Christmas is cancelled until May by McDermott
Yorkshire Evening Post 24/12/13
Leeds United’s squad will be made to train on Christmas Day this year with manager Brian McDermott saying: “We’ll have our Christmas in May.”
Leeds are to use the pitch at Elland Road on the evening of December 25 to run through final preparations for their Boxing Day game at Blackpool.
The players at United were given Christmas Day off by McDermott’s predecessor, Neil Warnock, last year but suffered a sound defeat at Nottingham Forest the following afternoon and took nothing from a visit to Hull City three days later.
McDermott said: “We’ll probably train at Elland Road at 5.30pm then we’ll travel. Then we’ll play the next day.
“For me the most important thing is the game. We’ll have Christmas in May.”
But the Leeds boss is wary of overworking his players between four league matches in the next fortnight.
“All you talk about at this time of year is recovery,” he said.
“Steve Coppell used to say that you can lose a game on a Friday but never win it. What he meant was that you can over-train on a Friday and take the energy out of the players’ legs.
“You have to be mindful of that. But we’ve got great staff and know what we’re doing.”
Leeds United’s squad will be made to train on Christmas Day this year with manager Brian McDermott saying: “We’ll have our Christmas in May.”
Leeds are to use the pitch at Elland Road on the evening of December 25 to run through final preparations for their Boxing Day game at Blackpool.
The players at United were given Christmas Day off by McDermott’s predecessor, Neil Warnock, last year but suffered a sound defeat at Nottingham Forest the following afternoon and took nothing from a visit to Hull City three days later.
McDermott said: “We’ll probably train at Elland Road at 5.30pm then we’ll travel. Then we’ll play the next day.
“For me the most important thing is the game. We’ll have Christmas in May.”
But the Leeds boss is wary of overworking his players between four league matches in the next fortnight.
“All you talk about at this time of year is recovery,” he said.
“Steve Coppell used to say that you can lose a game on a Friday but never win it. What he meant was that you can over-train on a Friday and take the energy out of the players’ legs.
“You have to be mindful of that. But we’ve got great staff and know what we’re doing.”