It's Training Men!!

Curious as to what exactly goes on at an average Bristol City training session, we went along to the training grounds at Leigh Woods to see for ourselves. With new manager, Brian Tinnion, at the helm, we were interested to see how he was settling in, how the lads were shaping up and who was going to be the proud owner of the yellow bib, which is given to the worst trainer of the week (or the Christian Roberts bib, as it's better known).

On arriving at the training ground at 10 a.m. we were told the players were all in and getting changed. All, that is, except Christian Roberts… “Bloody crash on the bridge” he claimed, as he rushed to join up with his team-mates. Desperately, I tried to think of a witty retort but, just for a change (ahem), nothing sprang to mind. Outwitted by Robbo within five minutes of arriving. Things weren't looking good.

We met up with the squad on the eve of the Yeovil game and, despite impressing the manager and coaches with my three keepy-ups, before pulling a hamstring, I was left to watch from the sidelines as the session got under way. Though, to be fair, Tins did let me go upstairs and make a cup of tea (I think I may have found my level in the squad).

The goalkeepers were the first to emerge (Mike Stowell, Steve Phillips and Clint Davis) from the changing rooms, working alone on various aspects of their game. There was a real sharpness to their work, with Mike Stowell coaching and encouraging all the time, whilst also working on his own goalkeeping in roatation with the other two. The keepers were punished for any missed saves by having to do ten press-ups and, from what I saw, Clint Davis is very good at press-ups…

After ten minutes or so of watching the keepers training, the rest of the squad emerged in black training kit, each with a personalised water bottle (very posh, we thought. Though we're easily impressed).

The players were split into three separate teams (read from a list by Tins) and given bibs accordingly. Scott Murray was in the ‘blue' team and subsequently booed or cheered each player, depending on whether they were in his team or not (the other teams being ‘oranges' and ‘yellows').

Once the teams were ‘bibbed up' they were split into two groups of twelve, took a ball each and did some basic jogging with the ball at their feet to warm up, with Alan Walsh and Shaun Taylor leading the group Tins was in, and Keith Millen taking the others.

After the initial warm up, the two groups did the same ball-work routines at opposite ends of the training ground (suggesting it was all planned and discussed). Most of the exercises consisted of the players standing in a large circle and working with the ball, either through possession play, heading or dribbling and finding a spare man. All the work was carried out with a quiet professionalism, with two notable exceptions – Scott, who could be heard from the far side of the training pitches and Robbo, who never shuts up and is clearly self-proclaimed joker in the group.

One example of Robbo's humour was when Tins insisted that any player who let the ball drop to the floor during a heading session, would have to do ten press-ups. Christian promptly dropped to the floor, declaring, “I may as well do mine now and get them over with.”

After half an hour of these group exercises, all the players were brought back together to do sprinting exercises. This consisted of players lining up in threes, with four cones in front of them and sprinting to the first and back, then the second etc.. (a bit like that race in primary school, when you had to pick up a bean bag and bring it back to a basket before going to get the next one, if you can remember that). Once these sessions got under way, the noise level amongst the players dropped notably and both Scott and Robbo seemed to have run out of funny one-liners. Instead deciding to save their breath for the more important function of breathing.

The sprinting session was really intense and, for a brief moment, I was quite glad I was just an observer rather than a Bristol City footballer. However, once the sprinting was over and the players had all found their individual drinking bottles (what is that about?) and taken on plenty of water, it was down to the serious business of a match and with it returned my jealous looks.

I will attempt to explain the match that took place (though as it took me ten minutes to decipher it at the time, I may lose you along the way). Anyway, here goes…

The three teams (remember them? Blue, orange and yellow) played each other on a rotation system, swapping every ten minutes. However, the third team was also involved, and it was their role was the one that really had me puzzled, but it went a little like this… When the oranges played the yellows, the blues took up positions around the touchline and played for whichever team played the ball to them. So, if the ball was played to them by a defender, they cleared it and, if it was passed to them by an attacker, they crossed it. All players on the pitch were allowed two touches, whilst those on the touchline were only allowed one touch (still with me? Thought not). This went on for forty minutes and the games were played with quite a competitive edge (the blues of Scott, Lee Miller and Matty Hill were particularly united in playing for the bib, as it were).

Finally, once these games had been completed, Tins, Keith Millen and Shaun Taylor took the eleven players starting in the Yeovil game, while the remaining players worked on crossing and shooting with Alan Walsh.

The players picked for the Yeovil game worked predominantly on attacking and defending set pieces, with Tony Butler notably adding to the discussions about positioning. Robbo continued with his tom-foolery and, I have to admit, it got a little wearing towards the end. Especially compared with the focussed professionalism of Bradley Orr, who listened intently to the coaches, asked questions and acted on what he was instructed to do.

Once the session was concluded, the players were called together and informed of what time they had to be at Ashton Gate the following day, to travel to Yeovil and what training gear they should wear, before retiring to the changing rooms.

The players got changed and were served a lunch of pasta and baked potatoes, after which they were free to go home (though Tins informed me that they use the gym in the afternoon on set days, so their day doesn't ealways end at lunchtime).

So, that was it. A day at Bristol City's training ground lasted approximately two hours (slightly shorter than a full session, as there was a game the following day) and, I have to say, it seemed very well organised, with the players well drilled in what was expected of them. All the coaches seemed to know their roles and Tins was equally happy working under the instruction of the other coaches or leading the session himself.

I am also delighted to report that Kevin Amankwaah was doing some very rigorous training with the physio the whole time we were there, and seems very close to resuming training, to my uneducated eye. It was also nice to see him exchanging a friendly wave with the other players as he went off to go through his routine.

The spirit amongst the players seems excellent, they seem to be working hard in training and Tins and his fellow coaches seem to know what they want from their players and I came away feeling encouraged about our prospects for the season.

Best of luck to all the lads for the season and many thanks to Tins and the coaching staff for letting me loiter like a star-struck child for a morning.

However, despite everything, my personal highlight has to be when Alan Walsh threw me a ball on the halfway line and said, “Hit it into the net without it bouncing”. I stepped up, gave it my best swing and watched the ball float towards goal, before bouncing a yard short of the line and into the net. ‘Damn', I thought. “Great shot” said Walshie. I may have that on my gravestone.