Was it just me or did Darren Wassall’s comments this week about his team having to be ‘fitter’, suggest very politely that the previous head coach did not have his squad in peak physical condition?

Over the course of the season we have seen the teams performances fall away, the pressure and manic pressing that was present in many matches, was in the next match often replaced by near lethargy. And it is no secret that the team has fallen away badly as the season has rolled on, so could it be that the Rams fitness was not up to the standard required of a Championship footballer, especially one that is part of a club pushing for promotion?

The first sign that something may have been wrong in this department came earlier in the week when the club relieved Karl Halabi of his position. Halabi had been head of physical performance since Paul Clement arrived and was removed days before Wassall spoke to the media.

Wassall didn’t make a big song and dance about the situation but if you read above, below and between the lines, it seems obvious what he was trying to say when he spoke to the DET:

"The way that we want to play and the intensity we want to play with, we have to be fitter. We are working on that and addressing it in training. I was not involved in the training since July but the way I train, the way our staff train and the way I want the players to train is with intensity. I don't know if that is different to before but that is how we train".

“We have just got to be careful because we have 15 big games coming up and we don't want to overdo it in training. We have to be ready for games but we think we have got the balance right this week."

Subtle but definitely a politely worded shot at his predecessor and a barely veiled explanation as to why Darren thinks the Rams may have fallen away so badly in 2016.

With Steve Haines, who has been involved in the DCFC set up for 8 years, now running the ‘strength and conditioning department’, Wassall seemed much happier:

“Steve Haines knows all the players and he knows how we work".

If this was a mystery in a novel, you could say the plot thickened when Jeff Hendrick was questioned about the team’s fitness:

"Yes. Our energy levels have to be upped in games. We used to outrun teams. I don't think we have done that a lot this year and that is what Darren wants us to get back doing — being a team who are hard to beat, a team who work harder than the opposition.”

"I have not been used to playing game after game after game this season until very recently, so it is just about getting my body used to it again."

So it seems Mr.Wassall intends to work the Rams harder and get the players fitness back to where he believes it should be. In doing so it seems if Darren is true to his word, players who respond will be rewarded:

"The competition for places is very intense, we have not won for eight League games, so nobody has really nailed down a place and can say 'this is my place and I shouldn't be dropped. Until we get the right balance, formation and results, all places are up for grabs."

So in between all of the disquiet, sarcasm and much moaning from fans, it seems our new head coach may have quietly but definitively given his judgement over the main issue with the first team and I say well done for how he handled it.

After being judged harshly for his comments after the MK Dons defeat, Wassall played this brilliantly by explaining a major factor he has identified as a weakness, without the theatrics that many a manager would have employed.

Many would have used it as an excuse or a way to plead for more patience. Instead he has been positive, identified the issue and moved to solve it as swiftly as possible without targeting the players. Top draw!

Some of the main criticisms of the team this season has been the lack of spark, fading in and out of games and not delivering consistency week in, week out. If you look at all of these there is no doubt that poor fitness could more than provide answers as to why it was happening.

As the season went on things got worse, there were less and less periods when the Rams controlled games. They looked like they were trying, but more often than not seemed short of the other gear they needed to step things up. Anyone who has played football will know that feeling of digging deep but not having the fitness to do what is required to get the job done.

If Wassall can quickly get some conditioning in and give the players that extra inch of pace, the deeper well from which they have to draw will help when they have to chase back or put pressure on defenders, then the impact it will make on the team, even in the short term could be immense.

Players like Johnson have gone from absolute world beaters that can destroy a team, to a lumbering figure too often off the pace and too regularly caught in possession. A player as good as he has been at this level in recent years doesn’t normally just fall in a hole; and in this case someone may have helped dig it for him. Perhaps Clement was the one with the shovel and now Wassall has turned up with a ladder and the work ethic required to fill it in.

The evidence has been presented but the case goes to court on Saturday. If we see signs of the Rams energy levels being up and more of a spring in their step, Mr Wassall may have found the disease, provided the cure and set the patient on the road to recovery.

He may or may not be the man for the job long term… but I for one am ready to be convinced.

Bring on Brentford — COYR!!

Photo: Action Images

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