JONES BLOG: CORNWALL SO FAR Posted on: Wed 20 Jul 2011 'We've had the wet weather this week but that's not unusual in Devon and Cornwall. It's a nice part of the country - a good one to get away from everything. I used to have a house down here and Neil Warnock still has. It's a good environment and one that we're used to. We know the hotel, the food and the training grounds - I think it's a great week. And it's been fantastic so far. The preparation's been good, the spirit is too. We've brought a few new players here, with some of them on trial. They've fitted in fantastically with the players that we've already got and it's looking very good. Both Jay Bothroyd and Kieron Dyer will get a run-out tonight at Plymouth, whether that's starting or featuring in the second half. Home Park has a fantastic pitch and we're anticipating a good crowd. The players that we currently have on trial have all impressed. Danny Gabbidon's quality and class is clear to everyone at the Club, so who knows what will happen. There's a long way to go yet before the first game of the season. If we can get everything we can out of the players that we've currently got, and bring some new faces in, then we'll all look forward to that game against Bolton. Neil is beavering away in an attempt to bring players in and I must say, it's relentless. The phone is non-stop. Nine tenths of my phone calls are now agents, because everyone is trying to do business, but we've got to look for players who are Premier League quality. We've all got names in our heads and we sit down, talk to the Manager and he's got people who he'd prefer. I throw names at Neil and sometimes he'll say 'no, I don't fancy him.' So it's a process of elimination, until we try and get who we want. We won 13-0 at Tavistock on Monday evening. Gabbidon came in and he needed that game under his belt. Danny Webber looked full of himself too and Petter Vaagan Moen scored a nice goal. We said to Petter 'if you don't score in this game then there's something wrong with you' - and he celebrated like he'd just scored a World Cup goal for Norway! Petter didn't get many opportunities last season, but if he's going to break through, the time's right now. The Premier League might possibly suit his game better. I watched him play a few times for Norway and Brann, and saw a lad who can run all day. He's very, very athletic and his goalscoring record in Norway stands out, as does his international record. We're off to Italy next week. It worked well last year, and that's why we're repeating it. That's the case with Cornwall too. It works here because Neil knows the environment and brings everybody together. The players actually live on top of each other. If you don't get to know your team mates down here, then you never will. Italy will certainly be more tactical, mainly because we're coming up against better opposition. It's a slow process of building up to the real thing. You can't argue with a tried and tested pre-season, not one that's survived over 21 years! Sometimes we'll change it if, say, Strength and Condition Coach Carl Serrant or Keith Curle make a suggestion, because the Manager is very open minded. But, by and large, this works for us. Finally, I can't go without mentioning the Ryder Cup style golf event that we had between the staff and players earlier in the week - even though we got battered! Last year, myself and Kit Man Gary Doyle won it on the last hole, but it wasn't to be this year. Peter Ramage and a few of the lads are good golfers and made their minds up that it wasn't going to happen again!'
Sounds about as positive as it can be atm. Warnock's system obviously adds much to team spirit in ways that some other uncertain squads might lack. It almost sounds like we'll be prem-ready - until you start to analyse basic player quality compared to bigger spenders...
