Our first morning here and what a beautiful place to wake up in. The hotel is located between Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo in the Algarve area of Portugal, which is the southernmost region of the country. The hotel is situated in the heart of the Ria Formosa National Park, just a couple of minutes from the beach. Thus, the setting is beautiful.
Our meeting time for breakfast is at 8.30am and we are seated outside in the partial shade, with temperatures already soaring towards 30 degrees.
After breakfast it's a chance for the players to relax, or visit the Medical Room where, under the supervision of Neil Greig, they have an opportunity to have a quick massage to ease any aches and pains they may have, or merely chat to Neil's support staff of Daryl Martin and Richard Clark regarding any slight ailments or concerns they may have.
Then at 10.15am it's time for us all, management, players and staff alike to walk to the training pitch.
The football pitch is all part of the sprawling complex that comes under the umbrella of Ria Hotels and is on average a 15 minute walk from the hotel. I say on average, as the management, players and staff can probably walk it in ten minutes whilst I know I could walk it in twenty minutes - given the opportunity. But I put on a brave face and kept up to pace.
The pitch is in a good condition and is lovingly looked after by a full time groundsman. Every conceivable piece of apparatus required for training had been put on the van I mentioned yesterday, and is ferried to and fro between the hotel and pitch, as and when required.
After training which is shared between the Conditioning staff, namely Matt Springham, James Purdue and Tom Perryman who take responsibility for the warming up under the direction of Marinus, and the subsequent coaching sessions led by Marinus, Roy, Flemming Pedersen and Giovanni (more about our new recruits over the ensuing days) and Simon Royce, it's the walk back to the hotel for lunch.
After lunch the Clinic opens with a chance for the players to share their aches and pains with the medical staff, and receive timely massages to ease their aching loins, and other crucial areas.
Then at 4.15pm it's down to the pitch for more training.
After training it's back to the hotel for Dinner which was followed by an excellent 15 minute introductory address by Tom Bates our new Performance Coach. Then it was Giovanni Vio's opportunity to have "set piece" meetings with the players who were split into four groups.
As I said earlier I will take the opportunity to tell you more about all of the staff, both old and new, over my series of blogs, but for now it's time to call it a day as I have some work to do in preparation for The Big Event tomorrow, which is eagerly awaited by the majority, but not by the minority!
Peter Gilham.