Complete Player Performance is an initiative started by Paul Barnes in the summer of 2018.
Initially the idea was to allow players professional style training to those who wanted more than two or three evenings a week, or who were without a club and wanted to retain their sharpness. However, it has grown into far more than that.
On Wednesday night, they played their first showcase game in a behind closed doors friendly against Leatherhead. Barnes’ team lost two-nil against a team containing seven Tanners first teamers but it wasn’t the result that was important, it was the opportunity for players to get some playing time under their belts.
His team was made up of players who are without clubs and looking to put themselves in the ‘shop window’, players who are with clubs and are looking for extra training sessions to make themselves sharper, and players sent by their clubs to get some minutes into their legs having not had much playing time recently.
Unsurprisingly, Barnes is thrilled with the way things are going. “It’s been unbelievable.” he said “It’s been overwhelming with the support that we’ve got from people around the game The amount of players and people who have contacted us asking to be involved, looking to us for support and guidance. It’s been phenomenal.”
He confirmed that he had conveyed this to his squad. “I said to the boys in the changing room after the game that it was beyond my wildest dreams when we started back in June or July that we’d be playing a showcase came against a Bostik Prem club. I thought that it was a superb way to finish a great year for us.
“I’ve worked with (Leatherhead manager) Nikki (Bull) before and he liked three or four players and could potentially sign one by the end of this week so that could be a success story to end the year.”
Still on the subject of playing friendlies he said “We’ve been contacted by several clubs that want to host us in the new year which would start the new year on a great platform for us and would elevate some of the lads beyond playing where they’re at at the moment.
However, he added that the games would probably have to be behind doors rather than allowing scouts in for other clubs. He said “Showcase games are going to be a big feature into the new year. You work with clubs and it’s their privilege of hosting that they get eyes over players and I can’t open the doors for just anybody is a bit of an awkward one.”
Complete Player Performance don’t purely train together. There is much more. Barnes said “Part of the programme is video analysis. I’m a student of the game myself so I’ll be watching it back and looking at coaching points that I can pass back to the lads within games. There’s nothing better than being able to look back at your own performance and seeing where you’re going right or wrong.
The uptake for the sessions has been brilliant. We’ve been very fortunate to be supported by some great people. The sports psychology side of things where we had Steve Sallis come in and did a brilliant workshop with the players. We’ve had a strength and conditioning coach come in, Loui Fazakerly. We have Hus (Huseyin Torgut) working with us from ProSIM Sports Management and looking after our players, and Dooks (Francis Duku) who was here tonight as one of our guest managers.
“He is doing a superb job within the game and some of our players didn’t even have the awareness and knowledge that people like Dooks were out there so they’ve been getting access to lots of different pieces of work that they normally wouldn’t get unless they were in a full time environment.”
“Another reason for wanting to play more games is that there were several players that he couldn’t fit in. “We had a standby list of forty players tonight. We could have fielded three or four teams but it was about getting the right balance. People were only going to get a certain number of minutes because we’ve got to manage people’s needs as well. We’re looking at possibly two showcase games in January to get everyone involved.”
Some of the players involved were just as enthusiastic. Nineteen year old Yonis Farah explained why he got involved.”In pre-season I was with Bishop’s Stortford and it didn’t work out and I was looking for some training. I came from full time football. I was with Southend United. Coming from training every day I was doing my own stuff but I wanted to still play at a good level.
“On Twitter I found Barnsey and I phoned him. He was helpful and said that I could come for a session. I came to the first session and I never looked back because training’s been top and everyone’s very welcoming.
“We train Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday mornings. On Tuesdays and Thursdays other boys train with their clubs or play games but as I’m not at a club I’ll do a gym session but with Barnsey’s sessions it keeps me in best condition and as sharp as I should be.
He continued “The sessions are not just normal sessions, they are sessions that you would be doing at professional clubs. I’m a left back and I work on my crossing, one v ones, attack and defence, my body position. There’s a lot of detail. You get a lot of help individually and as a group as well.”
Kennedy Ahenkorah is another who is utilising Barnes’ services. “I trained with Cheshunt.” he said “I was with Cambridge City as well. I had a stint at AFC Hayes to get some games towards the end of last season. I was able to train with a team that Barnsey sent me to but the manager left.”
In explaining how he found out about Complete Player Performance he said “Through Twitter. I can’t remember who re-tweeted it but I saw it and had a look about what it was all about. Because I wasn’t playing, I thought it was an opportunity to start training. I dropped Barnsey a message and that’s how I started. I train twice with Barnsey. I want to show people what I can do. I believe in myself.”
Speaking about the showcase game he said “It was the first time us lads had ever played together so it wasn’t going to be coherent. Personally I think that it could have been better. If the same group of lads play in future games I’m sure we’ll get on to each other’s games and be a bit more compatible with each other.”
Ibrahim Olutade was another who played and he said “At under 17 (level) I played for Balham F.C. then I moved to Crowborough then I moved to Andover Town then I went back to Balham, then to Hanwell and now I’m at Leatherhead. My friend Luke told me about Barnsey and how he’s got sessions going on two times a week. I want to improve my game so I decided to come along to one of his training sessions to see what it was like. The sessions are really good and on specific training and it’s what I need to improve my game so I’ve been going ever since.
“I know all the boys that I played against today, because I played for Leatherhead, and it was a test against everyone in a match situation. I train with Leatherhead two times a week and with Barnsey two times a week, I need it to improve my game.”
Ansu Janneh, another player, added “I played at youth level for Lewes F.C. then I went to Hastings, then I went to AFC Uckfield, Uckfield Town then I went to Haywards Heath then I dual signed with Crowborough FC. I live in Eastbourne and I come up for Barnsey’s training sessions. My representative Tim Miller told me about it and he said that it was a good place to come to improve your game and I’ve been doing it a lot recently. I can’t train on Tuesdays because of work so I train on Thursdays and twice a week here to keep match fit, as well as going to the gym.”
Reiterating the views of his team-mates he said “It was the first time we’d all played together so it was a bit difficult for some players but if you want to get to a high level you have to adapt to the situation. The best players can adapt to anything. If you can do that you’ll be a top player.”
One session that had particularly impressed him was when Francis Duku had come in to explain what his company was doing “’Our Game’ came in and told us about that side of the game. Everybody gets injured. If you have a knee injury and your GP wants you to get a scan that can take two weeks, then go for an x-ray might take another six weeks. With ‘Our Game’ you can do it all within two weeks.
Finally, Aryan Mehr added his views. “I’m not with a club.” he said “Barnsey told me to come down and train. He’s helping me a lot because I don’t have a club. I’ve played in Columbia. I’ve played in Spain for Hercules FC, Hetafe, Villareal but here I haven’t had a chance. Today was very good because for a long time I haven’t played a game.
“I was surprised because my fitness is not that bad, I thought. I need to keep training hard. I don’t have any family so I need to keep working hard to get better and better. I train once with Barnsey. I can’t do more because of my job but I go to the gym and I go running many times a week.”
As Barnes had hoped, there followed some good news two days later with the news that Leatherhead had signed Farah. He made his Tanners debut next day when he came on as a substitute for the last thirty-five minutes of their game at Folkestone Invicta.