Invading England

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Well - to be honest - there’s not a lot you can say about a day on the bus so this will be a little briefer than previous posts! We woke to a very grey and wet day in Edinburgh - funnily enough it was a wee bit chilly - and the forecast was for more of the same.


The boys were much slower to get out of bed this morning - only day 3 and they’re starting to feel the strain. The injury count from yesterday was quite low - Tom (shoulder- but playable), Ryan R (leg - still to be decided), Robbie and Cesar (general cold and flu - probably fixable )and Sam Wild (awesome grazes around his left eye - very playable). They were generally tired but still managed to get to breakfast on time - can’t miss a chance to get food down your head - can you!


Cleaning up the rooms took a little longer as well - not too many maids around here I’m afraid - and we managed to get the bus underway at 9:15. We had a quick stop back in Edinburgh to pick up some appropriate attire for “Dick of the Day” - a kilt, hat, scarf and a set of bagpipes - before we were on the way south to meet the English invaders. We said farewell to Marie as well - she is flying to London to see family but will rejoin us in Ireland in a few days time.


After a quick discussion amongst the jurors, the Dick of the Day was awarded to Robbie for his “caught with a grubby magazine” moment yesterday. For his sins he gets to wear the kilt - in true Scottish fashion - for the rest of the day. He took his duties very seriously and was soon appropriately attired and kept his part of the bargain up for the rest of the day - great sport Robbie.


The bus slowly wound its way south and after a comfort stop we crossed over the border into England just before 11:30 - no more “Och aye the neew” for us now. We stopped at a wayside spot for some lunch and pressed on to Manchester arriving just after 3.
The hotel we were booked into is a bit of an eye opener - not quite the Burj shall we say - and it took a very long time to get the rooms cleaned and available. A few arguments with the management - and a few phone calls to the tour people saw most things sorted out by 5! The boys headed out for a swim - only to find the pool was closed because it was a bank holiday and a visit to the park for some training was cut short by the wind and rain.


The traditional survey party were more successful and managed to find a restaurant and bar for dinner - one with a playing field attached as well - to which we adjourned around 6. The boys kicked a few balls around in the garden before dinner -despite the cold - and had a private dining room to keep them away from the natives - given that some of them support Chelsea it was a good idea. After dinner it was straight back to the hotel - not a great place to let the boys wander around - and some TV, guitar and general hanging out before bed.


Tomorrow we’re off to Man U for a visit and then off to the game in the afternoon. Thanks once again to the mums and dads that send us messages to [e-mail] - the boys love the mail call in the morning so please keep them rolling in.
Sandbach tomorrow may be a challenging game - we’ll let you know how we get on.

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