Ralph Hasenhuttl has confirmed that his players will be getting some much needed rest and relaxation during the two week break leading up to the game with Coventry City, but they wont be jetting off to Dubai & Saudi Arabia.
Saints players will be able to put their feet up in the fortnight before we play Coventry City in the FA Cup 4th round, it doesn't look like Dragan Solak has put his hands in his pocket and offered them a few days in Serbia, I have heard Belgrade is nice at this time of year.
I can imagine the disappointment in the dressing room as the players learned they would be missing out on such highlights as the Church of Saint Sava, the Belgrade Fortress and the National Museum of Belgrade and will be forced to see their helping of culture a bit nearer home perhaps in the Sea City museum, the Titanic Memorial or maybe just blitz their play stations for a couple of weeks, I suspect it might be the latter.
But either way as they dream of touring one of the many vineyards or learning about how Serbia became one of the largest suppliers of frozen fruit to the EU, they will have to suck it up and hit the couch this week, instead of joining Newcastle United in Saudi Arabia and getting some tips about walking sulkily from a team bus to the players entrance with headphones on and pretending that the fans don't exist.
That's probably a good thing as most of our players don't seem to have succumbed to that sort of behaviour so beloved of those who play for the top clubs.
Ralph had this to say about it:
"Yes, they’ll have a good recovery now because I think they deserve a few days off," he said, when asked by Hampshire Live whether he would be giving his players some rest days.
"We need to also freshen up our minds. This has been a tough, tough intense time. We have taken a lot of points and now we have to recover well before another intense time, starting with Coventry and then we play Tottenham and Man United in the league immediately.
"Those are two super tough challenges but this is good to have.”
Good words from Ralph although his counting is a little out in Super Tough Challenges, I make it three, although Ralph might have a point neither Spurs or United are truly tough challenges anymore.
So perhaps with no football on Saints fans can amuse themselves with Player Watch, based on the programmes by local nature lover Chris Packham, all you have to do is go out, preferably with a pair of binoculars, although that is not obligatory and wander the greater Southampton area looking for players spending some leisure time.
Perhaps we can put up the results on here in the comments section below or even on the message board, a picture would be even better.
Perhaps a points based system depending on the location, players shopping in West Quay are ten a penny, I saw Dani Osvaldo in there more times than I saw him on the pitch, so that would earn just 1 point.
I would suggest a table of points as follows.
In the Pub - 10 points (15 if player buys you a drink)
Getting stopped in a Porsche Cayenne on Millbrook Road for speeding - 20 points
McDonalds -15 points
A museum -100 points (the Holy Grail of Player Spotters)
A Bus -100,000,000 points
Cutting Ralph Hasenhuttl's Lawn -50 points
Painting St Mary's = 1,000,000,000,000 points (Pictures from before 1960 don't count)
James Ward Prowse Being Nice - 0 points he does that all the time.
Playing Computer Games -0 points
Che Adams Doing The Highland Fling - 100 points I believe he is taking lessons
Che Adams In A Kilt -100 points
The Isle Of Wight Ferry -200 points