It's been a while since my last blog and a lot has been going on in that time. Firstly I'm going to be back to my usual blog posting of at least once a week as long as I can find a chance to get some alone tine to write.
They say time flies when you're having fun which is ironic because I'm sat on a flight with the Crawley boys heading to Portugal as I write and the time definitely isn't flying by on here!
Soo what's been happening??? The Week after last season finished we were treated by Crawley Town FC to a luxury trip to Las Vegas and LA as a congrats for winning promotion. The lads had a great time and celebrated in style. I'm lucky enough to have been to Vegas before and every time it gets better If you haven't been I strongly recommend going. We stayed in the MGM Grand which was hosting the Paquiao fight whilst we were there so the atmosphere was buzzing, they even had a full size boxing ring in the lobby which Matt Tubbs couldn't resist getting it as you can see...
It was great to have some time to let our hair down before we all said our goodbyes for the Summer.
Once back in the UK its switch off time for me but obviously thinking about where my future lies. To be honest ever since last November whilst still at Brentford I could tell my future as a Bee was sadly looking like it was coming to an end. That was hard because I wasn't being played or even used as a sub and as some of you already knew my relationship with Andy Scott was different to most, we used to be teammates at Leyton Orient so for him not to play me people would think there was an atmosphere or even a fall out which were neither the case. Yes I was getting frustrated and on footballing terms I believed I should of been playing but as a manager he made the decisions and thought otherwise. I let him know my frustrations and that I was out of contract at the end of the season so I needed to be playing, thankfully when the 2nd chance came to go out on loan they didn't stand in my way. I don't hold any bad feeling as I saw it purely as a working relationship when it came to footy but off the field we still keep in contact and I've wished him all the best in his role at Rotherham.
From November I started to get myself prepared that I may be having to trial at clubs this summer, obviously I wanted a different scenario but if I prepared this way then everything else was a bonus. Thankfully Steve Evans managed to bring me to Crawley Town and it's been a different ending to the chapter from then on. Once this season was coming to an end the Gaffer let me know his thoughts on me staying and from then on I knew I wanted to stay at Crawley and be part of something special that's happening at the club. It was sad to leave Brentford the way I did but they've been great to me and I thank everyone involved for a great 2 years.
I really do appreciate being lucky enough to get my contract sorted so soon, firstly it gives me the rest of the holidays to relax with my family and know we don't need to think of moving the family to another part of the country, and secondly I know how many players there are that are out of contract at the moment, it's not a nice feeling not knowing where your future lies. I have friends that still haven't got a club lined up and they have a mortgage or family to look after. I've said it before that if you're in the Premiership or even many Championship teams the players don't have to have that pressure on their shoulder but being in the lower tiers it's different for most.
I've spent the rest of the holidays with the family, we managed to go away to Turkey for a week which was amazing as you can see...
The time went too quick but as you may know it's the only time of the year that we can get to go on hols so I made the most of it...
Back at home I've been digging up and relaying my garden turf and the missus has been hammering me saying going through a midlife cricise because I've been looking after the lawn and my coffee machine for than my kids lol. I also managed to change my Volkswagen Touareg for a VW Golf. I'm part of a car school and driving a 4x4 every other day adds up on the fuel bill so I thought it would be a good idea to exchange for something a bit more economical.
I think we had around 7 weeks off and usually I'm doing fitness work as soon as the season finishes but this season ended with me playing nearly 30 games so I decided to take 3/4 weeks off doing no physical activity what so ever. That's a first for me but something I'm glad I did as the body does need time to heal from bumps and bruises. For the last 3 weeks I made sure I picked my training up and started keeping an eye on my diet again as we were given target weights to come back to at Crawley otherwise you'd find yourself with a nice fine. My fitness work varied from 30 minute light jogs to fartlek running (4x 4 min runs) and some doggies and adding plenty of core work in-between. I've also started taking some supplements to help aid my joints and recovery for the training ahead.
The 7 weeks flew past and before I knew it the 29th June had arrived and we were reporting back at the Broadfield Stadium for pre season. It was great to meet up with the lads again. As much as I enjoyed every minute of family time I always missed the banter in the dressing room as it's the best I've been in.
Our first competitive game of the season starts Friday 29th July which is new to me as I've never started before August. We'll be hosting AFC Wimbledon in a preliminary round o the Carling Cup. I don't mind having a game so soon as it means less pre season training.
I hope to see many of you there and here's to a new season and hopefully a successful one...
