|
" It is the second day into pre-season and obviously as usual the weather is hot, but we do take that into consideration. Our thing now though is that we have got to get some work into these boys to get them as fit as we possibly can. We want to be fitter and stronger than we were last year and we take a lot of togetherness and unity as well as getting fit. You will see now that they are going to do some really tough running, which is why I want to get back to them to pull them along.
" We are hoping that the big players pull the younger players along, they are sometimes fitter than us at the moment but that they drag everybody along. So we are showing a good start with the team spirit thing, but this is a tough physical ask that they are going to do now and you get with them and you try to jolly up everybody along, but it is good for morale.
" The weather is not making it any easier for the staff, never mind the players. It is tough, we are in the top end of the country and we don't usually get heat like this as often as we have done in the past. We have to deal with it though, I think that the lads will be glad of this heat when they come to November and December and it is blowing a gale and it is freezing cold and the ground is rock hard because there has been a severe frost. So they will enjoy this weather for the short time that they probably get it.
" There are a couple of lads in here from Scotland and James Marwood is the son of Brian and he has been at Newcastle. It is a time of the year when you can look at trialists and just see how they compare with the players that you have got already at your club. So you don't lose anything by having a look at other people you know, we are just going to do that over the next ten days and see where they compare with what we have got. "
" We have had the balls out a little bit this morning but they will be out this afternoon and then we will be able to judge them. They look fit enough though, which you would expect of 20 and 21-year old lads, but the real test is when we do the ball work and that is starting this afternoon.
" This period is the right time for people to throw names at you, you can just look at them and there will be lads as well that haven't got fixed up at clubs which would have expected to get fixed up. You might look at them as well so it is a time where we have got a facility to do it. We have got a massive open field here, we have got all our coaching staff on site and we can split into groups this afternoon and have a look at the players that are knocking about at the moment.
" Obviously if Ben (Williams) goes then we need a goalkeeper, we are trying to replace Danny (Graham) and obviously Ben's deal would involve a striker, and then we need possibly one more player at the moment. Then we have to see how the season starts, we have got a good group of players there, see how the season starts. Then it will always throw up that you might find yourself a little bit short in there through lack of form, injuries or one thing or another. I think that we are not a million miles off with what we have got at the moment though.
" We will be doing a bit more of the same as we are doing today to get the players ready. It is not a nice time for players, they enjoy it and they enjoy finishing and having done the work that they have put in. You can see that it is a tough session for them and that there is some long hard physical work, but like I said to everybody, my key is improving on what we did last season, and this is all part and parcel of it. "