Fulham Boss Chris Coleman was disappointed last season with what appeared to be the lack of toughness displayed by team members. This season he is trying to remedy the issue by making his squad rougher, tougher and hungrier through a new style fitness regime introduced during the close season.
After Fulham's first game of the season, a goalless draw with Birmingham, Coleman explained his new training approach
The Cottager's fitness training is headed up by Steve Nance, well known in Australia for his physical fitness work with rugby league teams and Australia's 1999 rugby union World Cup winners.
"A lot of the training has been different," Coleman said. "There's more of a rugby theme. We're doing a lot of physical work, including weight training and boxing. We have to stay in this league, so we have got to have our players fitter than anybody else.
"The sessions have been longer and harder. At first the players were going nuts because they didn't like it. But we took pictures of their bodies and told them to watch for the change in their physique within six weeks. It's been miraculous. Now they're enjoying it. This is a lovely little club, down by the Thames. Everybody loves coming to Fulham. We've got to make it an unhappy place for teams to come. We didn't do that last year."
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