Fitness

[Deadly_D'Jaffo]

Apparently Nige puts extra emphasis on the fitness of his players, so why were the players blowing out of their arse for the last 30 mins? We were told that Higdon is far off the pace of the other players but you couldnt tell that yesterday.

Could we have overdone the game time in pre season with 3 games in the space of a week (Huddersfield, Fenerbahce & York)?

 

[WeareBlades]

Could have done with starting pre season abit earlier tbh, but saying that we had a long season, longer so than most so there is argument on both sides. Even with the pre season we had we picked up a lot of knocks.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Apparently Nige puts extra emphasis on the fitness of his players, so why were the players blowing out of their arse for the last 30 mins? We were told that Higdon is far off the pace of the other players but you couldnt tell that yesterday.

Could we have overdone the game time in pre season with 3 games in the space of a week (Huddersfield, Fenerbahce & York)?

Maybe, but they sounded so off the pace vs York that everyone assumed they were just saving their energy for the Bristol City game. I doubt Clough wanted the Fenerbahce game in truth - it was crowbarred into a busy schedule already in place, for reasons aside from Clough's main aims of the preseason friendlies. But I don't think that's an excuse for the team fading so visibly - and I'm still amazed we didn't see changes much earlier on Saturday given how clear this was.

 

[S5Blade]

Too many games in pre season in such a short space of time. In an interview Clough said he thought we probably had one too many friendlies. Guess that's what has bitten us on the arsed!

 

[Rodley]

A fair few players have been carrying injuries during the pre-season so won't be fully up to speed - Flynn, Scougall, McNulty etc. I think it showed in their performances.

 

[bricktop]

That was one of my observations as well yesterday. We looked to visibly tire in the second half. Scougall especially, and he seemed to tire a lot in the second half, much like he did last season.

 

[Bulletnut]

FFS, in the 70's they'd all go off on the ale for the summer. No modern diets, no watching their weight and all that bollocks, but when they'd finished their pre-season they were ready to go. There's no excuse for the modern player to not be fit for the first game. Bunch of pampered fuckers can't even get the adrenaline pumping enough to get them through a home game, on a carpet of a pitch and with a big crowd behind them.

I hope Cloughie ripped 'em a new arsehole rather than did as some on here did and make excuses for them. Overpaid fucking pansies, put that on the dressing room wall Jim Phipps, because that's what this 100% Blade thinks they are, until they prove different.

 

[super_pig]

That was one of my observations as well yesterday. We looked to visibly tire in the second half. Scougall especially, and he seemed to tire a lot in the second half, much like he did last season.

thing is Scougall runs more in the first half than the others do in the 90.. i think he just needs to pace himself a bit better. you can't fault the guy for effort though

 

[stannyblade]

thing is Scougall runs more in the first half than the others do in the 90.. i think he just needs to pace himself a bit better. you can't fault the guy for effort though

Well he was missing for most of the game Saturday. I like Scougall but if he carries on like that then Nige will be having a tough decision to make.

 

[ScoobBlade]

I think scougall was marked out if the game, cotterill said he played smith to combat scoogs, I think if was just a gameplan that paid off

 

[SwissBlade]

Well he was missing for most of the game Saturday. I like Scougall but if he carries on like that then Nige will be having a tough decision to make.

Apart from tiring he played ok. Up and down and mostly where it mattered

 

[Rollerball]

FFS, in the 70's they'd all go off on the ale for the summer. No modern diets, no watching their weight and all that bollocks, but when they'd finished their pre-season they were ready to go. There's no excuse for the modern player to not be fit for the first game. Bunch of pampered fuckers can't even get the adrenaline pumping enough to get them through a home game, on a carpet of a pitch and with a big crowd behind them.

I hope Cloughie ripped 'em a new arsehole rather than did as some on here did and make excuses for them. Overpaid fucking pansies, put that on the dressing room wall Jim Phipps, because that's what this 100% Blade thinks they are, until they prove different.

*CLAP* agree totally, clough senior had the right idea taking his forest side down to a pit face to see what hard slog for a comparative pittance to pay players wages looked like.
Tired from playing football, Jesus h Christ on a bike, there are 40 year olds play on a Sunday seem fitter than modern dat players.
Ask your self the question for £1,000 per week, let alone shrek and his £250,000 a week, how many 90 mins a week would you do?
They should try a 12 hour night shift 4 nights a week in a accident and Emergancy dept at a hospital then tell me 90 mins 3 times a week makes you tired.
These are well paid, conditioned athletes that mostly run less than 10 miles in a game, Ffs I'm 48 and could do 10 miles a day 7 days a week, double that when I was half my age, and I didn't class myself as being particularly fit.
Get a grip Nigel and sort these prima donnas out, they should be all able to run for 90 mins and go home and sort the missus out for an hour and still hit the gym.

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

FFS, in the 70's they'd all go off on the ale for the summer. No modern diets, no watching their weight and all that bollocks, but when they'd finished their pre-season they were ready to go. There's no excuse for the modern player to not be fit for the first game. Bunch of pampered fuckers can't even get th.e adrenaline pumping enough to get them through a home game, on a carpet of a pitch and with a big crowd behind them.

I hope Cloughie ripped 'em a new arsehole rather than did as some on here did and make excuses for them. Overpaid fucking pansies, put that on the dressing room wall Jim Phipps, because that's what this 100% Blade thinks they are, until they prove different.

Got to admit that's how I feel after some games Bulletnut.

 

[Zanzibar]

A fair few players have been carrying injuries during the pre-season so won't be fully up to speed - Flynn, Scougall, McNulty etc. I think it showed in their performances.

How does that fit with Clough's statements that the best in practice get the call up.

 

[alcoblade]

FFS, in the 70's they'd all go off on the ale for the summer. No modern diets, no watching their weight and all that bollocks, but when they'd finished their pre-season they were ready to go. There's no excuse for the modern player to not be fit for the first game. Bunch of pampered fuckers can't even get the adrenaline pumping enough........

But if a bunch of fat lads are playing against a bunch of fat lads, being a fat lad is not a hinderance.

There's no doubt that the modern footballer is far fitter than the 70s footballer. It's all relative to the opposition.

I never really bought into this "too much football" excuse before, but when every professional in the game repeats the same thing, you have to accept that there's something in it.

UTB

 

[Rufus Smalls]

Player's fitness is one subject that winds me up big time.

At the start of the season it's lack of matches that is the problem and they need games under their belt. Then a few games in it's the number of games that makes the players tired including the Xmas fixtures. Towards the end of the season it's the fact that it's been a long season ! Exactly which part of the season are the players actually fit enough to complete 2 full games a week ?

The commentators are no better as they constantly make excuses for piss poor quality in the Premier league due to tiredness. The seasons are pretty much identical every year so why don't the clubs make sure a player is actually fit for the job he is very well paid for.

Footballer's need to realise how lucky they are playing a team sport where their team mates can cover for their below par fitness levels and can come off the field after 60 mins to a standing ovation.

Compare that to individual sports like swimming and cycling where if you do not put the hard yards in and bust a gut to break into the top 1% of your chosen sport then you earn a pittance.

(Rant over)

UTB

 

[super_pig]

Compare that to individual sports like swimming and cycling where if you do not put the hard yards in and bust a gut to break into the top 1% of your chosen sport then you earn a pittance.

UTB

lmao.. Cav and Wiggo are on prem wages

 

[Chicken with no head]

Shouldn't the title to op be excuses
I'll edit this. What I'd like to see over the next couple of weeks is partnerships developing in all areas, more understanding of each other's play, it is early days yet. I think I've gone over the top a bit looking for them looking for excuses.