Medical and performance department reshaped

Led by head of high performance Phil Hayward, the department has evolved with the promotion of Rui Fuste and the arrivals of Sam Cook and Gregg Jones, all of whom are preparing the team for the new campaign in Miami currently.

Fuste has been with the club for seven years, arriving as a physio with the club’s Portuguese players in mind, and having continually evolved his treatment techniques and shown leadership skills during that period, he’s now been promoted to head physio.

Hayward said: “We recruited Rui from Portugal when we had a number of Portuguese players and were looking for somebody who had a good understanding of how those players like to work to make sure we met their needs. He’s been a great member of staff, has really developed his clinical practice, but also demonstrated strong management and leadership skills too.

“He’s really helped develop the other physios in the department, so this summer was an opportunity to give him the recognition we think he deserves and promote him into a senior leadership role. He started in the role at the beginning of pre-season and has stepped up to the challenge as we knew he would.  I’m sure he’ll continue to help move the team on and continue to drive us forward this season.

“I’ve been in football for a long time in this country and seen a lot of UK-based physios, and Rui works in a slightly different way. With his skillset, coming from a Portuguese background with different training and experiences, he adds a different facet to our department, which not many other clubs have. We’ve got a multicultural playing group, who need to be treated and rehabbed in a variety of ways, and it’s important that we recognise that and can offer them what they need, so when they’re injured, they get the treatment they feel gets them get back as quickly as possible.

“In addition, it’s been great to see how he brings on the British physios, who have been trained in the domestic education system which has different focus points. It’s a great opportunity for those guys to learn from him and to develop their skillset to improve how they work, but at the same time, he’s keen to learn from them to develop himself further so it’s a win-win to be honest.”

During the past seven months, Fuste has been working alongside first-team soft tissue therapist Gregg Jones, who joined the club following five-and-a-half years working as a first-team sports therapist for League One side Shrewsbury Town, and his impact since arriving has impressed Hayward.

He said: “Gregg started with us at the beginning of this calendar year, before the trip to Abu Dhabi, which as it worked out, was great for him to gel with the lads. He’s in charge of our soft tissue therapy around training and matches, so he works very closely alongside the physios and Kai Win, our doctor.

“He has great techniques and adds another facet to our breadth of treatments. He’s been a great asset to the team over the last six months, having joined us from Shrewsbury Town, where he’d been in a similar role.

“It’s great to have a local therapist on the staff as well. Rui came from Portugal and gave us a new perspective with different cultural experiences in terms of training but we also need those who understand exactly the expectations of the British players. We felt we needed the right skill mix across our therapists, giving a balance of local expertise alongside talent from further afield – it is a real plus point for us as a department.”

Finally, the latest new arrival to the department is first-team physical performance coach Sam Cook, who made Molineux his new home at the start of the summer, after three years at Bristol City, and works alongside head of physical performance Mark Piros-Read. Like Fuste and Jones, Cook has impressed Hayward in his short time at the club so far.

“Sam will help deliver strength and conditioning work with the players and also help with the on-field conditioning of both the fit players and injured players. He’ll help across those areas – making sure the lads maintain optimal fitness levels, but also supporting in the rehab of the injured players, particularly on the grass for the last stages of their rehab before they return to training.

“This is a new role, and we feel with his skillset he’s going to be a great addition not only in the gym, but also on the grass with the injured players. He’s got a slightly different view on things and also has his UEFA B license, and we feel he can have a significant impact as we look to advance the return to play process following injury.’

“Across both areas now, we’ve got a really good breadth of expertise that hopefully allows us to overcome the challenges we’ll undoubtedly be presented throughout the season.”