Paul Parker Article

No rest for Prem stars

Thu Jul 09 02:07PM

Players return from their summer holidays this week, some barely a month after their last game, but all will be expected to hit the ground running.

Considering the brevity of their breaks - and the shortness of the leashes they are kept on by their clubs - most players should not be too unfit when they arrive back.

During the off-season, a top flight player's every move - including what he eats and drinks - is monitored by his club and scrutinised by the press in equal measures.

As such, Premier League players' fitness levels, already incredibly high, have barely had a chance to drop off, making their return to training that bit easier.

It was different in my day when pre-season was an unpleasant time of the year for me - and many others.

Back then we were allowed a little more leeway in what we could get up to on our holidays and with a longer period between the end of the season and the beginning of the new one, getting back into shape was difficult at best.

The first thing we did at training camp was a gruelling endurance race, and considering I was more a sprinter than a long-distance runner, more often than not I struggled.

The most physically demanding pre-seasons I suffered were when I was with Fulham and we used to go jogging through Richmond Park or along the River Thames from Craven Cottage until we were on our knees.

But these days the emphasis during pre-season has shifted and it is not all about seemingly endless cross-country runs.

Training methods have moved with the times and, with players' fitness levels already relatively high when they return, there is no need to put them through what we used to have to go through.

Instead more emphasis is put on developing agility and flexibility during that first week back, certainly at Premier League clubs.

Of course, in the tougher lower divisions, brute strength is still an asset and those clubs' training regimes are more likely to resemble the ones I undertook at QPR and Fulham.

But at least for the top flight clubs, pre-season training should not be something to be feared, nor should the shortness of the summer break be a bone of contention.

Considering the length of a player's career, the relatively short-term sacrifice of a dry and healthy summer holiday will be well worth the rewards to be reaped once it's over.

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Decently informing article...I like this one, Paul.
From joelconner_stlmc on Thu Jul 09 02:15PM
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For once I agree with you Parker. The lazy sod's are paid anything up to £150,000 per week. Why should they get more than a couple of weeks holiday a year.
Oh and well done for talking about about Man U or Fergie!!
From brooksie6870 on Thu Jul 09 02:16PM
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You guys know the effort Mr Parker had to put in to produce the phrase "I undertook at QPR and Fulham", ignoring "Manchester United back then"? I'm a United fan so I couldn't complain about his incessant Man United references though i understood others! I kept reading expecting to see, "and even at United where the training system was well advanced..." but let's say this is a disappointment!
WOW... NOT ONCE DID MR PARKER MENTION THE UNITED IN THIS ARTICLE
From yawboakye86 on Thu Jul 09 02:41PM
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I think the only person paid more than most premiership footballers per minute of work must be Paul Parker.
From nist on Thu Jul 09 02:49PM
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'I suffered were when I was with Fulham and we used to go jogging through Richmond Park or along the River Thames from Craven Cottage' LOL absolute journalistic gold... its like something off the fast show.... dynamite Paul absolute Dynamite.
I've learned the only way to live through Mr Parkers articles is to laugh at them. Because they are really really @#$%.
From samuelmanley on Thu Jul 09 03:03PM
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'I suffered were when I was with Fulham and we used to go jogging through Richmond Park or along the River Thames from Craven Cottage' LOL absolute journalistic gold... its like something off the fast show.... dynamite Paul absolute Dynamite.
I've learned the only way to live through Mr Parkers articles is to laugh at them. Because they are really really @#$%.
From samuelmanley on Thu Jul 09 03:03PM
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'I suffered were when I was with Fulham and we used to go jogging through Richmond Park or along the River Thames from Craven Cottage' LOL absolute journalistic gold... its like something off the fast show.... dynamite Paul absolute Dynamite.
I've learned the only way to live through Mr Parkers articles is to laugh at them. Because they are really really @#$%.
From samuelmanley on Thu Jul 09 03:04PM
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For the millions of Manchester United fans out there, ... what was the back to 'work' training like when you played there?
From agpkennedy on Thu Jul 09 03:05PM
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'I suffered were when I was with Fulham and we used to go jogging through Richmond Park or along the River Thames from Craven Cottage' LOL absolute journalistic gold... its like something off the fast show.... dynamite Paul absolute Dynamite.
I've learned the only way to live through Mr Parkers articles is to laugh at them. Because they are really really @#$%.
From samuelmanley on Thu Jul 09 03:08PM
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'I suffered were when I was with Fulham and we used to go jogging through Richmond Park or along the River Thames from Craven Cottage' LOL absolute journalistic gold... its like something off the fast show.... dynamite Paul absolute Dynamite.
I've learned the only way to live through Mr Parkers articles is to laugh at them. Because they are really really @#$%.
From samuelmanley on Thu Jul 09 03:08PM
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nice article PP
From jeanpierre1mann on Thu Jul 09 03:11PM
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Paul, don't let the supporters of lesser clubs push you about. Tell it like it was. Who was the most unfit at United? Who was the fittest at return for United? What did you do for training at United? Did Ferguson bother to turn up? Give us United's day to day training breakdown of the first few weeks back. You know there's more people interested in that detail than all the other fans put together.
From agpkennedy on Thu Jul 09 03:14PM
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Samuelmanley (posts 6-8, 10, 11 Do you suffer from that terribly debilitating disease finger stutter, or do you just repeat yourself to p**s oher people off? I'd actually rather read that S**t for brains P Parker!
From alan_paperboy on Thu Jul 09 03:29PM
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oh my goodness,i only read parkers articles for a laugh,he has no more journalistic skills than me.who wants too know about him running around parks.does he get paid for this dribble,well all credit to him for getting easy money
From mcmullan.aaron on Thu Jul 09 03:32PM
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Mr Parker...sh**e player...Worse Journo!
From d.ryder1 on Thu Jul 09 03:35PM
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This is the first article of Pauls that I have read and liked. Lets see if you can get 2 in a row
From shawnkenndy on Thu Jul 09 03:55PM
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I think Parker mentions about himself and his past in his articles on purpose/intentionally so as to piss his readers off.
From random_access88 on Thu Jul 09 04:02PM
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What on earth is wrong with this article? Quite a decent little piece.
From marioncourt on Thu Jul 09 04:08PM
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Just you Alan!
From samuelmanley on Thu Jul 09 04:14PM
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Paul, you forgot to mention your time at Manchester and for England!!! must try harder!!!!!! =)
From mblucas1970 on Thu Jul 09 04:22PM
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grreat article PP. haters go hang
From kaggwa2000 on Thu Jul 09 04:34PM
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Tht i told u to get another job.
From gboyeosin on Thu Jul 09 04:36PM
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at #19 This is a blog, so he can mention himself. Tbh if he doesn t mention himself it won't be a blog anymore.
From mickar567 on Thu Jul 09 04:45PM
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Hmm, did Paul actually write this? There is no mention of his United career or his England caps! Lets make it 2 in a row Paul eh? :P
From tdobson93 on Thu Jul 09 04:47PM
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Look Parker if I were on the money these guys make a week never mind all their other perks, I would run around naked in the snow and bloody well jump into a ice cold water canal then wrestle a gorilla and drink ten pints bend over backwards and sing the national anthem (I have done and being arrested ,but that story is for another time). Try working six days a week to meet the bills then we will talk more. My heart bleeds for them and you. God bless you because you really have it so hard. I mean it must be a struggle living on only 50 to 100 grand a week. Ah god bless you.
From francis.brooker on Thu Jul 09 04:52PM
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How pathetic is your life that you read an article and then post your stupid hate filled opinions. It’s the same haters time after time posting the same @#$%. You know who you are, just sitting and staring at your monitors waiting for the next blog from Paul. You have your trousers down around your ankles with one hand on the keyboard waiting to push send because you have already written your ridiculous reply before the next article has been written. Your other hand on your “ tiny thing” because this is the only way you can pleasure yourself because we all know, no woman or prostitute would have you. Give us all a break and Sod off already. If you don’t like, don’t read it and if you think you are so much better, get your own blog and tell us about your career as a Footballer. Oh, that’s right, you know nothing about the game and you were always picked last.
From rjpanzarino on Thu Jul 09 05:09PM
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"it was different in my day". You old pro you Parker. Wintergreen,magic sponge,brylcream on the old barnet before you kicked off.A park drive or two during half-time,10 bob win bonus.Cor blimey mate another riveting peice of journalistic tosh.
From boyfromwell on Thu Jul 09 05:09PM
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I don't understand most of you. If you don't like Paul Parker's columns, then don't read them. I for one, like his columns. The smart writers are the ones that write about the subjects they know. Parker intimately knows about United because he was there. Why wouldn't he tap that well of knowledge and experience? His articles wouldn't be much use if he wrote things like "At Chelsea, I bet they did something like this" or "At Liverpool, they probably did something like that". If some of you are so brilliant, write your own articles and submit them to Eurosport. Let's see how far your insights get you.
From dbawebster on Thu Jul 09 05:41PM
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thankyou rj panzarino ,comment 29. how sad and pathetic does your life have to get before you start pleasuring yourself by complaining about articles on the internet. They're free for f@#k sake!!!!!! If you don't like a journo's work then don't read it. As for Mr. Parker's writing abilities HE"S A RETIRED FOOTBALLER!!!What do you really expect. It's not as if he spent his youth at university majoring in journalism. As for his constantly mentioning his time at man u, what do you want him to go on about?His time as mp for Staines? The bottom line is he certainly knows a hell of a lot more about life as a professional footballer than pretty much any of us and he writes well enough so just SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!
From bakahime61 on Thu Jul 09 06:23PM
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For once, Paul has come up with a decent article that merits attention. Before now, he had either knowingly or unkwonwingly tended to show his bias in most of his write-up which have drawn so much criticisms. Let's hope that this will be a point of departure from preious articles which unwarrantly targeted some teams and their players while always praising his team, Man Utd.
From amaidunama on Thu Jul 09 06:35PM
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