Hills are alive with the sound of Cotterill

STEVE Cotterill takes his seat in a modest stand and keeps a watchful eye on his players.

It's another day of drills on Burnley's training tour in Austria and coaches Dave Kevan and Mark Yates are putting the Burnley squad through a series of quickfire exercises as the prelude to the morning session.

The manager's absence from the training field at this time is meticulously planned.

When he steps into the fray, it will be the first time they hear his voice and, understandably, they will take heed.

That moment comes in the middle of the session - and suddenly, in Sound of Music country - the hills are alive with the sound of Cotterill.

He is unhappy with the concentration levels in a quick passing drill - and marches into the centre of the pitch to make sure the players know it!

Two minutes later, with his words ringing in their ears, the drill is repeated without any ragged edges.

Point made.

Cotterill is clearly a manager who makes his presence felt. We live in an era where so many of the top managers now delegate coaching duties to a skilled, competent backroom team, then make their presence felt when it is truly required.

"Different voices work wonders," said assistant manager Kevan. "A little bit of variation and a different face and a different voice keeps the lads on their toes.

"The management team all discuss the training beforehand and what intensity we want out of the session and then everyone has their own jobs in putting that into practise."

The banter from the players themselves suggests they are enjoying responding to the demands placed upon them.

Many have quietly spoken about feeling as fit this pre-season as any in their careers.

And as the session ends with a low-key series of warm-downs, some, like Robbie Blake and goalkeeper Danny Coyne even prolong the exercise with a spot of boxing!

Kevan added: "Today's session was pretty low key because we feel now we are coming to the end of our pre-season.

"Because of the workload they have taken on over the past few weeks, now is the time to tone things down and try to reserve energy levels.

"On Monday and Tuesday of this week, they worked very hard and that was probably their past two intensive days.

"Now it's more rest and recovery before they work again in the game on Saturday."

The hard work really begins on Saturday, August 7. Burnley fans need have no fear the players are ready and raring to go.