Pre-season Paul is no stranger to this time of year.
He comes down full of enthusiasm and banter. He hasn't been around for a while but he'll take over the changing room, no bother to him, and he'll even be telling boys to get their acts together and get into the huddle faster or do their stretches better.
He'll be bouncing around, eating up sprints, absolutely loving the torture and he'll be the most active in the WhatsApp group too. For about two months.
Once the games start, Pre-season Paul starts losing his interest. He's not really in it for the matches, he basically just wants to build a base of fitness to do him until next year but, for eight to 10 weeks, he'll go harder than anyone.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/966299173325819905
This time of season is often a red herring. Players can be flying, they can be going above and beyond in the conditioning sessions and most of them aren't sick of anything yet but what does it really matter unless any of it translates to the pitch? To the sport that you actually play.
So just beware of false of prophets. And be careful that you're not one yourself.
