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Last O'Driscoll Spain Blog

RedZoneJim

By RedZoneJim
in Football Chat

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spudski

spudski

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It's so refreshing to get an engaging intelligent manager, that is willing to share his thoughts and philosophy's with the fans, and not just churn out throw away 'football' comments.

Whether it's his own doing or he has been asked to do it by the Club, either way, it's a positive move to help fans understand what is going on. Something fans of this Club have needed for years.

I personally appreciate these updates.

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Carey 6

Carey 6

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What is reassuring is his comment;

"....it was clear there are some areas in which we are still lacking. Be assured we are seeing what you are seeing and are working to address these things...."

Makes a change.

He also said that Kilkenny was brilliant against Charlton last season, we certainly weren't seeing that!

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Jesus

Jesus

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City's players are now back in Bristol after their pre-season training camp in the Spanish heat. Upon the team's return, head coach Sean O'Driscoll provides an exclusive written update for supporters about the benefits of the training camp.

There were a few blurry eyes when we arrived back into Bristol at 4am on Friday, following our delayed flight from Alicante.
All in all it felt like a very constructive week. The players engaged in what we were doing on and off the training pitch and, as a group, it was really important we all got to know each other better, not just the players but the coaching and support staff too as there have been a lot of new additions in that area during the close season.
Our various team meetings all had the underlying theme of ‘what does it take to be successful?’ with success defined not simply as winning or losing or league position, but in terms of achieving consistent improvement and attaining small goals.
It was interesting to listen to Joe Root’s analysis of his 178 not out score at the close of play in the Ashes on Saturday.
When asked about his own personal milestones in the game and England’s approach on Saturday having lost three cheap wickets on Friday evening, Root would only talk about meeting small targets and doing what needed to be done to achieve those.
It perfectly underlined the point that if you get so preoccupied with the final outcome the danger is you will take your eye off all the things you need to do to actually get there.
Using the example of the Red Arrows again they want to put on a performance every time they do a show but there is also an inherent danger in what they do. How do you give the pilots the freedom to fly and entertain but without making them so fearful they become scared to perform with freedom? It’s a constant balancing act.
Sport’s the same. You want players to express themselves and perform but not feel so scared by the prospect of making a mistake that they play too safe and within themselves.
For the players we’ve got, England’s football team has consistently underperformed over the past few years. The pressure and scrutiny on them is such that no one wants to be the one to make a mistake and get hammered for it by the media and public. What happens? They become distracted by the big picture ‘what ifs’ rather than just focusing on the little things which need doing at that moment. The result? Stifled performances and more often than not unsatisfactory results even in victory.
This is not something you can just switch on and off like a light. Players need to first believe in it and then have the confidence to actually do it. We, as the coaching staff and players, can sit and pontificate all day about what we want to achieve and how we want to do it but we kept saying to the players all week ‘Behaviours, behaviours, behaviours.’ If what they are doing does not back up what they are saying it is just words and we won’t ever achieve what they are saying they want to achieve.
On the penultimate night the players wanted to give the new boys the initiation of singing in front of everyone, but it ended up being like a mass X Factor audition with everyone, staff included, having to do it. There are some really good singers in this group! Everyone fully entered into the spirit of it and it was very funny.
Since we’ve come back to pre-season training we’ve done a lot of 11v11 games. Because we’ve had quite a big turnover in players, we are trying to include all the young players and are introducing a whole new way of doing things; this allows us to better reflect on what happens on a Saturday while enabling us to try out different formations and combinations of players to find the best balance for the team. That might not always be the most popular or best individual players, but we need to find a balance that means the team functions better than it has in the past.
We finished with a very competitive small-sided game. These are the kind of sessions players love because they are less restricted and people can play with more freedom, but they are also the sorts of sessions where players forget about responsibility and form bad habits.
If the final score is 10-9 and they are all fantastic goals you don’t mind, but if it’s 10-9 and it’s been because of mistakes or sloppy play that’s not good. If a team got three goals clear we stopped it and asked why it had happened. It sparked some really good attacking and defending play and a very competitive end to a productive, enjoyable camp.
We are a squad that is going through a big transition. There were a lot of things to feel very positive about from the Forest Green game on Saturday but it was clear there are some areas in which we are still lacking. Be assured we are seeing what you are seeing and are working to address these things.
In an interview last week Jose Mourinho said of managing expectations at Chelsea, “The point is not to be patient, the point is to be intelligent. If you want to be successful you need stability. We cannot be changing our philosophy, our methodology, our way of playing, our way of thinking every six months.”
Patience is pointless if you’re not on the right path in the first place. But the by-product of being intelligent in understanding exactly where the team and club are, and why things are being done the way they are, is patience. Realism so often gets misinterpreted as being negative but if you're not realistic about where you really are how can you ever improve?

Please keep supporting your local team.

Sean O'Driscoll

For me, "England’s football team has consistently underperformed over the past few years. The pressure and scrutiny on them is such that no one wants to be the one to make a mistake and get hammered for it by the media and public" sum up perfectly how I feel about Fontaine. The poor lad at the moment looks like a rabbit in the headlights!! Stop giving him grief and watch him improve.

Anyway, on another note, a great read again from SOD.

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spudski

spudski

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He also said that Kilkenny was brilliant against Charlton last season, we certainly weren't seeing that!

No disrespect to yourself... but this is the type of thing football managers are up against.

Players are often asked to do a certain job... we often don't know what that job on the field is.

Because what we would like to see doesn't often happen, we presume a player has under performed or played badly.

If a player does as his manager has asked but we don't know what it was...does that mean a player has played badly? No...

Yes...Players can under perform tactically, technically or physically or make mistakes... but's it's not always the case they've played badly...just not how some people would like to see it.

As is the case with the signing of Haywood. Before he's even played or not, people are having a go...because they can't comprehend why he's been brought in.

SOD has seen his experience and how he conducts himself within a squad... something our young players can learn from.

A paragraph from the blog that stood out for me, that fans need to understand is this one...

'Since we’ve come back to pre-season training we’ve done a lot of 11v11 games. Because we’ve had quite a big turnover in players, we are trying to include all the young players and are introducing a whole new way of doing things; this allows us to better reflect on what happens on a Saturday while enabling us to try out different formations and combinations of players to find the best balance for the team. That might not always be the most popular or best individual players, but we need to find a balance that means the team functions better than it has in the past.'

SOD is trying to find a balance to the team that functions well. This as he says may not include our best individual players.

Fans imho need to understand this. It's no point asking what will be our formation or team this year, it doesn't work like that. It's finding a group of players that work as a unit, understand one another and play as a team.

For example... Albert is undoubtably a player that is good at what 'he does'... often exciting on the eye to fans.

But imho, he unbalanced the team last season and we were too reliant on his individual skills... our own downfall. We didn't play as a unit or team. I think SOD realised this when he came to us too.

I can see a few players who fans believe should be playing, being dropped or played as Subs... something maybe a few fans should understand why. Hopefully these types of blogs by SOD will keep fans informed as to reasons for his selections in the future.

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RedZoneJim

RedZoneJim

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it was intresting to read the comment about about balance and not always fielding the best players because of it,

Which brings me back to the point I've made before that up till now we've signed players just because of their name and reputation not where they can fit into the team or a particular style of play. We've got a right mish mash and we've paid too much for them.

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Nogbad the Bad

Nogbad the Bad

Posted
Posted

City's players are now back in Bristol after their pre-season training camp in the Spanish heat. Upon the team's return, head coach Sean O'Driscoll provides an exclusive written update for supporters about the benefits of the training camp.

There were a few blurry eyes when we arrived back into Bristol at 4am on Friday, following our delayed flight from Alicante.
All in all it felt like a very constructive week. The players engaged in what we were doing on and off the training pitch and, as a group, it was really important we all got to know each other better, not just the players but the coaching and support staff too as there have been a lot of new additions in that area during the close season.
Our various team meetings all had the underlying theme of ‘what does it take to be successful?’ with success defined not simply as winning or losing or league position, but in terms of achieving consistent improvement and attaining small goals.
It was interesting to listen to Joe Root’s analysis of his 178 not out score at the close of play in the Ashes on Saturday.
When asked about his own personal milestones in the game and England’s approach on Saturday having lost three cheap wickets on Friday evening, Root would only talk about meeting small targets and doing what needed to be done to achieve those.
It perfectly underlined the point that if you get so preoccupied with the final outcome the danger is you will take your eye off all the things you need to do to actually get there.
Using the example of the Red Arrows again they want to put on a performance every time they do a show but there is also an inherent danger in what they do. How do you give the pilots the freedom to fly and entertain but without making them so fearful they become scared to perform with freedom? It’s a constant balancing act.
Sport’s the same. You want players to express themselves and perform but not feel so scared by the prospect of making a mistake that they play too safe and within themselves.
For the players we’ve got, England’s football team has consistently underperformed over the past few years. The pressure and scrutiny on them is such that no one wants to be the one to make a mistake and get hammered for it by the media and public. What happens? They become distracted by the big picture ‘what ifs’ rather than just focusing on the little things which need doing at that moment. The result? Stifled performances and more often than not unsatisfactory results even in victory.
This is not something you can just switch on and off like a light. Players need to first believe in it and then have the confidence to actually do it. We, as the coaching staff and players, can sit and pontificate all day about what we want to achieve and how we want to do it but we kept saying to the players all week ‘Behaviours, behaviours, behaviours.’ If what they are doing does not back up what they are saying it is just words and we won’t ever achieve what they are saying they want to achieve.
On the penultimate night the players wanted to give the new boys the initiation of singing in front of everyone, but it ended up being like a mass X Factor audition with everyone, staff included, having to do it. There are some really good singers in this group! Everyone fully entered into the spirit of it and it was very funny.
Since we’ve come back to pre-season training we’ve done a lot of 11v11 games. Because we’ve had quite a big turnover in players, we are trying to include all the young players and are introducing a whole new way of doing things; this allows us to better reflect on what happens on a Saturday while enabling us to try out different formations and combinations of players to find the best balance for the team. That might not always be the most popular or best individual players, but we need to find a balance that means the team functions better than it has in the past.
We finished with a very competitive small-sided game. These are the kind of sessions players love because they are less restricted and people can play with more freedom, but they are also the sorts of sessions where players forget about responsibility and form bad habits.
If the final score is 10-9 and they are all fantastic goals you don’t mind, but if it’s 10-9 and it’s been because of mistakes or sloppy play that’s not good. If a team got three goals clear we stopped it and asked why it had happened. It sparked some really good attacking and defending play and a very competitive end to a productive, enjoyable camp.
We are a squad that is going through a big transition. There were a lot of things to feel very positive about from the Forest Green game on Saturday but it was clear there are some areas in which we are still lacking. Be assured we are seeing what you are seeing and are working to address these things.
In an interview last week Jose Mourinho said of managing expectations at Chelsea, “The point is not to be patient, the point is to be intelligent. If you want to be successful you need stability. We cannot be changing our philosophy, our methodology, our way of playing, our way of thinking every six months.”
Patience is pointless if you’re not on the right path in the first place. But the by-product of being intelligent in understanding exactly where the team and club are, and why things are being done the way they are, is patience. Realism so often gets misinterpreted as being negative but if you're not realistic about where you really are how can you ever improve?

Please keep supporting your local team.

Sean O'Driscoll

For me, "England’s football team has consistently underperformed over the past few years. The pressure and scrutiny on them is such that no one wants to be the one to make a mistake and get hammered for it by the media and public" sum up perfectly how I feel about Fontaine. The poor lad at the moment looks like a rabbit in the headlights!! Stop giving him grief and watch him improve.

Anyway, on another note, a great read again from SOD.

I'd be very interested to know how many games you actually watched last season.

Even if you only saw the home games you'd know that Fontaine's continual aberrations were enough to try the patience of a saint, and some.

The fairly muted criticism he actually got at matches was well merited; this season, if he stays, we all start afresh.

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Monkeh

Monkeh

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I'd be very interested to know how many games you actually watched last season.

Even if you only saw the home games you'd know that Fontaine's continual aberrations were enough to try the patience of a saint, and some.

The fairly muted criticism he actually got at matches was well merited; this season, if he stays, we all start afresh.

I think Shaun watched all the home games he was in charge of at the very least

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