in the changing room. Getting the players to work as a team rather than individuals/cliques as was the case under Laslo.

IMO the rot at Hibs started when Petrie went behind JC's back and allowed player power to take a hold. If JC had remained, one thing you would not be arguing over would be fitness. The composition of the current squad however is a moot point.

It was very noticeable how tired the Hibs' defence looked at the goal in the derby.

:agree: The move actually started in Hearts box. It was obvious that all the Hibs players were slow in getting back.

[HIBERNIAN-0762]

I keep banging on about it but ever since we moved in to the 5 star health and spa resort....sorry East Mains training ground we have looked unfit...

Get their lazy ***** up Arthurs Seat and on the dunes at Gullane...that should sort them out a bit instead of treating them like hotel guests

Rant over....again :rolleyes:

[Bostonhibby]

I keep banging on about it but ever since we moved in to the 5 star health and spa resort....sorry East Mains training ground we have looked unfit...

Get their lazy ***** up Arthurs Seat and on the dunes at Gullane...that should sort them out a bit instead of treating them like hotel guests

Rant over....again :rolleyes:

Apparently Riccarton has mysterious restorative powers, think it might be fully booked though. Don't think I will be talking the pash out of the Yams training facilities and its effects for a wee while.

[sahib]

Apart from Lewis Stevenson and Hogg no one else is left from the JC time at ER. So i doubt we can trace it back to then. Hogg and Stevenson by all accounts are model professionals. So it appears that the players brought in by Mixu and Yogi have poor attitudes. cant comment on CC players cos he has not brought anyone in.

But we are in a piss poor state and are in free fall. Going by yesterdays game the 1st division is going to be hard going.

Lewis Stevenson and Hogg were Collins' favourites. It was the rebellion that gave Lewis his chance iirc. Actually, Lewis is one player who looks fitter and has muscled up a fair bit.
There was a sort of sloth about the team first half which was disappointing as I thought that was a skillful side on paper. We should have been able to pass them off the park but everyone seemed to lack touch as if their new Adidas lead lined boots were giving them problems.:wink:

[CropleyWasGod]

Lewis Stevenson and Hogg were Collins' favourites. It was the rebellion that gave Lewis his chance iirc. Actually, Lewis is one player who looks fitter and has muscled up a fair bit.


Are you sure about this bit? LS was MoM in the LC final. The rebellion came later, before the SC semi.

(apologies for the high acronym count :greengrin)

[Phil D. Rolls]

Lewis Stevenson and Hogg were Collins' favourites. It was the rebellion that gave Lewis his chance iirc. Actually, Lewis is one player who looks fitter and has muscled up a fair bit.
There was a sort of sloth about the team first half which was disappointing as I thought that was a skillful side on paper. We should have been able to pass them off the park but everyone seemed to lack touch as if their new Adidas lead lined boots were giving them problems.:wink:


Are you sure about this bit? LS was MoM in the LC final. The rebellion came later, before the SC semi.

(apologies for the high acronym count :greengrin)

:agree:

[ozhibs]

I keep banging on about it but ever since we moved in to the 5 star health and spa resort....sorry East Mains training ground we have looked unfit...

Get their lazy ***** up Arthurs Seat and on the dunes at Gullane...that should sort them out a bit instead of treating them like hotel guests

Rant over....again :rolleyes:

I'm with you on this,I have been thinking the same thing. I thought thisd facility would give us the edge over other teams. In fact we seem to be better when we had to traips all over the place to find a place to train on. Maybe we should flog it and invest on the the playing pool:-)

[SloopJB]

Brian Reid quoted in the Daily Ranger as saying...

“My biggest worry when coming here was match fitness, having had only one game in the last seven or eight weeks.
“But I don’t think they looked any less fit than Hibs"


If he is accurate and we struggle to match it fitness wise with a part time outift, no wonder we are struggling in the SPL..or is it just bravado?
Totally turned around the story.
He said HE didn't think they looked any less fit than Hibs. You turn it around to us struggling match them fitness wise.

[truehibernian]

I think as a squad we are unfit, hence the reason we concede as many late goals as we do or come under so much pressure.

The fittest team I have seen this season is Inverness Caledonian Thistle. All over the pitch they looked lively for the full 90 minutes and each player looked lean and fit.

McBride came on yesterday and looked so slow when losing possession I was amazed. Surely players who are not in the team/squad should be bursting a gut to get fit and show the manager that they are ready to force their way back in to contention ?

Fittest players on show yesterday for me were young Paul Hanlon, Thicot and Danny Galbraith. They all seemed to play to the 90 minutes and never looked out of breath. The rest were puggled after around 70 minutes. Zemmama looked spent after 30 minutes.

I laughed to myself when I saw big Valdas come on. I am sure he will do us a turn in games however when he ran on, as a sub, it looked like he was wearing lead boots.

[sahib]

Are you sure about this bit? LS was MoM in the LC final. The rebellion came later, before the SC semi.

(apologies for the high acronym count :greengrin)

Yes you are right, but he did rapidly promote McCann and Lewis so I always think of them as his players. That's broadly correct isn't it?:confused:

[CropleyWasGod]

Yes you are right, but he did rapidly promote McCann and Lewis so I always think of them as his players. That's broadly correct isn't it?:confused:

Sure, that's fair enough. :agree:

[HIBERNIAN-0762]

I'm with you on this,I have been thinking the same thing. I thought thisd facility would give us the edge over other teams. In fact we seem to be better when we had to traips all over the place to find a place to train on. Maybe we should flog it and invest on the the playing pool:-)


Glad someone is :cool2:

It was the first thing I noticed a few games after we moved there that how sluggish we looked, perhaps JC seen this as well and the players who betrayed him were already in the comfort zone, strange really but it's looking like the new east main stand...a white elephant :rolleyes:

[Phil D. Rolls]

Glad someone is :cool2:

It was the first thing I noticed a few games after we moved there that how sluggish we looked, perhaps JC seen this as well and the players who betrayed him were already in the comfort zone, strange really but it's looking like the new east main stand...a white elephant :rolleyes:

I think every serious club should have their own training ground, so I don't think it's a white elephant. It's how the training ground is used that's the issue.

[JimBHibees]

I wouldnt underestimate the impact of the recent weather I would imagine we have struggled to train properly or players have struggled to even get there due to the roads. In saying that we have played a few games recently and should have been able to run over the top of a team who have played once in 8 weeks. I am not sure Duffy and Zemmama playing would have helped given that they would be half fit at the moment.

[Bostonhibby]

I think every serious club should have their own training ground, so I don't think it's a white elephant. It's how the training ground is used that's the issue.

:agree: but we do seem to be giving a lot of other clubs the chance to play against us in "bounce" games etc. there , not a problem if we get at least as much benefit out of it but it doesn't feel that way at the moment.

[BEEJ]

Apart from Lewis Stevenson and Hogg no one else is left from the JC time at ER. So i doubt we can trace it back to then. Hogg and Stevenson by all accounts are model professionals. So it appears that the players brought in by Mixu and Yogi have poor attitudes. cant comment on CC players cos he has not brought anyone in.
Zemmama and McCann (on loan at ICT) were part of JC's reign as well. But I agree with the rest.


Totally turned around the story.
He said HE didn't think they looked any less fit than Hibs. You turn it around to us struggling match them fitness wise.
The fact that Ayr, a part-time side, did not noticeably tire relative to Hibs as the game entered the final 15 minutes, is a worthy observation in my view.

[Scouse Hibee]

Great bunch of lads but nowhere fit or strong enough was the shout from within very recently :agree:

[Matty_Jack04]

its all well having the facillities in place but if you dont have the staff to make the best from them ur screwed.
Hendry who cc has brought in will get the majority of his idea's and ways into the training pre season as hard physical training mid season will only help in players tiring by the end of the week, but the drop in players performance since we went to east mains suggests to me the coaching element is way wrong also, ive always thought that when a manager is sacked the coaching team also bear a responsibily and should leave too but we'v kept the majority of them whilst having 3 managers in place.

Theres alot wrong with the set up at hibs theres no getting away from it, we'v needed an experienced manager for along time, so hopefully now we have one he'l have time to sort the playing and coaching part out, the rest is down to petrie and his mob of exec's

[steviehibsleith]

Fitness and stamina is not just about what goes on in the training at EM. The players have to drink and eat correctly away from this and do it 7 days a week to be a athlete and compete on the professional football field. One night on the bevvy and a fried breakfast to recover uses all your reserve energy levels as any sports scientist will tell you .All the games ive seen at ER this season the players falg from 70 mins onwards for the wages being payed and the honour of playing for the hibs most of the squad should try a little harder off the field.

[Perspective]

Fitness and stamina is not just about what goes on in the training at EM. The players have to drink and eat correctly away from this and do it 7 days a week to be a athlete and compete on the professional football field. One night on the bevvy and a fried breakfast to recover uses all your reserve energy levels as any sports scientist will tell you .All the games ive seen at ER this season the players falg from 70 mins onwards for the wages being payed and the honour of playing for the hibs most of the squad should try a little harder off the field.

Correct, but a lot of people on here don't want to hear that.

An enlightened, professional approach to sports science and looking after yourself seems to automatically equate to 'hammer throwers who run about like headless chickens'.

The usual suspects don't have the stamina to compete in our games. Luckily for them, like a few players in the last few years, they happen to be crowd favourites for the odd moment of magic. It's not getting us very far.

[Part/Time Supporter]

Glad someone is :cool2:

It was the first thing I noticed a few games after we moved there that how sluggish we looked, perhaps JC seen this as well and the players who betrayed him were already in the comfort zone, strange really but it's looking like the new east main stand...a white elephant :rolleyes:

Given that Collins resigned the day after it was opened, I would humbly suggest that is rather unlikely.

[matty_f]

I don't think, in all honesty, that we looked much fitter under JC. He just talked about it more than anyone else.

I don't think they're unfit, I think there's a chronic lack of pace in the side, and that makes it look like they're unfit. We look as slow at the start of games as we do at the end, IMHO.

[Pretty Boy]

I don't think, in all honesty, that we looked much fitter under JC. He just talked about it more than anyone else.

I don't think they're unfit, I think there's a chronic lack of pace in the side, and that makes it look like they're unfit. We look as slow at the start of games as we do at the end, IMHO.

Sums it up for me.

I think there is a bit of a lack of fitness for a few individuals, Nish and Riordan to name 2, but overall it's lack of pace that is causing us to struggle.

I said it on another thread and i'll say it again; On Saturday we were playing a part time 2nd division team who hadn't played for weeks. We should have flown out the blocks and tried to blow them away early doors, Aberdeen style. Instead we started at walking pace and slowed to a gentle stroll. The worrying thing is that thinking about it i can't think of a plyer who is capable of flying out the blocks and playing with speed and the mentality required to really punish an inferior team.

[BEEJ]

I don't think they're unfit, I think there's a chronic lack of pace in the side, and that makes it look like they're unfit. We look as slow at the start of games as we do at the end, IMHO.
:agree: I think that's a factor too.

A 'team' that plays like a bunch of individuals with no cohesion and little anticipation of what team-mates are going to do, will always look slower and more ponderous.

[joebakerforever]

I don't think, in all honesty, that we looked much fitter under JC. He just talked about it more than anyone else.

I don't think they're unfit, I think there's a chronic lack of pace in the side, and that makes it look like they're unfit. We look as slow at the start of games as we do at the end, IMHO.

Well my recollection of the matches at Easter Road under John Collins was certainly different. I recall that we used to come on strong in the last quarter.

JC used to have the French fitness coach, Roger Propos, making periodic visits and his team's appeared to me to have superior fitness levels to those since.

Whilst apart from Galbraith ,we do lack natural pace, imo the outfield players still seem to slow down appreciably in the last quarter. In my book that indicates lack of stamina which is surely part of being unfit :confused:

[matty_f]

Well my recollection of the matches at Easter Road under John Collins was certainly different. I recall that we used to come on strong in the last quarter.

JC used to have the French fitness coach, Roger Propos, making periodic visits and his team's appeared to me to have superior fitness levels to those since.

Whilst apart from Galbraith ,we do lack natural pace, imo the outfield players still seem to slow down appreciably in the last quarter. In my book that indicates lack of stamina which is surely part of being unfit :confused:

Propos' work was to get the players in a condition that prevented injuries, rather than having them power through 90 minutes.

We scored a late goal against Dundee Utd, finishing that game much the stronger side only the other week there. We have a new fitness coach at the club brought in by Calderwood from Aston Villa, so I don't think it's a fitness/stamina issue.

[joebakerforever]

Propos' work was to get the players in a condition that prevented injuries, rather than having them power through 90 minutes.

We scored a late goal against Dundee Utd, finishing that game much the stronger side only the other week there. We have a new fitness coach at the club brought in by Calderwood from Aston Villa, so I don't think it's a fitness/stamina issue.

Propos was employed as a fitness coach -check it out for yourself.

Re the Dundee Utd match, as Peter Houston mentioned, the match changed when Swanson was sent off and were a man short. So it's not surprising that we ended up finishing stronger against ten men ( I was there btw).

[since90plustwo]

does anyone know who the fitness coach is at hibs just now? and if its the same person as last year? might just be me or were we a whole lot fitter last year as a team, we scored so many goals last year in the final 5 mins as we were much fitter than the opposition, but this year they just all look knackered after about 70 mins :confused: cheers