Fitness Levels

[Thespence]

"I know Big Sam used to say that we were the fittest around but I think we were far from it," said Duff yesterday. "I don't think we were the fittest when the new gaffer came in. As a group, I think we could have been fitter."

 

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2261282,00.html

[Skirge]

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2008/03/01/united-fitter-now-than-under-sam-61634-20544429/

 

United ‘fitter now than under Sam’

 

Mar 1 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

 

ONE has a reputation for being at the forefront of footballing science, the other as an old school manager. But, according to Damien Duff, Kevin Keegan has improved the fitness of Newcastle United’s squad since Sam Allardyce’s departure.

Kevin Keegan

 

The Irish winger returns to first club Blackburn Rovers for this afternoon’s Premier League game claiming his current boss has improved the squad in body as well as mind, even if it has not been reflected in results.

 

Allardyce, whose methods included wiring his players up to heart monitors in pre-season, has a reputation for getting the best out of players physically, so Duff’s comments about training regimes at Darsley Park come as a surprise.

 

“The gaffer said training has been getting better every week,” said the 28-year-old. “I don’t think we were the fittest before he came. Big Sam used to say we were the fittest around, but I think we were far from it.”

 

Despite having spent most of Allardyce’s reign recovering from a dislocated foot picked up under Glenn Roeder’s management, Duff has noticed a change of emphasis.

 

“One of the gaffer’s quotes is the work you put in on the training pitch comes out on a Saturday,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been doing since he came in. It’s been hard work, and I think that’s what we needed. As a group we could have been fitter. Hopefully, we can take that on to the pitch because that’s where it matters most. There’s no point leaving it here.” More than his training methods, Keegan’s demeanour has most impressed the ex-Blackburn and Chelsea player.

 

“He’s probably the most positive person I’ve ever met,” he said. “He’s been there and done it and hopefully that’ll rub off on us. There’s definitely a buzz around and rightly so – he’s a legend up here. It’s great working with him and I’m loving every minute of it, I’m just desperate to get the first win for him. It’s not a lack of effort, it’s been a case of individual errors and, as soon as a goal has gone in, we seem to have caved in.”

 

If Allardyce did not totally live up to his billing as a scientific manager, Keegan appears to have demonstrated the qualities for which he is famed.

 

“He’s a great motivator, everybody knows that,” Duff added. “He can get into the mind of a player and I’ve enjoyed every moment of working with him. We

 

get on great – I just want to get that first result for him.

 

“It’s positive, the gaffer just breeds that. He’s just positive every day. We’ve been spanked 5-1 by Man United and 3-0 twice in the space of four days against Arsenal, but the next day he still came in as positive as ever. That’s what we need at the minute. We need everyone to stick together. We can’t have any cliques, and I think the gaffer’s brilliant at that.”

 

Keegan refused to put the boot in on Allardyce’s methods, but admitted things had inevitably changed.

 

“I think in the first two or three weeks, some of the players thought the training was quite hard and I felt we were training them quite lightly,” he revealed. “I don’t know whether that is because the previous regime were coming from a different angle. I am not knocking them, but my way is for players to train quite hard. Some clubs maybe think training is training and matches are matches but I honestly believe what happens in training goes on to the field.

 

“Every time a different manager comes in, they come in with different ideas. If Duff thinks the training is harder, wait until pre-season. We have not started yet! The players enjoy working hard, I think.”

 

Obafemi Martins is expected to make his first appearance for Keegan at some time today as the Magpies boss goes in search of his first win, but Emre and Mark Viduka will not be fit to play.

 

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Have your say on the latest news and sport in our

[TRon]

Louise Taylor (The Guardian)

 

Six weeks ago Blackburn's Mark Hughes was in strong contention himself to shape Newcastle's destiny but the Welshman may now feel he had a lucky escape.

 

That's rich considering she was practically pimping him for the job back then.

[lovejoy]

We need to go back to Black.

 

he's working with roeder and clark at norwich, doing a bit of freelance work, he's big into his motivational seminars etc, whether he would come back here or not, who knows, but it would be a good step for us.

 

as for him losing his weight, i think thats more due to his condition than his training methods, he's always been a big lad!

[Thespence]

As many have mentioned Blacks key skill is motivational work these days & we have Keegan for that.

[Tsunami]

We were very leggy last 20 minutes yday. Not fit enough.

[Guest Knightrider]

Fitness is an emotional state as well as a physical state.

[cubaricho]

The first thing Ramos did when he came into Tottenham was try and make them more fit and I read something the other day that each player runs, on average, 1000km more a match than they did before he took over.  Their sudden rise and promise is no coincidence when you hear facts like that.  Let's hope that Keegan can muster some of the same kind of magic.

[Greg]

The first thing Ramos did when he came into Tottenham was try and make them more fit and I read something the other day that each player runs, on average, 1000km more a match than they did before he took over.  Their sudden rise and promise is no coincidence when you hear facts like that.  Let's hope that Keegan can muster some of the same kind of magic.

 

[Dave]

The first thing Ramos did when he came into Tottenham was try and make them more fit and I read something the other day that each player runs, on average, 1000km more a match than they did before he took over.  Their sudden rise and promise is no coincidence when you hear facts like that.  Let's hope that Keegan can muster some of the same kind of magic.

 

 

 

That's some good going.

[Skirge]

We looked fitter but still not fit enough..

[Tooj]

The first thing Ramos did when he came into Tottenham was try and make them more fit and I read something the other day that each player runs, on average, 1000km more a match than they did before he took over.  Their sudden rise and promise is no coincidence when you hear facts like that.  Let's hope that Keegan can muster some of the same kind of magic.

 

 

 

That's some good going.

 

[cubaricho]

Obviously I meant 1000m.