Hands-on duo ready for return of players to training – Fowler
BLACK CATS FOCUS
The Sunderland squad returns to pre-season training tomorrow and they will be greeted by the new management team.
Jack Ross and his assistant manager James Fowler will lead training for the first time once the usual pre-season tests and physical checks are carried out.
The pair have settled quickly into life on Wearside, with transfer business dominating the agenda since they were handed the task of leading Sunderland back to the Championship.
Fowler has now given a taste of what the players can expect from the pair’s training methods when they return to the Academy of Light this week ahead of a warmweather training camp in Portugal.
Fowler, 37, has been reunited with Ross and he has admitted the draw of Sunderland was too much to turn down for the duo who led St Mirren to the Scottish Championship last season.
Fowler said: “The success we had at St Mirren over the 18-20 months we were there – from the relegation we avoided to the promotion we had last season – we felt we had built up a successful partnership as coaching pair.
“I really enjoy working with the manager, I learn an awful lot from him every day, so when a club like Sunderland comes calling there isn’t too much to think about.
“He has his way of doing things on the training pitch. I like to support him and help him with whatever he needs.
“We both take training, but he is very much a hands-on coach. I will be supporting him with that and then in preparation for matches we will split the squad into the attackers and defenders and we will do different bits and pieces.
“Together we want the same things. We want to create a successful team here. We know where we are, and we want to get away from it as quickly as possible.
“It won’t be easy, but it is a challenge we are excited and ready for. Obviously that all starts now with our recruitment of players – we want players who are keen to play for this club and the fans.”
Sunderland made their first signing of the summer when they brought Turkish Under-21 international Alim Ozturk to Wearside.
The defender is wellknown to Fowler and Ross from his time in Scotland, and his big personality and work ethic is something that Sunderland’s management duo are hoping to get from most of their new signings.
In particular, Fowler wants players at the club who can connect with the supporters. “There has got to be that interaction with the fans going forward,” he said.
“The area of Sunderland is very much like Scotland, there’s a demand for a work ethic and the thing they ask for first and foremost is to see players sweating for the jersey.
“We need to recruit the right types, so we have players coming here who are proud to play for Sunderland,” he told the club website.