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Normal service resumed.Well for me anyway but plenty missing in training today. No Tevez/Silva/Zaba or RSC. All apparently not in at all so given an extra days recovery. Also of course a missing bunch of injured. Boateng still having teratment, Kolarov still in one of those shoes,Balotelli we all know about , Bridge no news.

The first bunch out were the keepers as usual. 6 of them today Shay/Joe/Karius/Taylor/Gonzalez and Jorgensen and they were followed by 6 England players with the rest dawdling out behind them and the good news is that Michael Johnson was with them. Best moment early on while they loosened up was when the sprinklers came on and caught a few out and when they started doing the keep ball circles they were yet again having too much fun.

6 reserves I think were amongst the group Mee,Cunningham,Elabdellaoui,Bunn,Roman and Mancini ( yes the son of the boss). After 10 minutes in the circles Mancini took 10 players away to work behind a fence. Can't think it's the team for Saturday, at least I hope not. They were Micah,Vinnie,Kolo,Lescott,SWP,PV,Yaya,AJ,Milner and Jo.They just worked on some attacking play before Barry and Nigel switched with PV and SWP.Right at the end behind the fence Mancini just spent some time with the back 4.

All back together for some pass and move work which didn't last long but sadly finished with Yaya getting injured. I have a feeling it wasn't too bad although he did limp off and get ferried away for treatment ( maybe I am just hoping it wasn't bad).Whilst they sorted themselves out for the next session SWP took a turn in goal and pulled off one great save , leaping high ( for him) and turning a shot over. He was certainly pleased with himself.Micah practiced a pen against Joe who saved it well low down to his right leaving Micah bleating that he moved early.

All the players who had played a full international then went off to do some running ,probably just to warm down , and then they finished whilst the rest had an 8 a side game. Quiet good and competitive with defences mostly on top but as the game wore on there were some great finishes.SWP first from a tight angle past Shay into the roof of the net.Omar Ealbellaoui with a beauty ofter a great first touch.Jo then scored with one like Bale's against Stoke from a sublime chipped pass from Johnno.Then anotherJo goal from another good pass from Johnno and finally a neat finish from Roman.

Right near the end Micah was bundled over by Patrick ( not for the first time) giving a pen away.Roman lined up to take it against Joe who seemed intent on putting him off shouting stuff at him about ice cream melting. He scored with the pen just like Bent did with Joe diving over it.

That was about it with a few of the reserves hanging around hitting crosses for Ben Mee and SWP got into a buggy for a bit of driving practice picking up PV and Jo along the way.SWP had a very mischievous smle on his face.

I knew I had forgotten somebody. Ade wasn't out at the start but came out after about 15 minutes but he was only doing some running.Clearly not fully fit and wasn't sure whther he would be ok for Saturday.

cheers doug.

jo eh, still can't believe he's in the squad. think we should call him lazarus.

Is this the same son of mancini who sven took on loan?

Has he been with us the whole time or has he recently come back?

Terrific report Doug.. and great that it is back to the routine.

A bit of worrying stuff though.. Yaya.. Ade not fit, Boateng not fit. we really seem to have been unlucky since the start of the season.
Obligatory bit : interesting to hear that Johnno was taking part in a game, i thought he was way off that yet.

HeyMark wrote:Is this the same son of mancini who sven took on loan?

Has he been with us the whole time or has he recently come back?

Not sure. I understand there have been 2 of them and one is now playimng in Italy.The one I saw today I have seen before but just didn't know who he was.Looked ok too.

brite blu sky wrote:Terrific report Doug.. and great that it is back to the routine.

A bit of worrying stuff though.. Yaya.. Ade not fit, Boateng not fit. we really seem to have been unlucky since the start of the season.
Obligatory bit : interesting to hear that Johnno was taking part in a game, i thought he was way off that yet.

I am sure Johnno isn't ready for real action yet.Today might be the first time he has been involved in contact training but he clearly hasn't lost his touch judging by the passes to Jo.

Great stuff Doug, welcome back, have missed your reports. Lets hope none of the knocks picked up today were serious as injuries are making inroads into our massive squad and we can expect a physical battle on Saturday as Sam will send em out to kick anything above grass to try and take the skill factor out of the game.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

brite blu sky wrote:Terrific report Doug.. and great that it is back to the routine.

A bit of worrying stuff though.. Yaya.. Ade not fit, Boateng not fit. we really seem to have been unlucky since the start of the season.
Obligatory bit : interesting to hear that Johnno was taking part in a game, i thought he was way off that yet.

I am sure Johnno isn't ready for real action yet.Today might be the first time he has been involved in contact training but he clearly hasn't lost his touch judging by the passes to Jo.

The last i heard was that video on the OS where he was saying that it would be a good while yet before he could even be training with the squad. Maybe there has been an unexpected improvement in the meantime. Either way good to hear he hasn't lost his touch... it will keep us all dreaming ;)

was it m jonno or a jonno setting the jo goals up?

Bingo Lewis wrote:was it m jonno or a jonno setting the jo goals up?

Michael as Adam had gone in early.

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

Bingo Lewis wrote:was it m jonno or a jonno setting the jo goals up?

Michael as Adam had gone in early.

top news. how was his mobility in the games?

Bingo Lewis wrote:

Douglas Higginbottom wrote:

Bingo Lewis wrote:was it m jonno or a jonno setting the jo goals up?

Michael as Adam had gone in early.

top news. how was his mobility in the games?

There was just one tgame and it was more like a 5 a side so little running of note to do. Inevitably he was feeling his way a bit and not getting involved in much real physical contact but it seemed fine to me for what might have been his first time back with the full squad.

Thanks DH, I think the team you mentioned could well start against Balckburn given all the injuries/int duty. Let's hope PV and Jo can prove a lot of people wrong!

Very surprised to hear about Johnno. Great news. I didn't think he'd be involved in that kind of stuff til the middle of next month & I don't think he expected it either. I just hope the lad can get match fit & stay that way.

Imo, if you've got a football brain, which Johnno seems to have, you can learn a lot whilst recovering from injury just by watching games, studying & learning what poeople are doing right & wrong. Sometimes it's possible to come back a much smarter, seasoned player.

Ted Hughes wrote:Very surprised to hear about Johnno. Great news. I didn't think he'd be involved in that kind of stuff til the middle of next month & I don't think he expected it either. I just hope the lad can get match fit & stay that way.

Imo, if you've got a football brain, which Johnno seems to have, you can learn a lot whilst recovering from injury just by watching games, studying & learning what poeople are doing right & wrong. Sometimes it's possible to come back a much smarter, seasoned player.

I believe that 100% happened to me.

Cheers Doug, hope Johnno wont rush himself.

Yeh Ted, but most of the time you just come back a slower one. lol

BlueMoonAwoken wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Very surprised to hear about Johnno. Great news. I didn't think he'd be involved in that kind of stuff til the middle of next month & I don't think he expected it either. I just hope the lad can get match fit & stay that way.

Imo, if you've got a football brain, which Johnno seems to have, you can learn a lot whilst recovering from injury just by watching games, studying & learning what poeople are doing right & wrong. Sometimes it's possible to come back a much smarter, seasoned player.

I believe that 100% happened to me.

I had a ten year hiatus from football, but watched a lot. I came back a worthless turd of a football player....

I've never claimed to have a football brain, though, I'm more of a grafter.

Great report as always Doug - should be interesting to see who turns out for training on Friday.

Doug, you mentioned Ade was running about a bit. Did it look like he could accelerate decently? Was he sprinting, or just jogging around?