- Clement orders ten days of extra training to boost endurance.
- Ruiri McConville welcomes the fitness camp and increased squad competition.
- New Performance Director Dr Paul Ford arrives to fix injuries.
Philippe Clement has called the Norwich City players in for ten days of extra training. What is interesting is that the players seem to be up for it.
Fitness
While the team are currently enjoying a week off after an intense season Clement revealed that next week they will be brought in for an extra ten days of fitness training.
The reason that this is being done is because Clement was concerned about the issues that plagued the team, both in terms of endurance and the injury problems that meant 14 players were sidelined at one point.
Approval
Ruiri McConville is one of the players who is keen to get involved, even if he is not entirely sure what this ten day fitness fest will entail
“We’ll see what happens, but we’ll all enjoy it and get ready for next season. I can certainly imagine it’s going to be tough.”
McConville also believes that a shake-up of the squad is coming and he welcomes the competition
“You need that player beside you that’s going to push you on and make you better, and that’s certainly what’s happened with me, and you can see the strength we have in each position”
Improvement
Norwich City majority-shareholder Mark Attanasio used his end-of-season Canary Call cameo to confirm the arrival of Performance Director Dr Paul Ford MBE.
This in conjunction with an emphasis on fitness should hopefully help to get the team through the Championship season.
You don’t need to be a performance expert to know that the Championship is a tough, physical league and this approach bodes well for next season.
Break
For those concerned that Clement may be pushing the Norwich City team too hard it should be emphasised that the players will be getting a break after the ten day fitness session.
It is also sensible given that other teams have had problems when players have come back from major tournaments.
Given it’s a World Cup year this feels like a smart, pre-emptive move on the manager’s part to boost the team.
McConville also talked about how this could benefit the “togetherness” of the squad and I think this is a smart way of looking at it.
Marginal gains
You often hear the term “marginal gains”, that little extra 5 to 10 per cent that can make the difference.
Steps like this for me show that Clement is looking at every potential angle to improve the team.
