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GARY Locke hopes Raith Rovers can be upwardly mobile in the Championship this season thanks to a training-ground crackdown on phone usage.
Hibs manager Neil Lennon recently revealed he has banned his players from taking their mobiles into their East Mains base and has threatened his squad with a fine of a week’s wages if they flout the rules.
Locke insists he has not forbidden his players outright from using their phones but has made it plainly clear they should not ‘fart about’ on them during breakfast and lunch when they are in for training.
And he believes encouraging better dialogue off the pitch can help Rovers’ team spirit and communication on it.
The Stark’s Park boss, whose side are fourth in the table, said: “I don’t ban mobile phones because it’s the way of the world these days, but during breakfast and during lunch they don’t use them. I’d rather see them talking to each other.
“It’s a pet hate of mine, you sit and see youngsters these days and there’s maybe five of them sitting at a table and they’re all sitting looking at their mobile phones.
“The modern-day youngster is quiet and I’d rather see them coming in and having a bit of banter with each other than having their eyes glued to their phones.
“I’m quite happy after they’ve had their breakfast and their lunch if they need to get on their phone, as long as it’s something important, I’ve not got a problem with that.
“But whilst they’re in here they’re here to work, they’re not here to fart about on their phone.
“Without a doubt that can help on the pitch and it helps in training as well.
“We go on about it every day – it’s all very well coaching players but they’ve got to talk. It’s a huge part of the game, simple wee things like shouting ‘man on’, ‘time’, ‘turn’.
“That is more important than some of the things we work on every single day.”
