It has been a busy second day at the office for Gary Waddock as the new Head of Coaching met the media and joined the team during their first day of training.
The former-Wycombe Wanderers manager met the squad yesterday but this afternoon offered the first opportunity to get to work on the training pitch with the players.
Waddock twice came up against a Karl Robinson-led MK Dons side during his time at Adams Park and has admitted the side’s unique passing style caught his eye and he is excited at the prospect of working with the squad.
Speaking to the media, Waddock said: “I just want to get through pre-season, make sure the players have a good pre-season under their belt so it gives them a good bas to go into the season.
“This is a very progressive club, especially when you consider how young this Club is. Over the last couple of years the team has been very close, either in the play-offs or just outside them, so we know what the target is but we’ll keep that in-house.
“I’m very impressed with Karl and I have been over the last few years. I think what he has done here in a short time has been fantastic; the style that he has put in place, the philosophy is everything that I like.
“Karl has put in place a passing game, there’s a lot of movement, there’s a lot of possession and players want to be involved in that. It’s very difficult to play against, when you set your team up against them – which I have done in the past – it is very difficult to regain possession. This team can hurt you; there are quality players here and credit to Karl, and the Chairman, for sticking to that philosophy no matter what.”
While Waddock was previously an assistant manager to John Gregory at QPR, in more recent years he made the step up to the role of manager. This time round he has taken a backseat to assist Robinson at the Dons, but he has no problem being the second in command at stadiummk.
“A few people have asked if I’ll find it hard not being the manager but I don’t see it being a problem at all. I’m here to assist Karl, he’s the Gaffer and it is as simple as that. I’ll just go and do my job to the best of my ability, I’ll try to help Karl, the staff and the players because we want to make sure this team of players are competing at the right end.
“I like going out on the grass, I like coaching, I’ve worked with senior players and younger players and I’m a little bit older now, a little bit more experienced so hopefully I can get that across to the players. If I can play a small part I will be delighted if we can be successful.”
Today saw the first day of Robinson and Waddock leading a training session together and it is obvious there is mutual respect between the pair.
“I’ve come up against Karl a few times when I was at Wycombe and we have spoken about that. It was always hard to stop these guys playing, we had a couple of good games the 4-3 at stadiummk was one heck of a game.
“Throughout football people know how MK Dons play but it is very difficult to try and stop them.”
