Welcome Roberto Di Matteo and Steve Clarke

[Malandro]

For those that have played sport to an even half decent level I'm not sure what was worse pre-season training or the lead up to pre-season training. That bit about fitness based workouts just brought it all back. It is truly horrible. Fit as a fiddle after but my God does it hurt. Your head wants you to stop, to cheat, to just collapse but you keep going. No nicey nicey coaches either they're all monsters. How I miss it...

Cribbage?

[Dave]

We'll get a buyer for Richards I'm sure but the rest of them will be tough to shift.

Guzan and Bacuna will get offers as well.

For sure. I don't think we'll be demanding big fees for any of them. Bacuna will end up back in Holland and we'll probably bring in something along the lines of what we paid for him (750k-ish).

I reckon Bacuna will still be with us next season. As will Lescott.

[olaftab]

Bacuna with his head sorted will rip up second division teams.

[supertom]

Bacuna with his head sorted will rip up second division teams.

He couldn't rip up a piece of wet value toilet paper

[kieron]

He offered out his own fans. At Villa Park.

There's no coming back from that.

[OCD]

For those that have played sport to an even half decent level I'm not sure what was worse pre-season training or the lead up to pre-season training. That bit about fitness based workouts just brought it all back. It is truly horrible. Fit as a fiddle after but my God does it hurt. Your head wants you to stop, to cheat, to just collapse but you keep going. No nicey nicey coaches either they're all monsters. How I miss it...

It will be a lot more science based now. It will still be bloody hard but back in the day people were just pounded into the ground and it probably be regarded as dangerous these days. Players are also given programmes to do over the summer to keep them ticking over. When I played, we did nothing all summer and then just got pounded on in pre-season.

[ChicagoLion]

For those that have played sport to an even half decent level I'm not sure what was worse pre-season training or the lead up to pre-season training. That bit about fitness based workouts just brought it all back. It is truly horrible. Fit as a fiddle after but my God does it hurt. Your head wants you to stop, to cheat, to just collapse but you keep going. No nicey nicey coaches either they're all monsters. How I miss it...

It will be a lot more science based now. It will still be bloody hard but back in the day people were just pounded into the ground and it probably be regarded as dangerous these days. Players are also given programmes to do over the summer to keep them ticking over. When I played, we did nothing all summer and then just got pounded on in pre-season.

when I got a bit older I kept fit through the summer to avoid that first training session nightmare.

[tomd2103]

For those that have played sport to an even half decent level I'm not sure what was worse pre-season training or the lead up to pre-season training. That bit about fitness based workouts just brought it all back. It is truly horrible. Fit as a fiddle after but my God does it hurt. Your head wants you to stop, to cheat, to just collapse but you keep going. No nicey nicey coaches either they're all monsters. How I miss it...

Now matter how hard pre season was, I always found the first game of the season physically tough.

[Lastfootstamper]

For those that have played sport to an even half decent level I'm not sure what was worse pre-season training or the lead up to pre-season training. That bit about fitness based workouts just brought it all back. It is truly horrible. Fit as a fiddle after but my God does it hurt. Your head wants you to stop, to cheat, to just collapse but you keep going. No nicey nicey coaches either they're all monsters. How I miss it...

It will be a lot more science based now. It will still be bloody hard but back in the day people were just pounded into the ground and it probably be regarded as dangerous these days. Players are also given programmes to do over the summer to keep them ticking over. When I played, we did nothing all summer and then just got pounded on in pre-season.

when I got a bit older I kept fit through the summer to avoid that first training session nightmare.

We tried that once, finished a season strongly, and decided to keep it up all through the summer, maintain a bit of momentum and all that.

First game was still as crippling as any other season!

[OCD]

For those that have played sport to an even half decent level I'm not sure what was worse pre-season training or the lead up to pre-season training. That bit about fitness based workouts just brought it all back. It is truly horrible. Fit as a fiddle after but my God does it hurt. Your head wants you to stop, to cheat, to just collapse but you keep going. No nicey nicey coaches either they're all monsters. How I miss it...

It will be a lot more science based now. It will still be bloody hard but back in the day people were just pounded into the ground and it probably be regarded as dangerous these days. Players are also given programmes to do over the summer to keep them ticking over. When I played, we did nothing all summer and then just got pounded on in pre-season.

when I got a bit older I kept fit through the summer to avoid that first training session nightmare.

I think anyone who has had the experience of not doing anything all summer and then that first training session back has probably become motivated to not let their fitness not drop too much.

[JD]

For those that have played sport to an even half decent level I'm not sure what was worse pre-season training or the lead up to pre-season training. That bit about fitness based workouts just brought it all back. It is truly horrible. Fit as a fiddle after but my God does it hurt. Your head wants you to stop, to cheat, to just collapse but you keep going. No nicey nicey coaches either they're all monsters. How I miss it...

The secret to it is that you keep going. I used to run half marathons in the two months or so I had off, so when I went back to the nastiness of pre-season training I was still very fit, but the pain from being kicked week after week had gone.

[peter w]

The problem being is that you still inevitably drop a level or two over the summer (you never lose your fitness) because of the mental side as much as the physical. You do little fitness work over the season because you only need to go through a series of top-ups and conditioning. The first game was always difficult because your mind isn't as finely tuned as it is when your in February, say. it's also why it's more difficult for a player coming on as a sub in the 75th/80th minute to get up to the speed of the game despite their fresher legs than someone who looks like they might be tiring.

[JD]

There is that as well Pete, totally agree.
Good preseason strength training is good (we used to play beach football and do runs along the sand and dunes for training). There is nothing though to swap for playing, being fit is one thing but being match fit is a completely different thing and a lot more difficult.   

[Brend'Watkins]

As Jack Wilshere showed earlier in the week.  A yard off the pace all the time.

[Diablo]

Where are the photos of the new management team working, like Florence Nightengale, by gas lamp and surrounded by injured, wailing, bodies?