Roberts’ Comments

Whoever told you this wasn't far off
The previous head coaches were given certain parameters to work on in training based on data handed down to them from a certain someone, the joys of a coaching methodology being implemented, no wonder some players have fallen off a cliff.

 

We’ve definitely looked unfit this season.

The last quarter of games in particular we’ve been under intense pressure and looked to be blowing out of our arses.

They’d do worse than to get them doing old fashioned pre season marathon runs.

All this doing everything with the ball in preseason is all well and good but you’ve got to be on it for 90+ minutes.

Get some proper fitness into their legs this year.

 

If you,re referring to the DOF handing training data down to the coaching staff is with respect wrong.The clubs sports scientist,fitness coaches and head coach take and impliment the training regime.I must admit though last years fitness levels were nowhere good enough.Hopefully Connor will put his stamp on improving fitness this summer.

 

Are we actually less fit than other clubs or is it simply that our squad is so bad that when they are making good subs we aren't able to do and that's meaning that the players on the pitch are knackered against fresh legs?

 

On this occasion you are incorrect Brian, I've been categorically been told (extremely reliable info)
Mladen is responsible for developing and implementing the club's overall coaching philosophy and training approach, this is supposed to ensure consistency and strategic alignment across all teams and age groups, from youth academies to the first team and is entwined with data on individual performance.
It's then upto the head coach and coaches to implement this framework.

If you also go back to the media reports on his appointment last year it backs this up, his responsibilities are recruitment, implementing a game model and coaching methodology.

 

Sorry mate beg to differ .Its absolutely ludicrous to suggest any DOF at any club in the world set out fitness levels for football teams.I think your source is just riding on the back of a negative season.
I think Maladen has more on his plate than telling coaches and players how to train.
Its same with some saying he impliments tactics,absolute rubbish.If he did no ones listening to him.
He has said he wants the team to high press ,be attacking and attractive for the fans to watch.On that I'm totally with him.Connor says he wants a squad to play 442 with wingers and I say amen to that.
The game model you mention is another that holds no water.The 18,s 21,s and the first team all play a different brand of football.

 

As a Quality Manager I was responsible for developing and implementing the quality standards across our department. I achieved this by meeting with professionals in a particular field to agree good practice standards for their type of work applicable to our department. Once agreed these standards were submitted for a quality kitemark and then implemented across our department. At no time did I dictate the standards we worked to but once agreed and kitemarked it was my job to ensure that implementation was fully carried out and this was measured on a regular basis. Because Mladen is responsible for developing and implementing the standards doesnt mean he alone dictates these (consultation is the key). If he does then I think the club have got it wrong.

 

Sorry mate you are wrong, I used to employ one of our first team coaches, worked with a recent ex player and still remain in contact with an ex PL player for us, married to a friends family member, its not made up rubbish.
The frame work is pre set, I'm not suggesting for a second Mladen is on the team training ground waving his arms upside down
We've gone over this ground many times, it's all there to view in public press releases, official BFC site, chron etc.
2 head coaches have been dismissed for not playing the style "we want", a coaching methodology enables coaches to have clarity on what to deliver to the players, and also provides a learning environment for a longer term period.
The club are on record stating this is part of his role, I'm not sure why you are so defensive of the club to the point you defend glaringly obvious stuff, I know you try to remain positive but sometimes it's clouded.

The results don't lie Brian 8 home wins in 32 under Mladen, 7 home wins in 15 before his appointment, clear drop off in players individual performances to the point you'd struggle to name many that have developed, massive drop off in fitness, none of that is just coincidence.

 

Good morning.We obviously differ on our views on coaching "methodology" regarding the DOF and thats fine with me.

 

I think we all want a team that high presses & plays on the front foot but we don’t have the players to do it & most of the ones it doesn’t suit are still contracted here next season.

If Sormaz wants a team that plays with a high press why did he sign Humphrys & Nwakali last summer? He doesn’t know what he’s doing.

 

Bang on. The fitness stuff is accurate & reading between the lines a big reason the relationship was bad between Clarke & Sormaz was because Clarke didn’t believe the team could play the style of play Sormaz wanted as they weren’t fit enough to but he wasn’t allowed his own man in to try & improve the fitness of the squad.

Hourihane’s got the job now & judging by his early games he’s got the role because he’s going to play the style of football that Sormaz wants us to play. Never mind that we’ve got a slow defence & a squad completely unsuited to a high press & we’re leaking goals & chances for fun.

 

Fitness is not some dark art, you can pull anyone out of a sports science degree and get them working with footballers to make them fitter. If the players aren't fit, that's not Sormez's fault - is he going down to the ground and telling them not to run so much during training? Whoever is coaching those players, they can monitor the players fitness and judge whether they are fit enough or not, and if they're not fit enough and they're not doing something about it, thats on them.

 

Some posts on here are comedy gold.

Defending the DOF (he’s actually titled Sporting Director isn’t he? Makes no odds, same role) - saying he doesn’t do something, ie dictate the coaching methodology, that the club are on record saying is a major part of his role, and that he’s mentioned himself on numerous occasions… Baffling.

But more to the point, whether or not Sormaz did dictate the amount of fitness training in place, it is plain that it wasn’t enough. The squad weren’t fit enough to get through ninety minutes playing more passively under Clarke - never mind trying to press high.

They need to be much, much fitter. We need players with legs and better aerobic capacity. To insist we play a fast paced high press, that is probably actually a bigger priority than their ability. Losing the ball and misplacing a pass is ok high up and when you will run your blood to piss to pressure them into giving it back.

Sormaz has shown zero signs of recognising this, he is the biggest problem at this football club, and of that I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever.

Everyone seemed to dislike Khaled El-Ahmed, but they’ve since split his role into two, got in Sormaz as sporting director and Flatman as ceo - and it’s hard to make an argument that either have done well.

Jon Flatman’s role seems to be non-sporting, sorting out the commercial stuff - time will tell on that. He’s secured a new south stand sponsor - though Bapps is hardly a new name to the club. Let’s see what revenue looks like - his role is clearly hampered by the limitations of the selling points of the club. I’m not as dim in view of him as I am the sporting director. Though he’s not covered in glory thus far.

Mladen Sormaz though has been pinching a living and has a lot of wrongdoing to correct. A bit of humility and contrition wouldn’t go amiss either. He’s never at any point admitted getting anything wrong or taken responsibility for anything.

He’s clearly going nowhere though, so we can only hope he does much better from now on. Leave the coaching methodology to people who have kicked a ball in anger and know a bit, and get on with using whatever budget he has (and generates from sales) to provide a squad that has the attributes to play how he dictates we should.

 

It’s not though really is it? If a player is told he is doing the required work & the managers told he can’t have his own fitness coach & that the current one knows what he is doing what is your expectation? For them all to meet up & do secret high intensity training away from the club?

If you’re at work earning a good salary & the bosses tell you you’re doing everything right would you start telling them you aren’t doing enough & create more work for your self?

 

Great post. Agree with every word about Sormaz.

 

Wasn't there an old school manager where his players said they'd not seen a ball all week until Friday or summat?

 

No ones defending Mladen.I think the confusion is the point of his football style or a new term to me "methodology"
I have seen nowhere where he has dictated the coach to play certain formations or what tactics to install thats just not his remit.Both he and Nareev have said they want to see attacking high press entertaining football as demanded by the supporters.On that I would hope we can all agree is what we want.
As for the last 3 games I've missed them as I've been away but I've thought maybe Connor has sacrificed points for implimenting his style off 442 to see who and won't be part of his squad next season.

 

“Mladen Sormaz has been appointed as Barnsley’s first ever sporting director.

The 36-year-old, who was raised in Yorkshire, joins from the role of director of football analytics at 777 Partners, a Miami-based company that owns Genoa, Standard Liege, Vasco de Gama, Red Star Paris and Hertha Berlin while currently attempting to take over Everton.

He had previously held a senior position in Leicester City’s recruitment team between 2019 and 2022 and worked as an analyst at Huddersfield Town before then.

He will lead recruitment at Oakwell and negotiate contracts while working to create and implement a game model and coaching methodology to be used across the club.”

I haven’t made that up.

 

For me it's a tough one l, your a professional footballer it's partly your responsibility to be fit enough to be match fit and last 90 minutes at a fast pace.

 

No you have not made it up, but nowhere in that statement does it state that he will IMPOSE a methodology on the coaches which is what a number on here are inferring that he did. It clearly doesnt. With regards to fitness, to me we have not looked as fit since Duff left and that is before Mladen came. There should be enough data to tell us the levels of fitness and if it is not physical we should be lookibg to determine what the other issues are.