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AUSTRIA DIARY - DAY 5

Posted on: Thu 29 Jul 2010

Water water everywhere!

By Paul Chialton in Bad Bleiberg

No invading insects, lips well and truly on the mend and thumb back in working order made for a very pleasant night's sleep ahead of a busy Wednesday.

The hotel's ham and cheese omelettes provide the perfect start to a morning, posing the first dilemma of the day for Emmerson Boyce who opted for the scrambled version.

Arguably the hottest, sunniest day of the week but for our cameraman and the players it was also the wettest. Allow me explain…

Graeme Jones' instructions to turn the pitch's sprinklers on for half-an-hour before the lads arrived for their session was an interesting task for yours truly whose knowledge of horticulture goes little further than pulling weeds.

However having successfully navigated the German instructions with remarkable efficiency, one by one fountains arose from all corners of the pitch, unfortunately one of them was situated not only directly below our cameraman but also beside the substitutes bench - the location for our players to change into their boots!

Panic ensued as our sun-kissed team darted from the impending droplets to the safety of the penalty area…the video camera however was not so fortunate!

We digress, for today presented a double-session for the boys and after their work-out on the pitch it was time for the drink…the hotel's aluminium-lined swimming pool. Why aluminium I know not, but no-doubt our medical team will explain the benefits.*

An underwater challenge for the lads, and an old favourite, see how far you can swim underwater. Congratulations to aqua-men Chris Kirkland and Gary Caldwell who travelled the length and back without coming up for air.

But hang your head in shame Steve Gohouri, a 10-metre doggie-paddle resulted in embarrassing defeat for the big man.

Out of the pool and into the restaurant for evening tea. Lashings of pasta, lamb, potatoes and veg awaited the team who scoffed the lot and departed for bo-bos, leaving the coaching staff to guess which famous musician Inaki Bergara was trying to describe.

His clue of; 'he died a few years ago', did little to ignite the answers, nor did, 'somebody Davis'. Alas it James Brown! Cue jubilation and raucous laughter as the goalkeeping coach gave us all a rendition of 'Sex Machine' before a round of cappuccinos and ice cream ended the day.

*After reading this article, the (now dry) cameraman informs me that the alumium acts as a natural heating system for the pool.