GaryJones
Well-Known Member
Brilliant article from Adi Viveash below - (Its long but worth a read).
Coventry City assistant manager Adi Viveash has given a fascinating insight into the average week at the Sky Blue Lodge.
The 48-year-old joined the club 12 months ago, replacing Steve Taylor who was taken ill with a serious condition.
Here he reveals a typical working week for the Sky Blues in what he describes as an often ‘brutal’ schedule of three games a week.
Viveash, who is due back to work this week after taking compassionate leave, also explains his role on a matchday, including having input to tactics and the half-time team talk, and the pressure of producing winning results.
In a rare interview, the former Reading and Walsall defender lifts the lid on what goes on behind closed doors at Ryton.
Monday
“If we play a league game on Saturday we’ll be off Sunday,” he said, speaking to My Personal Football Coach Youth Soccer Development podcast.
“On Monday, there is a bit of a split.
“The players who started the game will do 30-45 of the session, just the warm-up and passing drills and all the light stuff and maybe just possession on the outsides to get their legs warming again.
“Then they’d go with the conditioners and do some stretching and a long gym session. The other boys, subs and Under-23s maybe combine and do a longer session, so a bit more intense after.”
Tuesday
“Tuesday is probably the main training day in terms of the work, so 90 minutes.
“Depending on numbers it depends what we do but it’s probably quite generic and geared towards the game maybe some possession drills in two groups.
“Crossing and finishing drills, One v ones, two v twos, three v threes and then a game.
“Then afternoon they would do gym and build up a lot of power which for the league they do a lot of that and it's led by the manager and conditioners, not me.
“It’ll then move on to individual work with certain players, perhaps some of the younger boys working on their core skills outside and maybe some individual reviews for the younger two or three that are in the first team.”
Wednesday
“During a normal week Wednesday is a day off.”
Thursday
“After our rest day, we’re starting to build in our tactical work ahead of the game on Saturday. Eleven v eleven work with main men swapping over into different positions, etc, again geared towards the game.”
Friday
“On Friday, the manager likes to speak to the team and he likes to do a bit on his own with the starting team and I take the subs and do another session, so they aren’t stood around.
“We’ll then move on to set-pieces altogether and that builds into the Saturday really.
“If we play Tuesday, then Monday is obviously light for those that have played on the Saturday, just a cool down and a little jog, whilst the others do an hour and then we’re ready for a mid-week game, so it all depends on different weeks.”
Brutal league
Viveash spoke of how demanding the football league season can be, often playing three games in a single week.
“It’s definitely a challenge and a far more apparent one at senior level in the Football League, League Two especially.
“Without being disrespectful it is a brutal league, it’s very physical. So to play three games in a week, Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, is really tough.”
The City No.2 stressed the importance of managing players’ workloads and finding a balance to suit a veteran like skipper Michael Doyle and a youngster like Tom Bayliss so that both benefit from each session.
“You’ve then got to make sure that the boys who are a sub on Saturday but maybe start on Tuesday get the majority of work in,” he said, “but it’s up to the coaching and management team to liaise with the conditioner and make sure individual needs are met.
“Our captain is 37 years old and has just played 52 games in a season in central midfield, and that’s absolutely amazing fitness from him but we’ve also got a young boy who’s 18 playing next to him, so to get that 20 years balance right is key.”
Matchday
Viveash’s role doesn’t just stop on the training ground, he has a major part to play on a match day to ensure the manager has as smooth an afternoon as possible, starting with the warm-up.
“I do the warm-up which I haven’t done for a few years until this, but I really enjoy it,” he said.
“My role as a number two is knowing when to step in and when to not.
“On a matchday I don’t put too much information into them and I’m very relaxed in their company as I’ve told them what I need to on a Thursday.”
The 48-year-old, however, has a huge input during a game, offering tactical advice as well as having his chance to share his thoughts at half-time.
“Matchday is then about making sure the manager is okay and comfortable with everything and then when the game starts its about picking the right time to go up to him and have a chat tactically about something I’ve seen or checking he’s seen.
“Or if he comes to me with a question, I have to make sure I have the answer.
Team talk
“Then at half-time we both speak. He goes first and it’s making sure you have two or three points that he hasn’t covered so I’m always making notes on the line during the game.
“As assistant you have to make sure you cover all the things the manager might miss if he’s ‘caught up in the game,’ by his own admission.”
While not being the main man at the helm with the Sky Blues, Viveash admits he feels the pressure and expectation from fans and the demands of the league which is a far cry from his Academy days at Chelsea.
“You feel the pressure as a team of staff,” he said.
“The pressure on me is nowhere near that which is on the manager.
“It’s senior football now though, and it’s a dog eats dog industry and now if you lose four games at Coventry it is the same as losing four games at Chelsea.
“In development football it’s more about the individual development of players so if you lose four in a row it just leads to a simple chat with a senior member.
Pressure from day one
“At senior level the pressure builds every time you don’t get a result and it makes it a difficult week.
“And that was interesting seeing that it was all about winning and I found that a bit of a culture change in a good way in some ways as it makes you more alert and on the money.”
It was a pressure he felt as soon as he undertook the job but it hasn’t deterred the former centre-half who appears to thrive on it.
“You put pressure on yourself if you want to be successful and that’s what it was like from day one at Coventry,” he said.
“We wanted to get back to League One at the first time of asking after being relegated.
“The manager had come in at the end of the previous season and results picked up, but it was too late, and they were down anyway.
“They won the Checkatrade Trophy at Wembley, so the club was on a bit of an up. He changed 14 players and that’s probably why it took all season to get it to click.”
He added: “I was told that promotion was the aim from day one. I thought it was a bold aim to be honest, and I told him that after looking at the players, who needed to make improvements if they were to achieve that.
“Don’t get me wrong, they have some real quality players who are way above this level. But, generally, they were around top eight maybe.
“Then when you get to the play-offs the pressure really kicks in and I quite enjoyed that!”
Coventry City assistant manager Adi Viveash has given a fascinating insight into the average week at the Sky Blue Lodge.
The 48-year-old joined the club 12 months ago, replacing Steve Taylor who was taken ill with a serious condition.
Here he reveals a typical working week for the Sky Blues in what he describes as an often ‘brutal’ schedule of three games a week.
Viveash, who is due back to work this week after taking compassionate leave, also explains his role on a matchday, including having input to tactics and the half-time team talk, and the pressure of producing winning results.
In a rare interview, the former Reading and Walsall defender lifts the lid on what goes on behind closed doors at Ryton.
Monday
“If we play a league game on Saturday we’ll be off Sunday,” he said, speaking to My Personal Football Coach Youth Soccer Development podcast.
“On Monday, there is a bit of a split.
“The players who started the game will do 30-45 of the session, just the warm-up and passing drills and all the light stuff and maybe just possession on the outsides to get their legs warming again.
“Then they’d go with the conditioners and do some stretching and a long gym session. The other boys, subs and Under-23s maybe combine and do a longer session, so a bit more intense after.”
Tuesday
“Tuesday is probably the main training day in terms of the work, so 90 minutes.
“Depending on numbers it depends what we do but it’s probably quite generic and geared towards the game maybe some possession drills in two groups.
“Crossing and finishing drills, One v ones, two v twos, three v threes and then a game.
“Then afternoon they would do gym and build up a lot of power which for the league they do a lot of that and it's led by the manager and conditioners, not me.
“It’ll then move on to individual work with certain players, perhaps some of the younger boys working on their core skills outside and maybe some individual reviews for the younger two or three that are in the first team.”
Wednesday
“During a normal week Wednesday is a day off.”
Thursday
“After our rest day, we’re starting to build in our tactical work ahead of the game on Saturday. Eleven v eleven work with main men swapping over into different positions, etc, again geared towards the game.”
Friday
“On Friday, the manager likes to speak to the team and he likes to do a bit on his own with the starting team and I take the subs and do another session, so they aren’t stood around.
“We’ll then move on to set-pieces altogether and that builds into the Saturday really.
“If we play Tuesday, then Monday is obviously light for those that have played on the Saturday, just a cool down and a little jog, whilst the others do an hour and then we’re ready for a mid-week game, so it all depends on different weeks.”
Brutal league
Viveash spoke of how demanding the football league season can be, often playing three games in a single week.
“It’s definitely a challenge and a far more apparent one at senior level in the Football League, League Two especially.
“Without being disrespectful it is a brutal league, it’s very physical. So to play three games in a week, Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday, is really tough.”
The City No.2 stressed the importance of managing players’ workloads and finding a balance to suit a veteran like skipper Michael Doyle and a youngster like Tom Bayliss so that both benefit from each session.
“You’ve then got to make sure that the boys who are a sub on Saturday but maybe start on Tuesday get the majority of work in,” he said, “but it’s up to the coaching and management team to liaise with the conditioner and make sure individual needs are met.
“Our captain is 37 years old and has just played 52 games in a season in central midfield, and that’s absolutely amazing fitness from him but we’ve also got a young boy who’s 18 playing next to him, so to get that 20 years balance right is key.”
Matchday
Viveash’s role doesn’t just stop on the training ground, he has a major part to play on a match day to ensure the manager has as smooth an afternoon as possible, starting with the warm-up.
“I do the warm-up which I haven’t done for a few years until this, but I really enjoy it,” he said.
“My role as a number two is knowing when to step in and when to not.
“On a matchday I don’t put too much information into them and I’m very relaxed in their company as I’ve told them what I need to on a Thursday.”
The 48-year-old, however, has a huge input during a game, offering tactical advice as well as having his chance to share his thoughts at half-time.
“Matchday is then about making sure the manager is okay and comfortable with everything and then when the game starts its about picking the right time to go up to him and have a chat tactically about something I’ve seen or checking he’s seen.
“Or if he comes to me with a question, I have to make sure I have the answer.
Team talk
“Then at half-time we both speak. He goes first and it’s making sure you have two or three points that he hasn’t covered so I’m always making notes on the line during the game.
“As assistant you have to make sure you cover all the things the manager might miss if he’s ‘caught up in the game,’ by his own admission.”
While not being the main man at the helm with the Sky Blues, Viveash admits he feels the pressure and expectation from fans and the demands of the league which is a far cry from his Academy days at Chelsea.
“You feel the pressure as a team of staff,” he said.
“The pressure on me is nowhere near that which is on the manager.
“It’s senior football now though, and it’s a dog eats dog industry and now if you lose four games at Coventry it is the same as losing four games at Chelsea.
“In development football it’s more about the individual development of players so if you lose four in a row it just leads to a simple chat with a senior member.
Pressure from day one
“At senior level the pressure builds every time you don’t get a result and it makes it a difficult week.
“And that was interesting seeing that it was all about winning and I found that a bit of a culture change in a good way in some ways as it makes you more alert and on the money.”
It was a pressure he felt as soon as he undertook the job but it hasn’t deterred the former centre-half who appears to thrive on it.
“You put pressure on yourself if you want to be successful and that’s what it was like from day one at Coventry,” he said.
“We wanted to get back to League One at the first time of asking after being relegated.
“The manager had come in at the end of the previous season and results picked up, but it was too late, and they were down anyway.
“They won the Checkatrade Trophy at Wembley, so the club was on a bit of an up. He changed 14 players and that’s probably why it took all season to get it to click.”
He added: “I was told that promotion was the aim from day one. I thought it was a bold aim to be honest, and I told him that after looking at the players, who needed to make improvements if they were to achieve that.
“Don’t get me wrong, they have some real quality players who are way above this level. But, generally, they were around top eight maybe.
“Then when you get to the play-offs the pressure really kicks in and I quite enjoyed that!”
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