Latics appoint a new physiotherapist

Last updated : 23 April 2008 By The Chairman

Athletic have appointed a new physiotherapist. The new man is Marc Czuczman and he has arrived from League One rivals Walsall. He is conscious of the amount of injuries that the players have accrued this year and he aims to stamp it out. Czuczman is now Athletic's senior physiotherapist and will work alongside Jon Guy who recently joined the staff from Preston North End.

He told latics World, "I'm looking forward to the challenge. This is a great opportunity for me, and I used to live in the north so the area is a good base. I see this as a good chance to put my stamp on things, and both myself and Jon have some good ideas on how to take things forward. I'll be concentrating on preventative measures in pre-season. I take soft tissue injuries as a personal insult to me. Obviously you can't legislate for serious injuries on the pitch, but the pre-season approach is all about training the body so that joints become muscle-reliant as opposed to ligament-reliant."

"We did preventative sessions with the first team at Walsall pre pre-season last year, with each player having to attend at least six mandatory sessions. We didn't get one injury, whereas in the youth team, where we didn't carry out the programme, 14 players reported minor problems in the first two weeks. I have a big work ethic and will be working our players towards being as big and strong as possible with sessions aimed at strength and injury prevention. At Walsall we had 90% of the squad fit during the League Two championship winning season, and I think we had six soft tissue injuries in two years. Over the next two weeks I'll be assessing the players who are currently here and developing programmes for them to follow. I respect the players as long as they respect me and I will lay down the law if I have to."