So back at Carrington after a break and it was a very special day as Vicky Kloss had arranged for a tour of all the facilities which included the chance of meeting players and getting autographs and pictures.
Not just me but Neil ( NMT on BMoon) and his son Spencer plus Lewis ( yes he hasn't left us) . We got VIP treatment with Vicky looking after us personally and it was really top day thanks a lot Vicky. After a quick look at a few of the offices for the manager and others we walked along a corridor being followed by Patrick Vieira.
He really does have a presence about him and was great shaking hands and giving his autograph. Lewis hadn't come prepared for autographs so Vicky got him the latest City magazine to get names on. We had a brief look into the scouts room with a couple working in there ( I think they said we had 20 or so all told) before we moved onto the kit room and met with Les Chapman.Amazing how much kit is in there and needed especially when they give shirts away after matches ( or during if you are Carlos) It's the black kit tomorrow.
Onto the gym areas and a quick viewing of Bridge working away with a physio. So much top equipment in there but then onto the medical rooms. Empty at the time but NDJ did come in , maybe looking for a massage but all he got was a request for autographs.Kiddo went past at one time carrying easter eggs but we didn't get one. I think he was making sure all the ladies were being looked after.
So much to take in as we moved along .A passing hello to the doc, a look at the hydrotherapy pool and then upstairs through the restaurant and a look at the room full of equipment for reviewing dvd's , stats etc and 5 full time people who spend their time reviewing everything. They look at everything from Opta stats , to training videos, match videos , scouting reports and plenty more.
I didn't see sausage,bacon and egg on the menu in the restaurant so didn't order anything but a few of the reserves were eating as we passed through. Back downstairs Vicky had some things to deal with so placed us at the entrance to the player's changing rooms so they all had to go past us thus giving us every opportunity to get autographs and pictures. I think Spencer and Lewis got every autograph of the first team squad and a bunch of pictures which might just appear on here if Lewis works out how to get them on.
To a big kid like me the whole thing was great but I am sure for the 2 young uns it was extra special. I asked SWP if he was ever going to find a ref who might protect him and he said during the match on Monday after getting nothing he apparently suggested to the ref that he might as well start diving in an attempt to get a decision.
All the players were just great and we also got the boss to stop for autos and pictures. I had been cheeky in the kit room and got a training top with MH on which fits my son's initials perfectly. ( which Les Chapman said was likely to thrown away !) I got Roberto to sign that but he didnt know it was an MH top:)
We got a quick look at the exit tunnel to the training pitches where all the boots were hanging up. Talk about multi coloured! Then it was back to the front reception to wait a few minutes for the training to start at 11. We initially went in at 9.30. Whilst waiting Michael Johnson came in. He was looking good and there didn't seem to be any sign of extra weight like last time he was out for quite a long time.He sounded positive too and later when we spoke with the doc he told us that he had done some running through the summer last year and he was hoping they would again this year.
Now it's onto the training!! It was hard to focus on this after all that had happened already. They actually did most of the initial warm up routines a full pitch length away before coming closer to do a competitive pass and move exercise trying to achieve 20 passes in a row.Nothing too special in all this but quite different for us as we were so much closer and could hear all the banter going on.Apart from tthe regular first team squad the were just 2 from the reserves namely Boyata and Nimely.Stevie Ireland wasnt out today but we saw him inside and he is expected back in full training next week it seems.
After that they broke into 2 groups with 1 away to work with Mancini and the others with Kidd and Fausto. Mancini was focussing on full teamplay but mainly on attacking movements.As ever I couldnt possibly pass on the potential team for Saturday.The group with Kidd worked solely on finishing practice and after 15 /20 minutes or so the groups switched. Bellers didn't do the final session but it looked just a precautionary thing.
Best finisher today might well have been SWP. Some great strikes and some very calm finishes which isn't always his trademark but really good to see. There are obviously some good individual rivalries going on in practice and that was especially evident with Shay. At one point he shouted to PV when he was running in that he would retire if he scored. He didn't score.
Zaba was a bit hit and miss but did score some absolute beauties. His best was a delicate chip which brought about and airplane celebration.The ones that missed often missed the safety net behind the goal which was great as it gave Spencer and Lewis the chance to fetch the ball and kick them back.They were great at being ballboys and it was all Neil and I could do to stop them joining in the practice.Apart from SWP looking good I would add praise for Alex Nimely who was quite impressive.
Apart from the specific work Mancini did he also had quite a few one to one chats with a number of individuals ,Toure/Vinnie/Tevez/AJ/SWP. As we left the field there was a youth team from Abu Dhabi over to learn and they were getting City gear signed by the players as they went inside. No doubt pictures of that will be on the OS.
And then there was the doc.He didn't achieve anything special on the keep ups today but apparently has got up to 16 when last in Abu Dhabi.
Lewis get some photos on.
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