Man City boss Mancini praises Greenwich lecturer for input ahead of Man Utd title decider (From News Shopper)

Man City boss Mancini praises Greenwich lecturer for input ahead of Man Utd title decider

12:26pm Wednesday 25th April 2012 in Non-League Football

MANCHESTER City do battle with United on Monday in a match being billed as the title decider and City boss Roberto Mancini knows his men could not be in better shape, thanks in part to the University of Greenwich.

Niall Clark, senior lecturer in football coaching science at the university’s school of science, is now in his third season as sports science consultant at Manchester City, where he oversees every player’s fitness programme.

Clark works closely with City boss Mancini, who is hoping to lead the club to its first championship in 44 years.

Mancini said: “The work Niall does with my head of fitness is invaluable, especially in pre-season where they help plan and structure our training.

“Football is always moving forward and with Niall on board he keeps us up to date with the latest technology, be it GPS, saliva testing or ice baths.”

City’s head of fitness Ivan Carminati added: “Top players in my experience are extremely motivated and single minded.

“They will do what they need to if they believe it will improve them.

“The important thing is they have to trust the person delivering the message and in Niall we have one of the best football sport scientists in the world, so they trust him implicitly.”

Sports science has transformed football as clubs look to wring the maximum out of players.

Most clubs have at least one sports scientist on the staff, with the bigger clubs having four or five.

Players are tested for everything, with City’s five-strong sports science team creating individual training programmes for the players.

Clark said: “Varying the intensity of training is important.

“Earlier in the season we had three games a week in the Premier League, Champions League then Premier League again, plus travel, so we monitor the players carefully.

“Heart rate can be misleading, we fit the players with GPS units so we can measure the distance a player runs, how many sprints he does, how much high intensity work they’re doing.

“Combined with heart rate monitors we get the true picture.”

Greenwich offers full and part time degree courses in sports science, including football coaching and professional football coaching.

The knowledge gained enables a sports scientist to work with athletes and to understand the physical, psychological and physiological demands of sport and exercise.

A graduate can work in areas such as sport, the fitness industry, hospitals and schools, as well as going on to postgraduate study in areas such as teaching, physiotherapy, research and specialist courses.

Clark added: “There’s an incredible knowledge base at Greenwich.

“I’ve always liked working at universities because it keeps you up-to-date with research.

“The football world can be quite blinkered and it’s important to know what else is going on.”

To find out more about studying sports science at the University of Greenwich, visit gre.ac.uk/study/courses/ug/sps or call 020 8331 9000.

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