18 Mar 2026 11:52:23
18 Mar 2026 13:09:20
{Ed's Note - EHL2020 has posted a new article entitled, Why Preseason Conditioning Shapes Tactical Success
18 Mar 2026 13:09:42
Great read, my friend, thank you.
18 Mar 2026 13:12:09
Bravo. Well put, Ehl. Love reading stuff like this rather than the generic "aww we're rubbish". The damage done by Rm is substantially more than a lot are willing to acknowledge. Hence why you've seen Rohl go into the market for much more physically imposing players.
Could be a massive explanation to Skov Olsen's form as well, especially given how little he had played the 18 months prior to his arrival. Still, don't think he's done enough, but could offer an explanation.
18 Mar 2026 13:17:32
Love the insight. It certainly helps to understand some of our performance issues this season. It seems like we went from one footballing philosophy to the polar opposite mid-season.
18 Mar 2026 13:21:06
Thanks for the article, Ehl.
18 Mar 2026 13:26:54
Cheers, Ehl, good insight, mate. ?
18 Mar 2026 13:30:30
Ehl, best post to date. Just sent to my grandson for his take. He says similar to u in terms of importance of a full pre season.
He believes that's part of Skov's issue.
Boba, I think your summation is very on point.
18 Mar 2026 13:55:50
That's the catch22, you build the team to play a certain style, then when it's not working, it's impossible to change overnight.
With the schedules we have, and as Ehl said, trying to change mid-flight is near impossible.
I think, going forward, we stick with the Rd style, and should he leave, we need to replace like for like, ie a manager who carries on with that style; else, we get a wholesale change of players yet again.
18 Mar 2026 13:58:51
Brilliant Ehl. It explains a lot. Appreciated.
18 Mar 2026 14:03:40
Geesa, that was the Mark Allen plan. Dof sets the style, bring in a manager to deliver. If a manager leaves, bring in another manager to deliver the style, not replace 12 players every manager change.
18 Mar 2026 14:39:15
Great article, Ehl, and very enlightening. I think this is why we will be having a club style rather than a managerial one, so when we sack one, the other has the same footballing philosophy. So not only turnover of players, but difficulty in getting the ones we have to change the way they play mid season.
18 Mar 2026 14:40:40
Geesa, there's a slight difference between Rohl and Martin.
In that, Martin's philosophy requires a specific style of player.
Whereas Rohl's philosophy is adaptable, so he'll change formations to suit the players, but apply his philosophy within that.
The issue we have at the moment is in terms of the physical conditioning of the players.
18 Mar 2026 15:06:59
Yeah I had been saying on here for months, Ehl, that our squad was nowhere near fit enough. Your post explains why. In the last few seasons, our fitness would see us earn many points that would otherwise have been lost, but, imo, it's the other way around this year, and it's blatantly obvious and really hampering us in the run-in.
18 Mar 2026 15:11:19
Good read, Ehl.
18 Mar 2026 15:21:43
Brilliant insightful read, Ehl.
18 Mar 2026 16:20:28
Ehl, that's a great point about having a club philosophy. If it's too rigid, as in RM, and it turns out wrong, the whole structure of the club needs to be changed, whereas a more adaptable one can be sustained even with managerial change. It would only need tweaks according to personality.
18 Mar 2026 16:56:18
Very good post, Ehl. ?
18 Mar 2026 16:59:53
Great insight, Ehl, as always. I understand it's irrelevant now, but maybe this was why, in the 2nd half of the league game against Celtic, they seemed to overrun us after we had a high intensity 1st half. The players couldn't keep that level for the full 90mins because of their fitness levels.
18 Mar 2026 17:01:27
Good insightful read, Ehl.
What can you see for pre season this coming season, in terms of the new season starting?
Will we see a fitter squad then for the new season ahead?
Any players you have concerns about going into this pre season and season ahead?
18 Mar 2026 17:15:46
Every new manager will want to implement his own style, not change his philosophy to suit the dog.
18 Mar 2026 17:24:31
Dog not dog.
18 Mar 2026 17:34:21
DOF. Jeeze.
18 Mar 2026 18:00:17
WMN, I think we will be looking at coaches who do fit our philosophy rather than just picking a coach and then saying he has to. More like the process at Brighton, etc., where they have the whole club adopting the same philosophy from a certain age group to allow a track to progress to first team.
18 Mar 2026 18:25:55
Sco11, the only thing I would come back on in this point is the game at Parkhead where they pummelled us the 1st half and we pummelled them the 2nd half and won 3-1.
So, as good a post Ehl has given, it's not entirely true and still only one man's opinion.
Maybe that game was a one off. The Hearts game at Ibrox went right to the end also, so maybe adrenaline got us through those games.
18 Mar 2026 18:45:01
Storm, could the Celtic game you mention be the reverse? We didn't do any running in the first half, so had all our energy for the second. Didn't have an explanation for the Hearts game other than the adrenaline one you gave.
18 Mar 2026 20:57:20
It could well be, Angus. I don't know, I was just posting a different perspective for a change to get a good debate, mate.
The Celtic game, they didn't let us do any of that, imo.
18 Mar 2026 22:01:21
I think both of the games were the reverse. Half time gave that momentum switch, and neither could gain it back. Both sides lack confidence as well, but as soon as they got on top, they suddenly played like they did. I like a good debate, so feel free any time. ?
18 Mar 2026 22:22:32
Cheers Angus ?
18 Mar 2026 22:20:41
Great post, Ehl. Enjoyed reading that. Def rings true.