Dawson's Diary

[rossdfc]

Spurs Xtra has an all-new feature for 2011-12 - Dawson's Diary.

The title does give it away somewhat - our popular centre-back, now one of our longest-serving players and skipper for most of the second half of last season, will give Xtra the inside track on his season for the next 11 months or so.

We'll be talking to 'Daws' regularly throughout the campaign and he'll give us his thoughts from the heart of the dressing room.

We'll try to get the best banter out of him as well but as he told us on Monday, it's a bit early yet!

So look out for updates here at Spurs Xtra and across our other channels here at Spurs including our official Twitter page, SpursOfficial and video on Spurs TV Online.

Where better to kick-off Dawson's Diary than day one? Here goes...



DAWSON'S DIARY - MONDAY, JULY 4, 2011

We've all had a break, all enjoyed ourselves and now we're all back in the mix again. Pre-season is here and it's like 'welcome back lads, let's get on with it' straight away!

It's great to see all the lads again. The banter is flying around, as always. It's a bit too early for much more than that, but I'm sure that will all change soon!

Pre-season training has changed a lot, even in my time as a professional footballer.

In my youth team days at Forest we ran and ran, basically until we dropped.

It's more scientific now with the coaches, physios and medical team. It's still hard work, believe me, but everything is carefully monitored.

It's 10 days until we go to South Africa and we've all an eye on that first game in the Premier League against Everton in August.

All that really matters throughout pre-season is that we're ready for that first match. That's what we're all working towards.

We have three games in South Africa, good preparation, we then come back and play Brighton, another good game and then our friendly at White Hart Lane against Athletic Bilbao on August 6.

Before then, we've plenty of hard work to get through. It all starts here!

[rossdfc]

THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2011

We're getting into pre-season now and I've got to say Tuesday's endurance run was one of the hardest I've ever had.

It was over a figure-of-eight circuit of 240 metres divided into 40 metres. So you run 40m then you jog, 80m then jog, 120m then jog, 160m, 200m and then you only have 40m rest, then you do the full 240m.

It’s so hard. You feel the lactic acid building up in your legs and you are breathing so heavily towards the end of it. After the first set you are on the floor and then we’re off again!

It’s a hard session but a good one. It’s still quite short and that’s the case now, the longer runs have gone. It’s not easy, but you push yourself and your team-mates through it. That's what it's all about.



Wednesday was lighter after that, a gym session and then the pool.

The upper body circuit in the morning included boxing in bursts of about 80 seconds. We were in pairs and one held the pads, the other punched and then you swap around.

It certainly makes you think what boxers go through - three-minute rounds with your arms up constantly, throwing punches and getting hit at the same time!

I’m glad Carlo didn’t connect with one on Wednesday!



We did shorter stuff in a longer session on Thursday and it poured down!

It’s pre-season and you don’t often get rain like we had. It came down all morning and looked set for most of the day.

And I came to training in my flip-flops and a t-shirt!

I like to think the weather will still be quite good after my holiday and try to keep my tan going! In this weather, it’s just washing away!

The internationals were also back today and it was great to see everyone.

We’re all back now, there's a great spirit and we all look forward to going to South Africa next week.

ASK DAWS A QUESTION!

Got a question for Michael? As part of Dawson's Diary, Michael will answer questions from fans.

Email your questions to Daws by CLICKING HERE (contactus@tottenham hotspur.com) and please remember to include your name and where you are from!

We'll put the best of them to Michael and run them here on Dawson's Diary!

[spursman18]

This is great @rossdfc ......please continue to post these! I'm going to do that figure 8 circuit over 240 m for my own preseason running.

[Javi]

Good stuff will be interesting to read.

[brainiac]

Im all over this like Harry on a free agent transfer :0) ..........really appreciate the heads up @rossdfc

Ive sent an email with a question about diet & food intake.

Would be good if every now and again the menu or even what Daws had to eat was published. Not every day but maybe once a week.

Im on a fitness drive myself at the moment so every little helps eh.

[Jammy_Jae]

thanks for posting it up man! i'd rather read it here and comment then just read it on the official site & be done with it!

i hope his entries get more detailed as the season progresses!

[stroud_jm]

Thanks @rossdfc , this is a great feature. Niko looks like he's dying in those figure eights.

[stuartthfc11]

Sorry but who likes going back to work after a holiday lol Seriously though I reckon the best part of this post is the mention of team spirit! Its good to know the boys are getting on, especially in light of what is - and must be - an uncertain time for all of them! Im talking possible transfers obviously lol.

Talking of possible transfers: I asked my local bookie for odds on Jenas leaving us this summer and he refused the bet! He told me he would let me do rude things to his wife if he did leave and this guy is ITK for a living! Whats annoying is that whilst his wife is an 11/10 I would pass that up for Jenas to clear off, anywhere! Does that make me sad?

P.S. Im married and my missus is sat here lol ;-)

[S.L.R]

Haha Stuart, what would you choose if your missus was elsewhere eh?

Thanks for posting these Rossdfc, it's a good feature.

[Rev John Ripsher]

""It’s pre-season and you don’t often get rain like we had. It came down all morning and looked set for most of the day.

And I came to training in my flip-flops and a t-shirt!""



He drives in flip-flops ???

[LYid]

Great feature thanks mate! Look forward to reading more

[funkfish]

great read and looking forward to the next instalment. maybe this thread should be made a sticky

[woody]

Is it just me or does Rafa look a bit out of shape???

[brainiac]

great read and looking forward to the next instalment. maybe this thread should be made a sticky

Proposal seen & will get back to you @funkfish @rossdfc

[rossdfc]

Proposal seen & will get back to you @funkfish @rossdfc

Yeah I was going to suggest that, probably a good idea.