THE best story of the week so far as I'm concerned was the one about Coventry City players having to travel on the London underground because their coach didn't turn up at the hotel.
Tube-goers were astonished to be squeezed up against professional footballers all the way from Hanger Lane to Hammersmith (change for Shepherd's Bush) and no doubt they took a bit of ribbing from fans on their way to that game and others around the capital.
At least manager Micky Adams saw the funny side of it and his team's ultimate 1-0 victory at QPR no doubt prompted the observation that football speak about perfect preparation is "a load of nonsense."
I've often thought the players can be too pampered. In my teenage days of supporting Bradford (Park Avenue) it was not uncommon to share a bus ride with the goalkeeper on the way to a game or even a pint with the centre forward the night before!
I can't remember it affecting their performances adversely or anything other than good-natured banter taking place.
Only this week I've seen pictures of England cricketers Trevor Bailey and Frank Tyson waiting on railway station platforms on the way to performing heroics for their country just a couple of hours later.
Admittedly that was almost half-a-century ago and I'm not suggesting a return to horse-drawn carriages.
Teams are entitled to travel in luxury and prepare as professionally as they feel necessary, but there is still a lot of hogwash spouted about the pre-match needs of players.
Brian Clough often used to insist on his players having a beer on their way to Nottingham Forest matches, and it's a well-known fact that Ian Botham had more than a few tinctures before smashing the Aussies all around Headingley in that epic Test winning innings of his.
I once flew from Taipei directly to Kaiserslautern to commentate on a Sheffield Wednesday match (well, not exactly directly, more like via Hong Kong, Delhi, Heathrow, a train to Paris and Frankfurt) and was on air an hour after completing a 36-hour journey!
I like to think my performance wasn't impaired but boy did I enjoy the sleep after flying in to England for the second time in 12 hours!
It's amazing what the human body can soak up and one unexpected tube trip seemed to work wonders for Coventry - perhaps they'll buy their tickets in advance next time they're in London.
