Ally Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 As the topic title says, are the players' fitness levels as high as they should be? To me it looked as though Thistle were fitter across the park, which became more apparent as the game went on and particularly after Thistle equalised. Moments before they scored the winning goal, Thistle were breaking up the park with more than 1 man over and indeed the winning goal came from a similar situation. Our midfield were 10-15 yards behind the Thistle boys.I take the point that this could also have been a result of the heads going down after the first goal, which is another problem, however to me it seemed our guys were second to balls far too often in the 2nd half because they're just not in the right condition. Paul McGowan just isn't the same build as he was when he was dictating games from start to finish 18 months ago. Kenny McLean seems to struggle to keep going for 90 minutes and the same could be said for when Carey was at the club. These guys are young men and whilst I can accept that they may have technical deficiencies, fitness is the one thing that can be worked on... and pretty easily! We were woefully short of producing any sort of response in the final 10 minutes because the players were knackered, which quite frankly 4 games into a season is galling.Jim Goodwin can talk in the media during the week about the players hurting etc... but as professional footballers the least they can do is get in the kind of condition that they should be. Time and again when Scottish players head down south to the Premiership one of the first things they comment on is that the players are that much stronger/fitter so they had to work on getting upto speed with them. It's bizarre that the guys up here are able to get away with less, despite being professional and having as much opportunity to work on their conditioning. I seem to remember either Gus or TH saying during one pre season that their team may not be the best in the league, but they were going to make damn sure they were the fittest. We're a long way from this now and I think if we were as fit as Thistle today we would have won. Is a fitness program part of the training at Ralston and are there any procedures or tests in place to ensure their fitness levels are improved/maintained? I'm not wanting this to get into a slagging match about the management, there are ample other threads on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltcoatsbuddie Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 I think the same every week,john mcginn looks done in by half time most games he starts (that's nothing against his ability)but I assumed that it is because we have been chasing shadows since the season began ,when you keep the ball and pass it about the other team do more work ,but lennons philosophy of keeping the ball has deserted him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanarkshire_Bud Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 McLean trying to chase back for Thistle's second looked like he was always going backwards. Not sure if it's really down to a lack of fitness or that fact that Thistle roasted us for 90 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambud Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 In answer to the thread title: yes absolutely, we are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saints0 Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 As the topic title says, are the players' fitness levels as high as they should be? To me it looked as though Thistle were fitter across the park, which became more apparent as the game went on and particularly after Thistle equalised. Moments before they scored the winning goal, Thistle were breaking up the park with more than 1 man over and indeed the winning goal came from a similar situation. Our midfield were 10-15 yards behind the Thistle boys. I take the point that this could also have been a result of the heads going down after the first goal, which is another problem, however to me it seemed our guys were second to balls far too often in the 2nd half because they're just not in the right condition. Paul McGowan just isn't the same build as he was when he was dictating games from start to finish 18 months ago. Kenny McLean seems to struggle to keep going for 90 minutes and the same could be said for when Carey was at the club. These guys are young men and whilst I can accept that they may have technical deficiencies, fitness is the one thing that can be worked on... and pretty easily! We were woefully short of producing any sort of response in the final 10 minutes because the players were knackered, which quite frankly 4 games into a season is galling. Jim Goodwin can talk in the media during the week about the players hurting etc... but as professional footballers the least they can do is get in the kind of condition that they should be. Time and again when Scottish players head down south to the Premiership one of the first things they comment on is that the players are that much stronger/fitter so they had to work on getting upto speed with them. It's bizarre that the guys up here are able to get away with less, despite being professional and having as much opportunity to work on their conditioning. I seem to remember either Gus or TH saying during one pre season that their team may not be the best in the league, but they were going to make damn sure they were the fittest. We're a long way from this now and I think if we were as fit as Thistle today we would have won. Is a fitness program part of the training at Ralston and are there any procedures or tests in place to ensure their fitness levels are improved/maintained? I'm not wanting this to get into a slagging match about the management, there are ample other threads on that! I would tend to agree with you ,but that could just be a symptom of the lack of heart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussellV1 Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 I'm not sure it's a lack of fitness as much a general lack of pace in the team. Scottish Football is all about pace & power, Danny Lennon has built a squad that has neither & that's why we're struggling IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yardley Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) I think it's a combination! I thought there were a few players blowing out their backsides! Harkins and Newton in particular - However Newton was having to do doggies in the first half because of the formation! Thistle keeping the ball off us for long spells meant the players were chasing shadows but the fact we weren't even getting close to them was worrying!! The lack of pace in the team is a major problem - the quickest player we have in the forward areas is probably Teale and he's 34!! Edited August 31, 2013 by Yardley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenw05 Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Deffo a confidence thing a winning team always has that we bit more heart to fight.Also we have a fair amount of older players more content to conserve energy for the 90 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottd Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Fitness levels look OK. The problem is enthusiasm levels which are seriously low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faraway saint Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 I used to suggest, under the previous managers regime, that this was a problem, if you remember we used to lose an awful lot of goals in the last ten minutes of games. I doubt there's a single reason we are where we are but one things for certain, we are on the crest of a slump and it's not easy to get out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windae cleaner Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 I'm not sure it's a lack of fitness as much a general lack of pace in the team. Scottish Football is all about pace & power, Danny Lennon has built a squad that has neither & that's why we're struggling IMO Look at ICT,every season Butcher has to build a new team. It's the same type of player big and pacy he goes for. He knows what is required for this league. Regarding our fitness levels,well Danny Lennon is a fitness fanatic and he will be putting the players through their paces that's for sure. But come a Saturday i don't think the players fitness levels aren't what they should be hence them off the pace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ McG Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 Fitness levels are an issue aswel as Danny's tactical knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloomsbury Bud Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 We'd 38% possession yesterday, its asking an awful lot to stay as strong as the opposition when you are chasing the game to that extent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester Saint Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 We'd 38% possession yesterday, its asking an awful lot to stay as strong as the opposition when you are chasing the game to that extent.That's an unbelievably embarrassing statistic for a team at home.When you then consider it's against a team who haven't been in the top flight for years it's even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyg Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 I know Danny Grainger's been out with a bad injury , but he's been here a month now and I thought he was carrying the Carey spare tyre yesterday ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isle Of Bute Saint Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 Nothing wrong with our fitness levels. The difference yesterday was one team had more hunger than we did to win the game, the other team had a better shape and better organised than us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALBIONSAINT Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 "Hard work beats skill when skill does not work hard"Seem to remember Tony Fitzpatrick having this up on the dressing room wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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