hulloutpost
Vital Champions League
Danny Cowley addressed the press ahead of another Derby weekend, the visitors to Sincil Bank being Notts County.
Bury - DC took the view that City didn't quite get it right on Tuesday night but it is important not to under estimate Bury who are a good team and two seasons ago there was a two league gap. DC felt Imps started well but then conceded a poor goal from Bury's first real chance and that seemed to unsettle the side. Regrouped and tweaked at half time which then led to possibly Lincoln's best 15/20 minute spell of the season. He felt the players were brave in possession and had brilliant backing from the crowd. DC was unhappy though with how City saw out the last 10 mins. of the match.
Notts County - DC outlined how he felt City had been short changed points wise from the corresponding two fixtures last season and heavily hinted there was unfinished business there. He felt this season Notts County probably hadn't got as many points as they deserved and there had been key moments in their games that had gone against them. DC noted that Notts County were playing less direct this year with a more gradual and progressive build up. He reminded people that Notts had aggressively recruited top players for this level of football during the close season and there was no way they would struggle with their attacking quality. DC spelled out at great length how dangerous their strikers and wide players are. Interestingly he made no comment whatsoever about The 'pies defensive capabilities.
Team Changes - DC was pressed about the number of team changes so far this season, 22 in total. He explained that City were playing the long game with regard to eyeing up a successful 60 game season whereby the players would benefit from attaining and maintaining match sharpness/fitness now which would bring benefits at the business end of a long season. DC suggested it was counter intuitive to say that cohesion could only come from a settled side arguing that exposing as many players to different game situations (weather, opposition style, game situations) as possible in conjunction with excellent coaching would also accelerate that cohesive process. The benefit of squad rotation ensured that changes could then take place seamlessly.
Individual Players - DC was pleased that Pett was showing the qualities they knew he had when he was signed. He asked people to remember Pett had to contend with a lot to settle into his new environment at the time of his mid season transfer - new team mates, style of play, re-location and extra demands from new management. DC advised that there was no time in football for patience and tolerance which was a downside of the wonderful football industry but he always stuck to his beliefs and processes that he knew would lead to better players emerging with time invested in them. DC would not be drawn on the full extent of Josh Vickers injury but did clarify they were awaiting a second opinion on what was a clear quad injury that had settled down. There was no indication as to how long Vickers would be out but DC stressed the importance of making sure that the right recovery program was very carefully implemented particularly for such a young player. Neil Eardley had simply had cramp which strangely had been the first time in his whole career. DC highlighted that cramp was usually caused by a chemical imbalance in the body (dietary salts for example) and he felt the issue had been identified and rectified. Neil had been given an extra recovery day and all the players had been put through the cryo.chamber today to accelerate the recovery process.
Bury - DC took the view that City didn't quite get it right on Tuesday night but it is important not to under estimate Bury who are a good team and two seasons ago there was a two league gap. DC felt Imps started well but then conceded a poor goal from Bury's first real chance and that seemed to unsettle the side. Regrouped and tweaked at half time which then led to possibly Lincoln's best 15/20 minute spell of the season. He felt the players were brave in possession and had brilliant backing from the crowd. DC was unhappy though with how City saw out the last 10 mins. of the match.
Notts County - DC outlined how he felt City had been short changed points wise from the corresponding two fixtures last season and heavily hinted there was unfinished business there. He felt this season Notts County probably hadn't got as many points as they deserved and there had been key moments in their games that had gone against them. DC noted that Notts County were playing less direct this year with a more gradual and progressive build up. He reminded people that Notts had aggressively recruited top players for this level of football during the close season and there was no way they would struggle with their attacking quality. DC spelled out at great length how dangerous their strikers and wide players are. Interestingly he made no comment whatsoever about The 'pies defensive capabilities.
Team Changes - DC was pressed about the number of team changes so far this season, 22 in total. He explained that City were playing the long game with regard to eyeing up a successful 60 game season whereby the players would benefit from attaining and maintaining match sharpness/fitness now which would bring benefits at the business end of a long season. DC suggested it was counter intuitive to say that cohesion could only come from a settled side arguing that exposing as many players to different game situations (weather, opposition style, game situations) as possible in conjunction with excellent coaching would also accelerate that cohesive process. The benefit of squad rotation ensured that changes could then take place seamlessly.
Individual Players - DC was pleased that Pett was showing the qualities they knew he had when he was signed. He asked people to remember Pett had to contend with a lot to settle into his new environment at the time of his mid season transfer - new team mates, style of play, re-location and extra demands from new management. DC advised that there was no time in football for patience and tolerance which was a downside of the wonderful football industry but he always stuck to his beliefs and processes that he knew would lead to better players emerging with time invested in them. DC would not be drawn on the full extent of Josh Vickers injury but did clarify they were awaiting a second opinion on what was a clear quad injury that had settled down. There was no indication as to how long Vickers would be out but DC stressed the importance of making sure that the right recovery program was very carefully implemented particularly for such a young player. Neil Eardley had simply had cramp which strangely had been the first time in his whole career. DC highlighted that cramp was usually caused by a chemical imbalance in the body (dietary salts for example) and he felt the issue had been identified and rectified. Neil had been given an extra recovery day and all the players had been put through the cryo.chamber today to accelerate the recovery process.
