Next up, we speak to strength and conditioning coach
Mike Clegg who is entrusted with the physical development of every
player...
Morning Mike. So tell us about your role at the
club?
My base is the Carrington gym and my job really
is just to be available whenever anyone wants me. I deal with the
first team, the Reserves and the Academy lads and it’s up to me to
provide the right type of indoor training for their outdoor
needs.
How important is the work the players do in the
gym?
It's never going to be as important as that done
on the pitch, but more and more players are putting time and effort
into their gym work to help build up their strength because it can
have such a big effect on the field. All of our lads are very
dedicated to the gym side of their training, but it’s important to
get the right balance between the work done on the training pitch
and in here. It’s my job to look after the gym part and make sure
the players do the absolute right amount because it’s very easy to
do too much. They all have their own personal training plans and I
work closely with [fitness coach] Tony Strudwick and his team to
help ensure those plans get the best out of each player.
We hear football and United in particular has always been a
big part of the family…
Well, I’ve been a United fan
since I was born and two of my sons, Michael and Stephen, were both
players at the club as youngsters. We’ve had a family gym in
Ashton-under-Lyne for 25 years so we’re all fitness fanatics! All
of my five kids now coach or are involved in our gym. Michael is
Sunderland’s fitness coach, while Stephen is working part-time at
the club with me. The work I did with my two lads during their time
at United actually helped me get the job here. They weren’t the
most skilful players, but they were very
powerful, strong guys. They were both small full-backs, so they
needed that extra strength that I’d help them develop at the gym.
The club recognised the work I'd done with them and [head
physiotherapist] Rob Swire brought me in on an occasional basis
from February 2000, before I joined as a permanent member of
staff.
What’s the best thing about the job?
Without
question it’s seeing the development of a player as a youngster all
the way through to the first team. And I’ve been lucky enough to
work with quite a few who have achieved that feat. I came midway
through the careers of the likes of Ryan [Giggs], Gary [Neville]
and Paul [Scholes], but I’ve been here since Danny Welbeck joined
the club and he’s doing brilliantly, and I’ve seen the fantastic
progress made by players like Fletch, John O’Shea and Wes
[Brown].
As well as working with the players, Inside United readers
saw how you also put some members of the editorial team through a
session at your gym…
They were all very brave! It was
tough, but I wanted to give them something different to the
training they’d been doing - there’s no point pussyfooting around!
I made sure I told them exactly what they had to do beforehand and
allowed them to do as much as they felt they could; how much they
pushed themselves was down to them. They all did great and I’d
certainly give them 10 out of 10 for effort.
