2 days ago
Inside Celtic's gruelling pre-season training as 'reality' sets in for returning stars
The Hoops No.2 and first-team coach Gavin Strachan are back on the grass leading the team for pre-season training
More than five weeks have passed since Celtic blew the Treble at Hampden.
And while John Kennedy admits the gut-wrenching Scottish Cup Final defeat still stings, the Hoops No.2 insists the champions will use that lingering pain as fuel for the campaign ahead.
The Double-winners returned to pre-season training on Friday as preparations began for a mammoth summer - with trips to Ireland, Portugal and Italy, plus seven friendlies crammed into the schedule.
Then comes the small matter of a £40million winner-takes-all Champions League play-off at the end of August, as Celts look to dine at Europe's top table for a fourth year on the spin.
Kennedy - a crucial part of the Parkhead backroom team for more than a decade - knows there's no time for a post- Hampden hangover as the title defence and Euro quest loom large.
He said: "It's nice to see everybody's face again and getting back from the break.
"It's been a fair break we've had, it's been a good break. We've had time to reset, relax, get refreshed again and the boys have come in in pretty good shape and excited for what's ahead.
"The guys were terrific last year, I think the way it finished, it can take the shine off it a little bit. But once the dust settles and you reflect on how the season went, the guys were superb; they put everything into it.
"Okay, we just came up short in the final but the way we performed in the league, the League Cup earlier in the season, the Champions League, we can look back on that with a lot of positives.
"We can take a lot from that and be positive going into this season again. It's good to reflect on that, but at the same time, get a chance to switch off, let the legs recover, let the mind recover and come back in with the same hunger and desire to be successful again.
"Because that's what the club demands, we know there's no let-up. We know from the off, there's no little break, the way it was back in the day. It's straight into the work and get going."
Kennedy reckons the squad will have snapped out of holiday mode the moment they pitched up at Lennoxtown.
He told Celtic TV: "The reality when they're driving in this morning and the tests and starting to get around their peers again, that's when it probably sets in.
"For us, in terms of planning, a lot of stuff is done at the end of the season but this last week we've been dealing with the staff and going through the squads and just organising how this first couple of days looks, how we're looking going into next week and then how it looks when the international players return.
"A lot of planning and organising goes in place but there's nothing better than when you get in the building and see the faces and get back out on the pitch again.
"I enjoy it because I think the planning and organisation of things is vitally important for making sure things run smoothly and slickly and there are no hiccups along the way.
"Coming in, we have a great staff here who are very skilled in what they do in their different areas. It's a very clear idea in terms of who's doing what.
"There are a lot of battery of tests that we do with all of the players, just to check on a lot of things, which will then benchmark things as we go through the season.
"We can always reflect back on that. It gives us an idea of where they're at on day one and then we can monitor that through the pre-season as the season goes on.
"A lot of the planning and organisation is day one for us to be successful in terms of how we carry out the pre-season."
Celtic swept aside Manchester City and Chelsea during last year's stunning US tour. And Kennedy hopes they can kick off this pre-season in a similar style when they face Queen's Park on Friday.
He added: "For us, in terms of how we start, it's important. The messages from day one in terms of how we'll deliver it, how the manager will deliver it, guys like Callum McGregor, James Forrest, the guys who have been here before and know what it takes, to know that this period of the season we don't get back.
"It's really important we get a lot of work in at this early stage. We'll have a lot of games this pre-season to get through as well.
"There'll be that challenge in itself, which will be good. It'll set the squad up better. But we know the work we're putting in now will carry us all the way through.
"It's really important we don't skip a day from the off. As I said, there's no break-in period anymore. We're straight into work with the tests and the training. We'll very quickly ramp the intensity up and load the players up.
"We'll get as much work in as we possibly can between now and next Friday before the first game.
"The guys who have been training this week will then go into that game and our international players will return next Friday.
"Then we're pretty much in at camp the following week. It's a busy period, but as I said, it's a really important period for us.
"In terms of results, you still want to perform and get the results. Early on, it's very much about the physical aspect.
"As it goes in, we've worked with most of the guys already, it's very much returning to our game-model stuff, our intensities.
"We make sure we get all the work out of them. We don't concentrate too much on the results, but in terms of how the players went through pre-season last year, performances and results, it naturally gives you and breeds a bit of confidence.
"You want that to be part of the process. It's not absolutely vital that you go in and win all the games, but there's no harm in it either. Being at a club, it's always nice to win."
