Welcome to Nigel Reo-Coker's latest entry on whufc.com, as the Hammers skipper presents his exclusive online diary...
Friday, February 17
I'd gone home early from training on Thursday after not feeling
too good, but thankfully I felt much better this morning and was
able to declare myself fit and raring to go for the FA Cup fifth
round match at Bolton on Saturday. Tim the chef cooked my usual
Friday breakfast of Spanish omelette when I got in, and training
then consisted of a team meeting in the morning, followed by our
usual team-plays and set-pieces. After a spot of lunch, I then
drove to Stansted Airport to meet up with the rest of the squad for
our flight to Manchester in the afternoon. We go on a small charter
plane from the Inflight centre at the airport, which saves us
having to go through the regular check-in process, and the flight
to Manchester takes about 40 minutes. I'm not the biggest fan
of flying, and I'm certainly not too keen on those small planes
that only hold 20 or 30 people. Thankfully, the turbulence
wasn't too bad today, so I just put my iPod headphones on and
closed my eyes for the duration of the flight! After landing we
took the coach to the hotel and then spent the rest of the evening
relaxing. I room with Hayden Mullins on away trips and we just
watched a bit of TV before having an early night.
Saturday, February 18
Woke up at about 9.30am, had a bit of breakfast and then read the
Saturday papers before meeting up for our pre-match at 11.45am. It
was Anton's 21st birthday today, so all the lads wished him
happy birthday but, with a big game to focus on, there were no
practical jokes or pranks played on him. We then took the short
coach journey to the Reebok Stadium, and saw plenty of Hammers fans
on the way. The game itself was a difficult one - we always knew
they would make it tough for us and it was just a case of digging
in and grinding out a result. The pitch made it even worse, because
we couldn't really get the ball down and play our normal
passing game, but we all came off the pitch at the end feeling that
it was a job well done. Sometimes, when you're not playing as
well as you can, it's important just to stick together and get
a result, and I thought we did that well. The fans were marvellous
once again, and we're all looking forward to the replay at
Upton Park now. I'm sure the atmosphere will be fantastic and
the players are all determined to produce a quality performance to
get us through to the quarter-finals. After flying back to Stansted
after the game, a few of the lads went out with Anton and some of
his old school friends to celebrate his 21st. We had a nice meal in
TGI Friday and then went on to a club in the West End - a good
night was had by all!
Sunday, February 19
With a two-week break to look forward to after yesterday's
game, we've been given a couple of days off, which is a rare
luxury after playing on a Saturday. I spent most of the day at home
doing nothing before heading into town in the early evening to
attend a surprise birthday party for Anton. He had all of his
family and friends there, and quite a few of the players made it
along, so it was a really enjoyable night and I think Anton had a
good time.
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Monday, February 20
Nice to have a Monday off and I spent the whole day doing what I do
best on my day off…absolutely nothing! The most I did was go
to visit my mum in the afternoon, just to see how she was and
collect some food that she had prepared for me. My freezer has been
looking a bit empty lately, so I had to stock up again and mum
always comes up trumps for me! Obviously we were in the FA Cup
quarter-final draw on Monday afternoon but, to be honest, I
didn't really take much notice of it. We are not in the
quarter-finals yet, and the only thing that the lads are
concentrating on is the fifth round replay against Bolton.
Tuesday, February 21
Back to training today, and it was just a fairly light technical
session, split into groups. I was with Hayden, Anton, Clive Clarke
and David Cowley from the youth team, and we were working in the
new 'Technical Pen' at Chadwell Heath. It's a small
astro-turf area, with four small goals - one at each end and on
each side. We worked on quick shooting and passing for about an
hour, then came in for lunch. In the afternoon, I went shopping
with Bobby Zamora and Anton up at Bond Street - I bought a nice
jacket in Oswald Boateng - and then Anton and I headed back to
Upton Park to take part in a fan forum with the Bondholders and
their guests.
It was the first time I've done anything like that and it was
certainly an interesting experience! The fans seemed to enjoy the
evening and there was a variety of questions asked. One guy made a
comment about some of the goal celebrations that have been on
display this season - but I think he was aiming it solely at Anton!
Wednesday, February 22
A real tough training session today. With no game at the weekend,
Niall Clark worked us really hard as we would be getting more
recovery time. We did an intense six v six keep-ball session, then
did a core and strength session with the weights, before enjoying a
Mexican lunch - Tim prepared fajitas, chilli and various other
spicy stuff! In the afternoon, I had a text from an FA association,
informing me that I had been selected for the under-21 squad to
play in a friendly against Norway at Reading next week. Obviously
it would have been a dream to have been called up to the full squad
but, to be honest, I wasn't expecting it, and I'm more than
happy to continue my progress under Peter Taylor in the under-21s.
Both myself and Anton are still very young, with a lot of time on
our side, and the most important thing is that we just continue to
focus on playing well for West Ham.
Thursday, February 23
Because of the fact that we will have to join up with the England
under-21 squad on Sunday, myself and Anton were given an extra day
off today and, with the whole squad given the coming weekend off,
we decided to head off for a nice little weekend break at a secret
location! It's nice to get away from football for a few days,
especially ahead of what will hopefully be a busy and successful
next couple of months.
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