"Wolves divided, will forever be defeated"...

[Toon Wolf]

http://www.expressandstar.com/sport...04/07/stephen-hunt-drops-hint-of-wolves-rows/

It's the E & S I know, but some interesting insight into how this season has fallen apart. Nothing surprising, but it's clear Mick had lost a section of the dressing room, that his training methods were draconian and ineffective and that these factors were there long before the 5-1 defeat to West Brom and should have been addressed far quicker.

 

[Langers]

I wonder if a lot of that is directed at Johnson? The last line there certainly points towards that.

 

[PuntsWolf]

Well Johnson is a cock who just stands there with his hands on his hips. How on earth is he captain?

 

[Langers]

It's in his contract?

 

[Boozad]

It certainly points to Mick's methods being more demanding on the physical aspect of the game as opposed to working on skill sets, but results have hardly been an endorsement of Connor's methods either. I wonder how many players actually train on the positional aspects of their game?

And it's hard to ignore the 'leadership qualities' that have been missing while Henry has been injured comment, that can only be aimed at one person.

 

[Toon Wolf]

With regard to the training, if a coach's only answer is to make training harder then he's asking the wrong questions. In the middle of a competition period, training should be 85% technical and skill based and designed to keep players/athletes sharp and in peak condition. If you excessively load an athlete during the competition phase of the year then you are simply going to get poorer performances. That is a basic tenet of training periodisation. If the Wolves coaching staff have ignored this in order to enforce Mick's "Work harder" philosophy then they should be out of work in June.

As for Connor's new training not working, well unfortunately it's shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. It's too late to have any impact, I'm afraid. What I know for certain is that over-training during the competition season is a fatally flawed method and always has been.

 

[YoungWolf]

It's in his contract?

I know this is a joke but I do believe that this is the case.

 

[Boozad]

With regard to the training, if a coach's only answer is to make training harder then he's asking the wrong questions. In the middle of a competition period, training should be 85% technical and skill based and designed to keep players/athletes sharp and in peak condition. If you excessively load an athlete during the competition phase of the year then you are simply going to get poorer performances. That is a basic tenet of training periodisation. If the Wolves coaching staff have ignored this in order to enforce Mick's "Work harder" philosophy then they should be out of work in June.

As for Connor's new training not working, well unfortunately it's shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. It's too late to have any impact, I'm afraid. What I know for certain is that over-training during the competition season is a fatally flawed method and always has been.

So bearing all of this in mind (which I agree with 100% by the way), would it have been possible for any manager to have turned our season around in such a short space of time? I think we all know that Mick should have gone before January, but that was a chance missed, so from what we did have, which was a vacancy for a manager in February, would it have been possible to save us or at least get us playing any better?

 

[Haggstone]

So bearing all of this in mind (which I agree with 100% by the way), would it have been possible for any manager to have turned our season around in such a short space of time? I think we all know that Mick should have gone before January, but that was a chance missed, so from what we did have, which was a vacancy for a manager in February, would it have been possible to save us or at least get us playing any better?

I think so yes, you often get a 'bounce' in results when a new guy takes over, that might have been all that was needed as the league position wasn't too bad at the time. It might have given us some breathing space enabling us to crawl over the line with a few results here and there.

Instead we had the guy that has been coaching these players for years promoted to manager and so there was no honeymoon period, no change in attitude from the players and no improvement in performances and results.

 

[Toon Wolf]

So bearing all of this in mind (which I agree with 100% by the way), would it have been possible for any manager to have turned our season around in such a short space of time? I think we all know that Mick should have gone before January, but that was a chance missed, so from what we did have, which was a vacancy for a manager in February, would it have been possible to save us or at least get us playing any better?

Not with more demanding physical training that's for sure. For the record I said many times, sacking Mick in January or later was a mistake. Having not sacked him earlier then he should have been left to finish out the season. At the time of sacking him there was little anyone could have done to save us, regardless of training methods. The foundations of failure were already well and truly set IMO.

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

Well i think Toon has summed up this situation perfectly.
It's too old fashioned as a form of training methodology for the modern game.
Yet it comes as no surprise because whatever a forums members views have been on the football at wolves, lack of passing skills, ball control and some sort of cohesion in the defence and midfield, has been in everyone's comments at some point.
Passing and moving has to be the number one complaint and running more, was never going to fix that.

What seems very clear reading the things Hunty doesn't say, is that Rojo waltzing in as skipper, started the rot in the dressing room, and it was never dealt with.

This surprises me, as Mick has been so proud of the unity amongst the players, so i fail to believe he couldn't see on the training ground, what the fans could see from the stands.
There needs to be a change of players, but more than ever a manager who can re unite the dressing room has to be top priority right now, and unfortunately i don't think that's Paul Ince, either for the last seven games or the next seven seasons.

 

[Walnut]

As regards the training methods. The great Brian Clough said once pre-season is done then players just need a little fine tuning.

When Teddy Sherringham was at Forest, he turned up for training one day, and was told, along with the rest of the players to take a walk up the River Trent, and then go home.
That's good management.

 

[YoungWolf]

It was either Cloughie or at Liverpool where I heard all they did was 5 a side.

 

[jd1981]

As regards the training methods. The great Brian Clough said once pre-season is done then players just need a little fine tuning.

When Teddy Sherringham was at Forest, he turned up for training one day, and was told, along with the rest of the players to take a walk up the River Trent, and then go home.
That's good management.

This is a reason why we need someone in by the end of may, this per season coming up is going to be a huge task for the new man, first thing he has to is establish which players wan to stay and play for the club and hip out those who don't. He can then start rebuilding team spirit and freshening things up with some new additions.
I agree with an above comment Ince is not the man to do this, this summer is going to be huge for the club from top to bottom.

 

[catfishwolf]

It was either Cloughie or at Liverpool where I heard all they did was 5 a side.

I read Grobelaar's autobiography years ago (it was written late 80s, before the allegations) and he mentions that the 5-a-sides at Liverpool were really heated, Scots vs IIRC. I vaguely recall him saying pre-season was very tough, lots of running, but to be honest I might have got that confused with any number of shite "auto"biographies from other footballers (off-topic, Bruce's was one of the most interesting I've read, because of what he went through before Liverpool).

 

[Penk Wolf]

TC now calling Ward and Hunt liars.

TC asked about 'dressing room unrest'. "That’s not the case. It’s a strong dressing room but it’s the demands that they put on each other."

 

[Hamlet]

TC now calling Ward and Hunt liars.

TC asked about 'dressing room unrest'. "That’s not the case. It’s a strong dressing room but it’s the demands that they put on each other."

He alludes to it here... but of course he'd deny it - he's the manager!

 

[ROVERT47]

May 14th can't come quick enough when 'TC' can be thanked for all he's done and a new perspective can begin to take place.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

TC now calling Ward and Hunt liars.

TC asked about 'dressing room unrest'. "That’s not the case. It’s a strong dressing room but it’s the demands that they put on each other."

Not sure the bit about calling them liars is the case Penk..

He's quoted somewhere I read this morning that, 'it's another reflection of the intensity and passion of the individual players that proves they all want to do well and it frustrates them when things don't go as they should', kind of thing.

I'll try to find it.

But he did say there were some 'arguments' as the season has dipped... 'Heated exchanges' might have been term he used...