The Final countdown

There are usually a few media commitments that teams have to follow on MD-1. The press conference with Stuart Pearce and a players is the main one, where Sky, UEFA, and myself for TheFA.com, film it before the written press get their turn to pose the questions.

Up today was Stuart and Craig Gardner, and both were just eager to get the games up and running. Craig is a very friendly lad, and spends some of his spare time with Pat the kitman in the kitroom.

But the lads are all decent and friendly enough and watching them in the training session after the press conference, they all showed how much they want to get in Stuart's first starting eleven tomorrow.

After the session, we went back to the hotel and I was able to edit together all the footage I had filmed from training and the press and look through the photos I'd taken. As I was watching Craig on my computer screen, in he walked and came down and sat with me while I finished off the edit and uploaded to the site.

The office is often a real hub of activity, with myself, Johann our team's press officer, Carol the team administrator, Jane, who co-ordinates the scouts, Rachael who's backing them both up, and Steve and Mike the video analysts, there's always something going on. Inevitably, the lads will come in for a chat to help them pass the time.

It was the same in Holland, too. But though we had a bigger room, the view here makes up for it, overlooking the bay. I could certainly think of worse places to spend the next couple of weeks.