Fitness guru to play key role

11:35am Friday 4th July 2008

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DINO Maamria has hired a full time fitness coach to get his squad in shape this summer.

The Vics boss reckons Richie Whall will be one of his best signings as he hopes to avoid a repeat of last term’s disastrous start.

"Dino is a forward-thinking manager and that's vital at this level."

Vics' new fitness coach Richie Whall

“Poor preparation set us back last season,” he said.

“I’ve said it so many times, the team were not fit and I think we paid for that right through to Christmas.

“Only after that when I was able to bring in younger, fitter players who had hunger to do well did we see a difference.”

Maamria met Whall last summer when former boss Neil Redfearn asked the coach to take a couple of early sessions.

Redfearn did not follow up that initial interest, but Maamria called Whall soon after he took over as manager.

“I liked the work Richie did,” he said.

“He helped us out in January as a consultant when we had what I called a mini pre-season and so one of the first things I wanted sorted when last season finished was to get him down here on a more permanent basis.”

He was back on the phone to the 30-year-old before Vics’ trip to Stevenage in April to ask him back to help tailor individual training programmes for the players that they would do while on their summer break.

Whall said: “I’m excited to be back working with Dino.

“He’s a really forward-thinking manager with the way he likes things to be done and I think that’s vital even at this level.”

Whall has worked across sports at all levels, from FA junior national squads to Premier League academies as well as elite tennis teams, since graduating from the University of Chester in 2001.

He shares Maamria’s modern outlook.

“The training is all structured around the latest sports science research,” he added.

“Each player is monitored individually to ensure we minimise the risk of injury and get them in peak physical condition.”