Pre-Season Schedule Having an Effect?

So here we are, entering the period officially known as "squeeky bum time", and with everything to play for. Just the right time for the teams form to dip alarmingly. But is this something that was inevitable from the moment the players returned to pre-season training?

Much was made of Jim Magiltons decision to bring the first team back for pre-season training earlier than had ever been done before. In fact, it was earlier than most clubs had ever done before. In this age of sports science and the eternal quest for getting that all important extra edge on your rivals, it seemed to be quite pro-active on the part of the club.

It wasnt the first time that Jim Magiltons management reign had witnessed a minor revolution in the way the football club is run. The afternoon training session, with the intention of getting the players in tune to a 3pm kick-off time, was initially met with much complaint from the players but was eventually agreed to be a "good thing". Similarly so with the early return to pre-season training. Several players have mentioned in their subsequent media interviews how they disliked having their summer holiday cut much shorter than they were used to, but that they felt fitter at the start of the season. With the club making such a strong start to the season, the pre-season schedule was inevitably heralded as perhaps the defining factor in this.

But fast forward seven months and we might just be about to see the side-effect of this schedule. The good form displayed up to christmas, particularly at home, has gradually dwindled. Sure, good performances have still been in evidence, but they are more sporadic than they were earlier. Individually, many of the players who started the season so brightly have also reflected this gradual depreciation. Its maybe no coincidence that Alan Lees return to form has come after a month or so largely being rested on the bench. Perhaps that early start to pre-season training is now having an adverse effect on the players in that, physically, they are having an earlier finish to the season aswell.

Jim has made a lot of smart and innovative decisions in his young managerial career. If this season fizzles out into nothing, it will be curious to see how pre-season training is shaped this summer.