Hibs boss guided by Premier League physicality as Gray issues 'it's coming' intensity warning to SPFL new boys
‘You need to be able to deal with it pretty quickly’ - gaffer on Scottish Premiership battle
From the Premier League down, the new model footballer has been cast in stone. Or at least very, very hard muscle. Lots of it.
In the face of a growing trend for physical strength in all areas, Hibs boss David Gray isn’t about to ignore the obvious. Citing the example of the world’s richest league, a competition with SIX sides in the last 16 of the Champions League, Gray points to an irrefutable truth about the increased physicality of the modern game.
And, drawing on his own experience of watching new arrivals being battered into submission by Scottish football, he argues that there is an equally obvious need for robustness here. His belief in this tenet isn’t likely to be shaken any time soon.
English top flight all about the battles - especially at set pieces
“You just have to look at the Premier League this season, all the teams are big, strong, physical, quick sides,” he said, the former Manchester United prospect adding: “If you don't have that in your team you can definitely get caught out.
“Added to that you've got set-pieces, the importance of set-pieces and having that physicality to be able to defend and attack set-pieces is such a big part of the game. You look at Premier League in England, how important they are.
“That's the very top level - but you go all the way down. Physicality is something that every athlete has. Especially at the very top of their game.
“They've got very short careers and it's up to them to try and be as professional as they can - and don't waste a day. That would be something I would always say.
“I think the mentality of the young players now, especially, is always about that. Can I be the best I can be every single day? They've got resources and facilities to be able to do it.”
Scottish Premiership intensity ‘can catch you out’
Turning his focus specifically on the SPFL top flight, a competition that has left many a technically gifted footballer looking shell-shocked over the years, veteran campaigner Gray issued a stirring defence of our elite division, saying: “I think it is the intensity.
“Whether people think it's a good standard, a bad standard, don't like the standard, one thing you need to be able to do is you need to be able to deal with it pretty quickly. Because it's coming.
“That intensity that we talk about, especially in the middle of the pitch, it can be a wee bit direct at times. They need to be physical, get up to second balls, to be competing for second balls in just the time you get on the ball.
“Rather than maybe being used to operating in 10 metres of space, it's three, four, five metres of space maximum and the picture changes very, very quickly for that intensity. It is something that can catch you out.
“It's something you try and prepare players for when they first come to the club, which is why sometimes you need to be patient with new players that come in as well. Not everybody just hits the ground running straight away, which is also something you look at when recruiting.
“Because we know the standard, because you know what they're coming into. Can you try and recruit in such a way that gives them the best chance to be successful in the league with the attributes they've got as well?
“I think that's just the modern day football player, ultimate professionals trying to be the best they can be. They've got all the resources and facilities now as well, driving the sports science, all the knowledge that goes into that. The nutrition they get, the strength and conditioning that they get added to that tactical side and the technical side of the game that's always evolving.”
Scala’s Dortmund changed training approach
Different eras have produced different philosophies on every aspect of training. Back in the 1990s, it was considered almost revolutionary when Nevio Scala had his Borussia Dortmund players training at full match pace, in virtually every session, regardless of whether that risked injury.
A more moderate approach is now popular across the board, with Gray – asked whether he and his coaching staff and replicate that intensity out at East Mains – insisting: “I think you definitely can. I think you have a way of working that you think best prepares the players for what they're going to expect to play on a Saturday.
“Clearly you're not going to do that every single day because then they'll break down, but you need to have elements of it. You can't just hope you get to the game and players will react to the game.
“The job is to make sure that they're ready for the games. Whatever way you do it, everyone's got their own methodology, everyone's got their own schedule to what they think is the best working way, but sometimes that comes down to knowing your group as well.
“So I think there are many different ways to do it, but you certainly have to introduce it in training to make sure they are aware of it. You can't just hope that it's going to work on the day.”