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It was hard to imagine how things got quite so bad last season as Wanderers split into two teams for an entertaining 10v10 match at the end of their morning training session yesterday.
The welcome sight of Max Clayton patrolling the left, Zach Clough buzzing around on the ball and Kaiyne Woolery bursting a lung to out-pace a defender were just a few reasons why the smattering of fans left Burlov feeling optimistic for the future.
On paper, as we have said so many times, there is no reason Wanderers should be a League One club – but they are, and they will have to deal with it.
Unlike last season, when the chaos seemed to be dragging the club down, there is now more of a serene calm, an orderly feel about the squad.
Here in Sweden everything feels more straightforward.
This is the land of IKEA, of functionality over form, and so it is the ideal environment for the Whites to go back to basics and analyse the minutiae of what really went wrong on the pitch last season, without having to point unnecessarily to the boardroom or the High Courts.
In Phil Parkinson we trust. Modest and rather unassuming in character compared to his right hand man Steve Parkin, the Wanderers boss has instilled a level of discipline in the camp we have not seen for some time.
The session was structured, messages were reinforced, the bus was packed up and it was back off to the hotel. No fuss.
Of course Parkinson welcomed the travelling fans with a chat and a smile, and they responded in kind, but they left feeling pleased, not because he had pressed some flesh but more because they believed he could do something to fix their club.
Parkin – who also has considerable managerial experience – cajoled the players into giving their all, barking motivation at those who needed it. Parkinson took a step back and took notes.
The pair clearly work well together and have laid down clear ground rules on this trip to let the players know exactly what they represent.
Aside from a local goalkeeper who stepped in at the last minute to substitute for Ben Amos, there were three new faces on show.
Mark Beevers is a towering presence at the back but is clearly happy with the ball at his feet too. He played alongside Rob Holding during the mini-game, and it is an appetising prospect to think that could happen when pre-season begins on Saturday at Helsingor too.
Chris Taylor only played a brief part in the practice game, coming off as a precautionary measure, while Jamie Proctor led the line on the opposite team to Gary Madine and showed up well, especially in the air.
How much you can really read from a bounce game like that is negligible but there was a noticeable difference in tone. This was work, definitely not play.
Parkinson wanted to use the game to look at how his players ran off the ball but also took a keen interest in their body language.
Players were often criticised last season in what looked an “unhappy team” at times, the hands-on-hips and finger-pointing was nowhere to be seen on a pleasant morning on the outskirts of Malmo.
Darren Pratley has come under particular scrutiny since joining the trip a day late because of talks with QPR but his determination and work-rate here were exemplary. It is rare the public get a chance to see the Wanderers players go up against each other and so some interesting little competitions were developing all over the pitch, nowhere more so than between the skipper, Jay Spearing, Josh Vela and Liam Trotter in the middle of the pitch.
Fans had travelled from the UK, other parts of Sweden, even Norway to see the players in action and even on such a small scale it was nice to see a connection re-established.
There will be more coming out to Denmark for the first competitive first-team game on Saturday where Parkinson and his staff will look to put some of this hard work into practice.
It won’t be flashy but the early signs are that it will be effective. And if there is one thing Wanderers have cried out for in recent times, it is a bit of stability.
Source
The welcome sight of Max Clayton patrolling the left, Zach Clough buzzing around on the ball and Kaiyne Woolery bursting a lung to out-pace a defender were just a few reasons why the smattering of fans left Burlov feeling optimistic for the future.
On paper, as we have said so many times, there is no reason Wanderers should be a League One club – but they are, and they will have to deal with it.
Unlike last season, when the chaos seemed to be dragging the club down, there is now more of a serene calm, an orderly feel about the squad.
Here in Sweden everything feels more straightforward.
This is the land of IKEA, of functionality over form, and so it is the ideal environment for the Whites to go back to basics and analyse the minutiae of what really went wrong on the pitch last season, without having to point unnecessarily to the boardroom or the High Courts.
In Phil Parkinson we trust. Modest and rather unassuming in character compared to his right hand man Steve Parkin, the Wanderers boss has instilled a level of discipline in the camp we have not seen for some time.
The session was structured, messages were reinforced, the bus was packed up and it was back off to the hotel. No fuss.
Of course Parkinson welcomed the travelling fans with a chat and a smile, and they responded in kind, but they left feeling pleased, not because he had pressed some flesh but more because they believed he could do something to fix their club.
Parkin – who also has considerable managerial experience – cajoled the players into giving their all, barking motivation at those who needed it. Parkinson took a step back and took notes.
The pair clearly work well together and have laid down clear ground rules on this trip to let the players know exactly what they represent.
Aside from a local goalkeeper who stepped in at the last minute to substitute for Ben Amos, there were three new faces on show.
Mark Beevers is a towering presence at the back but is clearly happy with the ball at his feet too. He played alongside Rob Holding during the mini-game, and it is an appetising prospect to think that could happen when pre-season begins on Saturday at Helsingor too.
Chris Taylor only played a brief part in the practice game, coming off as a precautionary measure, while Jamie Proctor led the line on the opposite team to Gary Madine and showed up well, especially in the air.
How much you can really read from a bounce game like that is negligible but there was a noticeable difference in tone. This was work, definitely not play.
Parkinson wanted to use the game to look at how his players ran off the ball but also took a keen interest in their body language.
Players were often criticised last season in what looked an “unhappy team” at times, the hands-on-hips and finger-pointing was nowhere to be seen on a pleasant morning on the outskirts of Malmo.
Darren Pratley has come under particular scrutiny since joining the trip a day late because of talks with QPR but his determination and work-rate here were exemplary. It is rare the public get a chance to see the Wanderers players go up against each other and so some interesting little competitions were developing all over the pitch, nowhere more so than between the skipper, Jay Spearing, Josh Vela and Liam Trotter in the middle of the pitch.
Fans had travelled from the UK, other parts of Sweden, even Norway to see the players in action and even on such a small scale it was nice to see a connection re-established.
There will be more coming out to Denmark for the first competitive first-team game on Saturday where Parkinson and his staff will look to put some of this hard work into practice.
It won’t be flashy but the early signs are that it will be effective. And if there is one thing Wanderers have cried out for in recent times, it is a bit of stability.
Source