John Acres' Austrian tour diary

By John Acres
BBC Radio Stoke in Austria

Mama Sidibe has left the tour after his wife gave birth to their second child

I understand the weather back in Blighty is less than pleasant, but here in Austria it's scorching.

It's 30 degrees as I watch the players take part in shooting and finishing drills here at the ground in Irdning.

Tony Pulis has incredible energy, it's tiring just watching him go about his business. He took the players for circuit training yesterday morning at 7am - I know this because my room is above the gym, and he has the loudest voice I've ever heard.

At one point, an Austrian guest burst into the gym and screamed at TP to keep the noise down. I can't help but think that it's a good job there's not more snow on the mountains, otherwise Tony's voice may have caused an avalanche.

The Welshman then orchestrated the fitness training at the ground, laying out the cones and then running the course himself to show the players how it's done.

In between he took Mama Sidibe for a one-on-one session, a sign of how important his recovery is to the team. Sidibe is recovering from a knee ligament operation, and has had leave the tour after his wife gave birth to their second child, a baby girl, four weeks early.

There are rumours that she didn't make it to the hospital in Paris. I was speaking to him at 1pm with no mention of the impending arrival, and then by 4pm the baby had arrived. I'm told that both mother and baby are doing fine.

Pundits, players and fans, often talk about Pulis being a good 'man manager', and that's been in evidence on this trip. He congratulates and encourages each player by name at every opportunity as they are put through rigorous sprint work in sweltering conditions.

He gets every last drop of sweat and effort out of each and every one of them, and if he's like that four weeks before the first game of the new Premier League season, you get a sense of what he'll be like closer to a game that means something.

One sometimes wonders how long he can keep this up. He was on the phone for two hours last night with a pen and paper, presumably trying to do deals for players, or maybe an assistant manager and fitness coach to help share the burden.

STOKE CITY'S PRE-SEASON TOUR OF AUSTRIA

Friday, 17 July v St Pauli

Tuesday, 21 July v Hapoel Tel Aviv

The players look like they enjoyed the shooting drills, with their laughter echoing round the hills.

Ryan Shawcross wasn't at training today. When I last saw him, he was tearing off at break-neck speed into the woods on a mountain bike with physio Dave Watson.

All the players look super fit and sharp. Liam Lawrence went down yesterday in training clutching his knee, but he's just informed me that it's fine, and he'll be playing on Friday in the friendly against German side St Pauli.

The squad will be split into two teams that will play half a game each. Matthew Etherington and Dave Kitson will play up front together in the second half and Carl Dickinson is going to try his luck at left wing.

Tom Soares is due to fly out and join up with the squad after his wife just gave birth to their first child, but there's still no sign of Dean Whitehead, after he was at the Brit for talks on Wednesday.

There was no early-morning circuit training for the players, which was a blessing for me because there was a few sore heads amongst the press today.

I saw a different side to The Sentinel's Martin Spinks, and Clare Jennings, who's taking pictures for the newspaper, had me in stitches after telling me she once told her dad that 'Birdie Putt' was an odd name for a golfer and that she'd once been sick out of a helicopter over Tunstall.

It will be interesting to see how the players shape up for the friendly, although I'm told by TP that the result is "irrelevent". I'm just hoping that the players come through unscathed, and that my broadcast kit works.

From Austria,
John