Coffee, chocolates and hard work on the menu ... how a week in Germany will influence a whole season for Rotherham United
The Millers players had only just unpacked after arriving in Barsinghausen, Germany, for a seven-day boot-camp when the manager gathered them together.
He told them what he expected from them, what he was demanding while they were away from their regular HQ in Roundwood where most of their pre-season labour is taking place.
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Hide AdHis message applied only to the week ahead yet the discipline, the standards, the respect and the work ethic enshrined in it will echo throughout a League One campaign which begins early next month and will end, if everything goes to plan, in an instant return to the Championship.
“You have to be ready to run at half seven tomorrow. I understand three or four of you can't do the run. You'll be given something similar to do in the gym and must also be ready at half seven.
“There will be no excuses for being late at all. There will be no sleep-ins, no late alarms. There will be no excuses. If you aren't there for half seven or you aren't reporting to the gym at half seven, do not expect sympathy from me. You will get none. Make sure you are ready to run.
“There is a 5k run through the woods. It won't be a ridiculous pace. You will come back and then we'll do something on the grass. You'll have breakfast and then you can go back to bed for all I care.”
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Hide AdThe run became the first of five daily sessions designed to test hearts, minds and resolve. Three more physical workouts would follow breakfast before classroom briefings in the evenings.
By the time the squad flew back to England last Monday, they had played two friendlies and had been put through 80 kilometres of training: 50 miles of blood and sweat in old money.
The workload was heavy but the mood away from the effort was light. The Saturday-night quiz was a riot while mid-afternoon became a popular time.
“When we booked the trip, we made sure three o'clock coffee and cake was included,” Warne grinned. “It's essential.
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Hide Ad“The staff go to sleep after the first football session of the day and when the alarm goes off it's like: 'Oh God.' Then you think: 'Oooh, it's coffee and cake in ten minutes.'
“You can hear people screaming from the other side of the training camp when they realise what time it is. If we didn't have that, I'm not sure Richie (assistant manager Barker) and Hammy (coach Matt Hamshaw) would have come.
“My three vices in life, in no specific order, are coffee, cheese and chocolate. I could easily survive on that and nothing else.
“We couldn't have coffee and cake on the Wednesday because we had to have the pre-match meal before that night's game. Devastated doesn't come into it!
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Hide Ad“At cake time, they bring out a tray of different chocolates. Dark chocolate. And I love dark chocolate, Mate. That is my thing. But no-one else likes it so I have virtually a tray to myself.
“The gaffer's tray of chocolates! Buzzing! That's been 'ledg'. I say that, but Richie's like a Labrador. He'll eat virtually anything.”
Away from the cups and confectionery, Warne, Richie the Labrador and co were working the group like dogs.
Paul Warne realises it's nearly time for coffee and chocolates
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Hide AdThe boss, dressed in his club-issue black tracksuit top and matching shorts while outlining the itinerary on a whiteboard in that opening call to arms, had warned it would be so.
“You'll report back at 11 and we'll have a proper session, then have lunch and rest in the afternoon. Then there will be another session and in the evening we'll do something in the classroom.
“You are a great group. I enjoy spending time with you, sincerely I do. Please respect the venue. It's amazing. Please buy into the fact that we train relentlessly. We train very hard. I know that. But it allows you to play at an intensity that other teams are going to struggle with.”
Players like defenders Semi Ajayi, Richard Wood and Joe Mattock are veterans of the two previous pre-season camps under Warne when the hard yards were done in Austria.
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Hide AdBut this was a first taste of the toil for summer signings strikers Freddie Ladapo and Carlton Morris, midfielders Shaun MacDonald and Daniel Barlaser and right-back Matthew Olosunde. A sixth arrival, winger Julien Lamy, looked on in frustration because of a leg injury.
To keep things fresh, Warne chose a different venue this time but one outcome remained the same. Nothing bonds players like shared effort and time and this was the week when the half-dozen new boys were truly made to feel they belonged.
“The lads are brilliant, Mate. It's a brilliant group,” Warne said. “I'm well happy with the personalities I've brought in.”
The manager showed video clips of each recruit to highlight why they were brought to the club and players new and old had to speak about themselves. The dreaded initiation songs will be kept for long away days once the season has started.
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Hide Ad“They've all got to do a talk about whatever they want,” Warne said. “They have to throw in their first ever league appearance — how they felt and all that.”
The boss was a 24-year-old League Two Wigan Athletic debutant back in 1997 after playing non-league football with Wroxham FC in his home county of Norfolk.
“I've already done my talk,” said Warne four days into the trip. “I candidly spoke about how, prior to my first league game, I felt, like, 'Phew, this is too much for me'. But then when I did play I just thought: 'Actually, this is just a game of football with players who are a bit better bit than I'm used to'.
“I spoke about my weaknesses, my character and a little bit about my family. I've given the lads a little bit of freedom to talk about what they want this year. Four people are speaking tonight, just to introduce themselves really and tell the group who they are.
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Hide Ad“It's Polly, Dan, Akeem and, I think, Robbo (goalkeeper coach Mike Pollitt, Barlaser, young left-back Akeem Hinds and centre-half Clark Robertson).
One of many table-tennis victories for Michael Smith over roommate Matt Crooks
“Polly will start off and it will be like Peter Kay. I want them to know each other, to care about each other.”
Some of Warne's most telling words had come on day one when his address to his men was captured on camera by Millers media officer Sam Todd.
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Hide Ad“You're here to become better. This place makes me want to be better. Come here with the mind-set that you want to be better.
“Enjoy yourselves watching Love Island or whatever it is you're going to do, play on Fortnite if you have to, but buy into the sessions and try to improve yourselves as best you can.
“You want to leave this time next week a better player or a fitter player or a more educated player or a more rounded person than when you came.”
Even after the 2-2 Wednesday-night behind-closed-doors draw with Werder Bremen II, the Millers were being put through their paces on a 6km run at 7.30am on Thursday.
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Hide AdOn the final afternoon of their stay, they missed a penalty as they were beaten 2-1 by FC Magdeburg but by then the purpose of the trip had been achieved.
Working hard in Barsinghausen
Two more friendlies followed this week, at Farsley Celtic and Bradford Park Avenue, and next up is a journey to Chesterfield and home tests against West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City before the action begins for real at AFC Wimbledon on August 3.
But it's the seven days in Germany that have set the tone for an entire season.
“There will be no excuses. Make sure you are ready to run.”
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DAILY DRUDGERY
Based on what Paul Warne scribbled on his whiteboard, here’s how a typical day unfolded for the Millers in Barsinghausen:
7.15: Report
7.30: Run
8.00: Football pitches
8.30: Breakfast
10.45: Stretches, Sports Hall
11.00: Training – bring dirty kit down
1.00: Lunch
3.45: Stretches
4.00: Training
6.30: Dinner – bring dirty kit down
7.30: Meeting room