Private Daniel Jebbison coach hits back at 'unprofessional and untrue' comments made by Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom
Paul Heckingbottom didn’t mince his words when speaking about the circumstances surrounding Daniel Jebbison’s ankle injury - now the private performance coach at the centre of the arguement has had his say on the matter
The private performance coach who felt the wrath of Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom following an injury sustained by Daniel Jebbison has hit back at the criticism levelled at him.
The owner and head coach of King Performance Ideology (KPI), Tom King, said the comments made by the Lilywhites manager following Saturday’s draw at QPR - a game Jebbison was forced to miss because of an ankle issue suffered when working with KPI - were ‘unprofessional’ and ‘untrue.’
And in an attempt to set the record straight on how the on-loan Bournemouth striker picked up an injury that could keep him sidelined for up to a month, the former Liverpool FC first-team fitness coach stated it was an ‘unfortunate accident’ that was ‘not the result of unsafe, inappropriate or poorly-prescribed training’.
King stressed the injury was ‘close to impossible to avoid’ following interaction between Jebbision’s foot and a piece of training equipment - and that their work with the player was something North End had fully consented to.
In his angry outburst at Loftus Road, Heckingbottom insisted none of his first-team squad members would be given permission to work with outside companies again on their fitness as they have ‘no accountability’ when such incidents occur.
Tom King responds to ‘angry’ Paul Heckingbottom comments
King said he had to respond to the criticism he received and the ‘sweeping generalisations’ made because of the negative implications, not only for his business and his staff - but also fellow independent performance coaches.
Speaking via a three-minute video on instagram, he said: “I've been sitting on this for a couple of days and initially planning to ignore the situation as a whole, but considering the recent press involvement on platforms such as TalkSport and BBC Sport - and the potential negative implications not only for my business and my staff members but also for my credible colleagues in similar fields who work so hard to support competitive sports individuals and organisations around the world - I feel as though something needs to be said.
‘The comments made surrounding an incident involving our client and my close friend Daniel Jebberson at KPI are not only unprofessional but also untrue. Having worked in Premier League football for several years prior to setting up KPI, I understand the frustration and emotion when a player is injured.
“It affects the whole club and we share the pain for Daniel and for the club and we're of course upset by this situation, too. But this was an unfortunate accident involving an interaction between the foot and a piece of equipment - not the result of unsafe, inappropriate or poorly prescribed training.
“At KPI, athlete safety is our top priority. We only work with full club consent, in open communication with staff and every session is designed to complement and never compromise their training and match schedule.
“This is no different for Preston, with close communication on a weekly basis with the sports science and medical department. But injuries during training are unpreventable and this one, in particular, was close to impossible to avoid.
“This is the first ever injury that we've actually seen within these four walls at KPI - and that's a fact.
“Normally we wouldn't comment publicly when an injury does occur. Injuries are sensitive topics and often confidentiality is vital, just like clubs will rarely comment further on details surrounding when injuries happen at the club themselves. But given the public nature of recent remarks, we feel it's important to set the record straight.
“We believe in collaboration and every athlete, club and organisation within our network agrees that we are all trying to do the best for the athlete. We have several examples of fantastic engagements with clubs across the Premier League, all the way down to non-league, and we're grateful for the messages of support we've had from several fantastic athletes, coaches, organisations showing support both directly and online to myself and our business following this incident.
“Athletes work with KPI because one-to-one specialist coaching helps to bolster their fantastic work that they complete at the club with the dedicated staff members.
“Clubs accept us because they realise we do things right and that we can help to support the club to achieve greater success, too.
“Our track record shows that we've helped athletes return better than ever from injury, we've helped them compete in the most successful seasons, hit frequent personal bests and avoid injury. That's why comments that discredit this kind of work and sweeping generalisations aren't just unfair to us, they undermine something that benefits elite athletes across all sports across the whole world.
“We'll continue to support players at the highest level in the safest and most professional way possible and that will never change.”
What Paul Heckingbottom said about Daniel Jebbison injury
“Yeah, Jebbo, I'm angry about that. The growing trend in football is when they work with people outside. It's an accident, I get it, but it's not happening anymore with any Preston players. We had it with Freddie (Woodman) last season, doing the same. These guys, they work with these players and they post their work all over social media, want to promote the business and they're happy to take the money.
“They don't give us any money back when they injure the players in their sessions. Yeah, they'll not be posting on social media that Jebbo’s out for a month, so I'll tell everyone that when they work with players that they put them out as well. So, I'm really angry about that... really angry about that. Listen, it's professional players trying to better themselves, but my anger is with the people who work with them - who don't suffer when they injure players.
“If we injure players - if they injure in training,in a game, in our gym - then it's on us. It's us that suffer. When other people do it, they're happy to post all the positives and take the players' money, but they don't get any of the negatives with it. (It was) just some gym work and he just rocked his ankle, total accident, so a couple of weeks I think. He can walk, but he can't play with swelling. It's just thrown us and like I said, my problem with it - QPR, I can see the players they're bringing on off the bench and that is why we signed these players.
“I'm talking about wanting more now and I'm going to Peter and Craig, wanting more players, more money. And we've got players getting injured doing things that - not that they shouldn't, I'm not having a go at Jebbo. As I said, it's a growing thing and I get that. The funny thing is, I did it when I played and I was a young lad - I went and saw a sports doctor, but we didn't have the resources.
“We've got good resources. If they signed a piece of paper saying they'd cover his wages if they injured him, they can go with him every day. If they signed a piece of paper saying, ‘Yeah, we've got insurance that covers this, or we're getting a new striker’, no problem, work with him as much as you want. But they're not... they have no accountability.”
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