S&C coach Damien Coleman on getting Cork City ready for Premier Division return

As Cork City FC prepare for life back in the Premier Division, one man with a key role is Damian Coleman.

In his position as Strength and Conditioning coach, Coleman will be central in the pre-season planning along with manager Tim Clancy.

“I love it, absolutely love it," said Coleman, who is also the Head Of Strength and Conditioning for the academy.

“What I love about the first team is the amount of time I get to spend with the players. I came in during August of last year and I have built up good relationships with the lads.

“Having the amount of access to the lads is brilliant. The first day that we came back in we did some strength testing because everything is individualised. When I give the lads a training programme it is based on their own capabilities.

“On the first day of preseason we also did some vertical and horizontal like jumps. Because what happens sometimes is people go mad straight into a strength or power development block and they don’t realise that some lads could have various asymmetries from previous injuries or whatever. 

Once you are getting in towards the start of the season load management, making sure lads are fresh is a huge part of it.

“We do a readiness to train questionnaire. Every morning before the lads come in, I send a Google form and there are five or six questions on how they slept, muscle soreness, fatigue levels and how their stress is." 

Naturally, he has a strong working relationship with Clancy.

"Tim played at a good level, as did the likes of assistant manager Jamie Hamill and the goalkeeping coach Anthony Fennelly. 

"They understand that if you are coming into a game and you don’t think you are fit or if you think you are carrying a bit of a knock, they are not going to be able to play as well as you should be able to."

They spend time every day planning out the sessions.

“With the academy, I would have rang Greg Yelverton before a session. He is working and I am working and we are trying to catch each other. Whereas it is completely different coming in the mornings with a cup of coffee with the lads and actually going through the sessions.

TRUST

“As a Strength and Conditioning coach, you hear a lot of stories about how the manager mightn’t listen to you. But I certainly don’t have that issue. We have a good relationship and I think the players see that as well, that the lads trust me.

"So they buy into what I am doing. Let’s be honest, what I am doing is not the fun stuff. These lads just want to play football. 

"But once they realise the importance of the stuff that I am doing is to help them get to where they need to be to play well."

After dominating the First Division, City must be primed fitness-wise for the challenges posed by the likes of Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne.

“We want to go in fitter, stronger and faster.

We want to get to the point where we have done everything we possibly can over the next couple of weeks, that it is then only down to football.

“That it is not going into games and doubting your fitness a little bit, so when Tim implements a plan he is not concerned the players are going to fade."