Canberra's Andrew Young talks Fulham FC

Andrew Young in the Fulham FC gym with Diomansy Kamara the Senegalese International

Fulham FC's Fitness and Conditioning Coach Andrew Young writes THE WEEKENDER this week.

Please note The Weekender is a 450-700 word article written by Canberrans or others with a particular focus on Australian/Canberra football. Where else can you get football in Canberra on a Saturday? Feel free to suggest an article and let the increasing number of blog readers hear your thoughts.

This week former Canberran Andrew Young gives us an update on life in the English Premier League.

More Beckham, Lucas Neill, Inter Milan, and Old Trafford than you could want in one post.

It's a great read.

Can Fulham FC avoid the dreaded drop?

With only 7 games to go in the Premier League, survival is the name of the game for the players and staff here at Fulham FC.

Having already played the Big 4 teams home & away, we now face some critical '6 pointer' games against the likes of Birmingham, Derby, Reading & Sunderland in upcoming games. A couple of good results in these games could turn a poor season into a good one.

Given the club's relegation threatened status at present, you could be forgiven for thinking that the mood of the club and players is quite low.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson includes Inter Milan in his CV.

Manager Roy Hodgson is very experienced having been in the game now for 32 years including 2 stints at Inter Milan. Nothing seems to faze him and he passes on his infectious positive outlook to players and staff every day.

That is not to say that he does not take the club's predicament very seriously, which he does. He just knows from experience that the best way to overcome such adversity is to be positive in your outlook and to continue to work hard on the training pitch every day.

Socceroo Lucas Neill gives relegation advice

I also recently had the chance to chat to the West Ham & Socceroo's captain Lucas Neill when we played them recently. Discussing Fulham's relegation fight, Lucas recalled how the key to West Ham's amazing premier league survival last season was the players self belief and positive attitude. It certainly worked for them!

Fulham FC flying in the “fitness league.”

Professional sport is all about accountability nowadays for both players and staff. Everyone is under scrutiny including the fitness staff, particularly given our lowly league position and habit of conceding late goals.

Fortunately for us, the Premier League publishes a 'fitness league' garnered from all the Prozone match statistics collected each week. They analyse fitness indicators such as the amount of high intensity running & number of sprints performed by each team.

Last season Fulham finished 2nd in the league and are currently ranked 3rd so Roy is very happy with our work. I guess that this is one of the reasons that I have managed to work under 4 different managers without them bringing in their own new staff.

But the league table does not lie so Roy and the management are concentrating on working on things like team shape, tactics and mental preparation as priorities.

Finnish Legend Jari Litmanen joins Fulham FC

The club was quite active in the January transfer window bringing in the likes of Brede Hangeland (Norway), Leon Andreasen (Denmark), Eddie Johnson (USA) and the legendary Jari Litmanen (Finland).

In fact, Jari spent his first week at the club doing individual ball training sessions with myself whilst overcoming an old injury.

Having played for Ajax, Barcelona and Liverpool it was not a surprise to see that his level of professionalism, first touch and finishing were superb! Here's hoping that he can score a few critical goals in the upcoming weeks.

International Week: 15 Fulham FC players represent their countries.

This week see's another FIFA International game window when many of the players leave the club to go and play for their National Teams.

Here at Fulham we have 15 international players including the current captains of Wales (Simon Davies), USA (Carlos Bocanegra), Russia (Alexei Smertin), Finland (Jari Litmanen) and Northern Ireland (Aaron Hughes).

Essentially we lose the guys for up to 4 days and they usually arrive back tired and fatigued 24 to 36 hours before our weekend game.

Preparing a Premier League team under such circumstances can be very difficult but fortunately Roy has much experience as an International Manager and is not too fazed by it all.

Socceroos World Cup campaign

Very pleased to see the Socceroo's campaign get off to a good start. Fulham's Korean midfielder Seol Ki-Hyeon has experience of playing under Socceroo's coach Pim Verbeek when he was the Assistant Coach of Korea to Guus Hiddink.

Seol spoke quite highly of him and felt that he had the makings of a good International Manager. Seol also mentioned that he was quietly hoping that Korea did not have to meet the Socceroo's in their World Cup qualification campaign!

Personal highlights at Fulham FC: Drinking with David Beckham.

I have been asked what the highlights for me were during the past 3 seasons with Fulham FC.

They would include playing Real Madrid in a pre-season friendly in 2006 and getting to have a chat and a drink with David Beckham.

Warming the team up and sitting on the bench at grounds such as Anfield & Old Trafford and definitely walking out onto Craven Cottage with the Socceroo's boys last November when we beat Nigeria 1-0 in London.

All wonderful memories I am privileged to have experienced.

There is life beyond football.

Unfortunately, this will probably be my final blog from Fulham for a while.

On a personal note, my wife Samantha and I are expecting our first child in May and will shortly be returning home to Adelaide, her home town. It will be sad to leave Fulham before the end of the season, but we felt that it was important to be around family & friends at such a time.

Fulham have been really supportive and Roy has let it be known that I am welcome back anytime when we return to Europe.

I will use the time in Adelaide to complete my Masters Degree studies in Exercise Science & Performance in between changing nappies! Hopefully I will get the chance to get up to Canberra every now and then to visit my family and friends.

Andrew Young
Fitness and Conditioning Coach
Fulham FC

Eamonn adds:

And a thank you to Andrew. I have had many comments from readers who’ve enjoyed a Canberran insight into the Premier League.

Thanks again Andrew and best wishes to yourself and Samantha for the birth of your child. Happy days.