With Head Coach Tony Walmsley returning to training on Monday we take one last look at the movements of the ‘Gaffer’s’ recruitment mission in the U.K. and hear his approach to the Hyundai A-League pre-season.
Before returning to Australia, a progress meeting with the owner Mike Charlesworth and Peter Storrie was very positive. Peter has since visited the Central Coast and is optimistic about how we are positioned.
Mike is fully engaged and looking forward to the changes being implemented, especially around entertaining football, innovation and fan engagement.
We have decided to spend pre-season domestically and have just announced two matches to be played in Canberra, with more pre-season news on the horizon. Overseas trips are ideal for team bonding, but not as good as hard work so we are minimising travel to maximise minutes on the pitch.
We have brought training times forward to enable a bigger output from the players. This will enable that our ‘more training-better training’ mantra comes to life.
The timing of our Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 fixture has placed increased demands on our planning. However the home draw allows for more preparation and fits our desire to play as many pre-season games as close to home as possible.
On the technical front there are a few changes taking shape at Tuggerah with Brice Johnson (strength & conditioning), John Young (performance analyst) and Matt Nash (goalkeeping coach) have joined John Hutchinson (assistant coach), Andrew Nealon (team physiotherapist) and Matt Leach (team logistics) on the support staff. we are gearing up for a new program with additional focus on innovation in the analysis and high performance management space.
The first group of players started training this week and have returned from the off-season in great shape.
There’s a real optimism leading into pre-season and I can’t wait to get started.
See you soon, Gaffer
