New rules at County as Kettlewell dumps sickeners for success
STUART KETTLEWELL has had his share of gut-churning, old-school pre-seasons – and relished every one of them.
But Ross County’s co-manager won’t be putting his players through the pain barrier on the local sand dunes this summer.
As the Staggies prepare for life back in Scotland’s second tier, with a first pre-season friendly against Nairn today, Kettlewell and management partner Stevie Ferguson insist they are kicking the club on into the 21st century.
With a revamped County squad reporting back in fine fettle the managerial duo have been straight on to the technical stuff with most of the drills dedicated to ball work.
It’s a far cry from some of the hellish summer work-outs Kettlewell recalls from his playing days at Queen’s Park, Clyde and County.
He said: “We felt, even before we had kicked a ball or seen the players train, we had made a lot of good signings and re-signings.
“The great thing is the guys have taken care of themselves over the summer and come back in great shape, which is always a real head start. You’re never 100 per cent sure how they will be coming back in terms of fitness but it is excellent.
“It makes it easier because the old-school ways of running up and down sand dunes until players are throwing up are not our beliefs.
“I was part of that generation and I’ve done all that sort of stuff but that’s not our way of thinking now. I’m not demeaning anyone who still does those sort of things but it’s just not our belief.
“The players’ fitness levels give us an opportunity to work on team structure, our ethos as a team and how we move forward.
“All we are trying to do now is fine-tune and sharpen them up.”