Secret Weapon?

By Nick Blackbourn
August 20 2009

With two relegations suffered in such a short space of time, Charlton's fans have witnessed a collapse in financial clout. Gone are the days of 5 million - or even 1 million pound - outlays on players. Our budget, across the board, has collapsed.

However, look where we are; League One. The clubs we now compete against have just as limited resources as us, if not more so. We have a Premier League level stadium, training facilitates, and youth setup, which cost money, but reap rewards.

I am not belittling our rivals, I just think that even now we are better off than we are prepared to admit. For starters, thanks to our academy we have a number of promising youth team products in the first team and on its fringes, and we have a sports scientist in place to administer fitness testing and to work with the results.

Nick Davies, who worked at the Valley under Curbishley, returned mid-season last year. His job is to ensure the players are at peak condition for the entirety of the 46 game season. When managers talk of 'good energy levels' that is one of the sports scientist's roles.

For League One's small squads, keeping as many players as fully fit as possible is vital to maintaining peak performance, and for Charlton especially maintaining the momentum of a fantastic start. Nick Davies could be our secret weapon this year. All teams look for an edge, and we are fortunate enough to have the resources to run sports science facilities.

Last year, joining in December, he had no pre-season to work with. This year he has and look at, for example, Deon Burton's performances so far. Working with individual players seems to be working and long may that continue.

Of course, there are those who scoff at the 'science' side of the game; Matt Le Tissier is one of them. But I do believe that we have an advantage here. It won't be enough to achieve wins alone, but if the players are able to give that extra percent on match day, that is sometimes the difference between winning and losing.

Is Nick Davies our secret weapon this season?