New head coach Leonid Slutsky has spoken of his pleasure at the commitment of the Hull players in training and Tom Huddlestone has been saying that everybody is adjusting well to what our new man in charge wants.
Beginning with Slutsky, he told the Official Site that he’d been impressed with the work ethic shown by the players on our Portugal training camp so far and he doesn’t feel we have any passengers with everyone putting in maximum effort.
‘We don’t have any passengers in this squad, only serious players. The younger players in the group like Clark, Clackstone and Batty are training very well and are in very good condition.’
Building on his comments about the youngsters in the group, he said they would more than have their first team chance next season if they earned it and he praised for the seniors for setting the right example to them.
‘They all can have a chance of playing in the first team – why not? They are not young, young players. They are 19, 20 or older and this is the age to start a serious career. The young players are being shown a serious example by the more experienced players here and they are doing really very well together.’
As for Huddlestone, whilst fitness work is paramount at the moment, he said that the double challenge of taking on Slutsky’s ideas and what he wants from the players has been an enjoyable experience so far as well.
‘He speaks very good English, which is a bonus, and he’s putting across new ideas that many of us are new to, but everybody is on board and willing to learn under him. He’s sat down and spoken to all of us individually, and he gave some of us a call during the summer after he had been appointed which was a nice touch and something he didn’t have to do.’
Huddlestone went on to say.
‘He is a very hands-on kind of manager and although he can make the atmosphere quite relaxed, I’m sure he can ‘lose it’ if needs be. His depth of knowledge about us all is something we’ve all been impressed with. Even last week, when we had some of the Academy lads training with us in Cottingham, he knew everybody by their first name, second name and even nickname, and that is something a lot of foreign managers don’t tend to pick up until they have been in the building a few months. He knows everybody, so he’s either very good with names and faces or he has done a lot of work in the build-up to pre-season.’
Of course a new head coach means players have to impress again to get their starting spot in the line up and Huddlestone went on to say it was down to each player to ensure they achieved that as a new man has his own ideas.
‘With a new Head Coach and new players coming in, the start of a new season means that everybody has to prove themselves again. It doesn’t matter whether you are just starting out at 17 or 18, or are in your 30s, it’s the same for all of us. You have to impress your manager and your team-mates and make sure you do yourself justice. You can see that in training this week because everybody is giving it their all. Promotion is our objective for the new season and the quality is still in the squad. We’ve brought Ola Aina in from Chelsea and he looks like a good player. I’m sure the manager has still got a few more signings up his sleeve and we’re all raring to get the new season underway.’
