Town manager Paul Jewell has revealed that the Blues topped some of the Prozone fitness tables for August — but for the wrong reasons. The Blues have used the Prozone system, which provides clubs with player performance information for analysis from every game, for a number of years now.

Jewell said: “We had all the Prozone figures through for August and the team that covered the most distance in 90 minutes was us.

“We had the highest number of sprints and the longest high speed runs. So, of all the fitness stats, we’re at the top in three of them and in the top five of the other two.”

But he says there’s an explanation for those table-topping figures: “The reason we’re running around so much is because we’re giving possession away cheaply.

“That is definitely a confidence thing, the way we give the ball away. In training we knock it around, we pass the ball and move it and it’s great, but at the minute [in matches] we’re just giving the ball away and making the pitch big when the opposition have got it, therefore we have to cover huge amounts of ground.

“Sometimes when you look at the games and think we’re treading water but we’re only doing that because we’ve run so far.”

Jewell says the stats show that the opposite is the case for the Championship’s pace-setters: “It’s quite interesting that some of the teams at the top of the table are bottom of the league on fitness stats. But on technical stats and on keeping the ball, they’re top of the league, and that’s what it’s about.

“We’re running around because we’re giving possession of the ball away too cheaply. It’s not because we’re not working hard, in fact we’re working harder than most, that’s proved. But when it comes to keeping possession, we’ve been cheap with it.”

Photo: Action Images

finidigeorge88 added 09:56 - Sep 17 Most sprints and distance covered because we are chasing shadows for 90 minutes
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itfc1981 added 10:15 - Sep 17 So we are a crap football team, but have a good chance of beating Bolt in London 2012.
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sonian_blue added 11:04 - Sep 17 Dont really care. Just sort it out.
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itfcjon added 11:05 - Sep 17 the reason we knock it around and pass in training were not playing against anyone i could knock it around and i'm 62
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jas0999 added 15:04 - Sep 17 Forget that stats - it' all about results and for that we are certainly at the wrong end of the table.
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Luggworm added 15:47 - Sep 17 At least Jewell knows why the stats say what they do. Last year Keane was saying it was a good thing that we were the second "fittest" in the championship.
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ITFC4daprem added 18:45 - Sep 17 can't do any harm
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brogansnose added 21:05 - Sep 17 Quite simple really, get the players in blue to pass to each other and to make it even easier run into positions where its easy to recieve a pass from a player in blue, preferably in the direction of the oppositions goal. If you can't do this don't expect a fat wage cheque each week. Oh , and if you do give the ball away then run back and take it off the opposition player or at the very least make it difficult for them.Cheers, Brogan.

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bobble added 21:57 - Sep 17 that will never work
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brogansnose added 07:12 - Sep 18 I should also have added that if we insist, and we have done so under the present and previous managers, to hoof the ball long distances thereby making it predictable and easy for the opposition to deal with then we will lose possesion. Oh, and if the forward does get the ball go and help him out. There is no point in Jewell saying that he hasnt got the players for 4-4-2 because he definately hasnt got the players for 4-5-1 or whatever from what I see each week. Football is a beautiful simple game, why complicate it?

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Basil_Smallpiece added 08:42 - Sep 18 And Town fans topped the Prozac league for August. They take far more than anyone else.
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