With the players due to report back for pre-season training on July 2nd, the Dean Court management team have handed the playing staff an incentive to remain in good shape - an extra week off!
Paul Groves is quoted in the Bournemouth Evening Echo as saying: "If they come back and are in good condition, they will be given another week. If they need a little bit of help to get up to standard then they will be in a week earlier. In my experience with players from other clubs, there can be some that don’t look after themselves as well as they should. It has become fewer and fewer over the years because players look after themselves and recognise the off-season programme is very important. You can get the odd one or two who don’t and it can be extremely difficult for them to play catch-up through pre-season because of the length and number of sessions accumulated. Pre-season is hard work for every player in terms of getting themselves and their bodies back into good condition. If they aren’t right when they come back, invariably, what happens is that players break down".