The show's not over…

By Paul Chialton in Bad Bleiberg

No fat ladies to see us off I'm afraid, despite an abundance of potato wedges and chicken kebabs for our last supper, but instead a room full of tone-deaf footballers.

The Beatles, Elvis, Oasis, Bob Marley even The Music Man…all were well and truly massacred as, one-by-one, players' names were drawn out of a hat to serenade the dining room.

How good it felt to watch others squirm safe in the knowledge that your own moment of terror had been fought the night before!

Earlier our media team had been ripped in two with the premature departure of our cameraman who'll no-doubt be enjoying an ice-cold beverage in Orrel as I type the final diary entry.

However his final duties before jumping ship included photographing a group-cycling session from the comfort of his hire-car.

Gary Caldwell went out with the yellow-jersey confident of setting the pace and re-affirming his cycling supremacy. Mike Pollitt has other ideas…

'Big Mike' owned the roads, literally running circles around Caldwell and easing through the demanding Alpine course.

A flabbergasted, dumbfounded Caldwell demanding an inspection of tyres, gears, even saddles…not for one moment considering the use of an electric motor situated to the rear of the cycle!

The prospect of having to perform live in-front of the squad later that evening clearly clouding the defender's awareness!

Alas then it is the final day of our tour, a week that has thrown obstacles at us left, right and centre including intrusive insects, damaged thumb ligaments and chapped-lips, but ultimately been one to remember.

The team's professionalism and work-mentality has helped them complete a tough part of their pre-season preparations, and the whole experience has certainly brought them closer, in particular helping the new-boys to build a relationship with their new colleagues.

From me, and the diary, it is farewell ladies and gentlemen. It's been an absolute pressure bringing you an inside guide to the team's tour and with another hectic day looming tomorrow a good night's sleep is but minutes away.

Night night!