by Beefymcfc » Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:46 pm
Thanks for having me Doug, I enjoyed my day out at Carrington, especially the chance to get back to my youth (if ever I needed to). I've go to say, what a friendly bunch you all are (which I expected) and how switched on you are. As I was walking from the car there was a bloke with 2 kids and a set of ladders who I automatically thought was you, it actually turned out to be DadnLad off Bluemoon and he give me a decent brief on what to expect and where to be positioned for the 'Behind the Scenes' vantages. Oh, and those 5 people in the tree, there was actually 8 of us, me and 7 little whipper-snappers from a local footie team; I held them at bay though and they knew who was 'King of the Swingers', I tell you.
Anyway, it was quite interesting to see the set-up and even better to see how the players interact with each other. Every one of them seem to get on real well but you could see that there were certain clique's within the groups who would mainly shout at each other such as Micah, Mario and Jerome. This was more evident once they moved to the half-pitch continuing the Keep-Ball session where there was a lot of shouting for the ball and I was particularly impressed with Dave's movement and ball control. Also, Mario's greediness to put the ball in the back of the net, nearly everytime he had it he was trying to put it away; funny point was when he tried a couple of shots into an open net from about 25 yards and both went well over, one of them breaching the 40 foot high net which just kept going. I'm sure there was snow on it when it came down! During this was when Nige stopped and had a word with the trainer, he then give it a few more minutes before walking back out of site with a trainer; he didn't seem happy with something but I couldn't say what.
After that, Douglas (with his military planned movement) gave me the nod that they were moving with what was probably the match team to the full pitched enclosed area where I had to dismount from my natural ladder and find a new leafy covering to ascend. I actually thought they'd be playing a game with tactics thrown in but it started off with some set pieces where Mancio set the lads up to try a few new moves. The first one did look good once the players knew their responsibilities and it will be interesting to see if it's used in future games. The second was a little bit more subtle and I'd have thought that most defences would have it covered by their normal protocol's; we'll just have to see eh.
What I did find funny about this was Mancio looking through his play-book to ensure each player was in the exact position he required, looking down at loose pieces of paper thrying to work out which play was which. The lads waiting around looked bemused that he didn't have this one off the top of his head and I can only guess that this routine was formed off what he's seen off the video's from Wolves games. Oh, and what is it about David Platt? Brian Kidd came over and said hello to all the guy's and had a little natter with Doug, yet Platt came over to set the nets and seemed to be wanted to be seen as the Angry Man, not letting on and snapping away at the net fixings as if he wanted to take them round the back and give them a slap.
When they finished that session, I decided that it was time for me to leave as the kids were now getting a little heavy on the ground so I hopped off my purch once the kids had descended and bid my farewell's to DadnLad, couldn't see Doug who had already gone up to watch the final session, so apologies there Big Man, I don't like to come across as ignorant; a think NMT had already left also. So, for my first visit it was a good experience and I'll definatley visit again. Next time I'll take the Vid Camera and try to get some footage for those who cannot make it, the visual experience is sure better than imagining it from Doug's reports (no disrespect to you there Douglas), and hopefully the little gibbons won't disturb my enjoyment of [strike]climbing tree's[/strike] watching the session.
Cheers all.
In the words of my Old Man, "Life will never be the same without Man City, so get it in while you can".
The Future's Bright, The Future's Blue!!!
[/center]
