Many Everton fans have reacted enthusiastically to images emerging from Finch Farm showing new manager Sean Dyche putting the players through their paces but there was one annual training routine that reached legendary status during his time at Burnley – 'Gaffer’s Day.'
Members of the Blues squad were pictured being drilled under the watchful eye of the former Clarets boss and some of them appeared exhausted after what looked a high-intensity session.
Dyche knows that he’s got his work cut out taking charge of an Everton side that is joint bottom of the Premier League table after picking up just 15 points from 20 matches and predecessor Frank Lampard having been sacked after losing eight of his last nine games in all competitions. On being appointed, the 51-year-old said: “We’re ready to work and ready to give them what they want.
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“That starts with sweat on the shirt, effort and getting back to some of the basic principles of what Everton Football Club has stood for for a long time.”
There was certainly plenty of sweat on the shirts of Dyche’s players during his nine-and-a-half-year stint at Turf Moor when it came to a pivotal moment of each pre-season campaign. The Lancashire Telegraph painted a vivid picture of what the players faced back in 2015 when it reported from Burnley’s camp by the shores of Lake Geneva.
Although the spa town Evian-les-Bains is internationally renowned for its healing waters, it was a different kind of liquid that was suddenly found in abundance. The article stated: “There will be one day in particular when beads will inevitably drip from every pore. It has become known among the players as ‘The Gaffer’s Day’ – a gruelling test of fitness, stamina and team spirit.”
For his part, Dyche made no bones about what his squad were in for. He said: “Evian-les-Bains is somewhere I went over to last year to have a look at.
“We’re always trying to push the margins in training with not only the physical side but the mental side of the game. It’s a lovely place, a real good setting to work hard - and there will be hard work being done.
“It’s well documented now about how hard our players work. That’s a given, the way we train, the way we look after them.”
During a trip to Fota Island off Cork Harbour in July 2018 – which was experiencing the type of baking heat seldom experienced in Ireland – midfielder Jack Cork subscribed to the mantra of ‘no pain, no gain’ when it came to long-term benefits such unique conditioning. Going through his second Gaffer’s Day, he told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I’ve never done a session like this at any other club.
"It’s different but it was really good last year, it helped me settle into the team. It’s good when you’re new and you’re getting in with the lads, because you can show you’re part of a team and it does help you get in together.
“It helped me last year and you know that nobody else is going to do as much as running in a day so it gives us a bit of a mental edge that we’re doing a lot. It’s in your head that you know you can do it, than when your head is telling you to stop you can keep pushing on.”
Cork explained how the training was purely on fitness with no ball work involved at all for 24 hours. He added: “That’s the one that everyone looks at and thinks it’s going to be the hardest one.
“It’s a good feeling when you get it done because you know it’s going to be good for you, it’s going to be beneficial to everyone in the team and it brings everyone together as a group, everyone pushes as hard as they can and we get the most out of it. It’s good to get a bit of a togetherness.
“We don’t usually do too many running sessions like this, this is the only one where it’s all running and no footballs. A lot of it is just mental stuff more than the legs, trying to get your heads around that you can do it and getting other lads through it.
“It’s everyone pushing each other and that’s what you need during the season, everyone helping out together and on the same team, trying to push each other in the same direction.”
The following year, new signing Erik Pieters also enthused about the beneficial properties of such a demanding regime. Lancs Live quoted him as quipping: “Gaffer’s day was lovely, I want do it again. But it’s part of the manager’s thing and it was good.
“It was hard work but was fun and was a nice welcome into the team in Portugal.
“It’s good to get your fitness level up and get you mentally prepared for the hard work and the lads they did well.”
The Dutch left-back added: “Basically you train without balls. They are not allowed.
“They stay at the hotel and the only thing you see are stopwatches and a big speaker saying ‘go’ and ‘stop’.
“It’s all part of it and it prepares you mentally and gives you that edge and give you that little bit more. When you’re doing it you hate it but afterwards you’re pleased.”
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