Worksop expect ‘professional’ start

THE buzz word for Worksop Town as pre-season training begins this weekend is ‘professional’.

Assistant manager Dave Frecklington told the Guardian this week that he and boss Simon Clark wanted to stamp their mark on the club from the outset.

Speaking ahead of the summer’s first training session on Saturday, he said: “We have a structure that we use for the first session back, to get the lads back on their feet, get them used to each other.”

“We hand out all the training kit and we want to make everything professional this year.”

“The players will be given a code of conduct that they will sign and we will sign and that makes sure they know exactly where they stand with what we expect, and what they can expect from us.”

The code of conduct will relate to expectations on time keeping when it comes to training sessions, players bringing the right equipment and the policy on fines.

Players’ conduct on social networking sites may be included in the code, to stop ‘behind the scenes’ information being leaked or the club’s reputation being tarnished.

Frecklington explained the need for such an agreement: “We were amazed when we walked in last year and there was no structure when it came to conduct and fines.”

“We had a few occasions last year with issues over club discipline, but this will be more professional because they need to know where they stand.”

“They’ll get a copy and the club will keep a copy.”

“It’s a chance for us to put our stamp on the club.”

The assistant manager moved to quell any fears players may have about a brutal start to their training regime on Saturday.

He said: “The first session is just about getting them on their feet again, but they’ll not run more than 300m at a time.”

“It’s never too crazy, we don’t want them running miles and miles.”

“It’s always a little bit cagey because players don’t know each other so we’ll do a meet and greet session.”

“And at the end we’ll do some ball work, when they’re getting tired.”

With supporters getting impatient ahead of what is expected to be a season when the club will challenge promotion, Frecklington admitted he too was raring to go.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

“The first session is the one everyone anticipates and it will be good to get the lads in for the three hours and get going again.”

Related topics: