Harbinger Of Glory

The following morning, Leo was back at the Wigan training complex for the 3rd time since the break started.

And it seemed that the snow the previous day had been an out-of-the-ordinary thing because, despite the previous day’s state, it showed no signs of snowing even a little bit.

Still, patches of it clung to the grass around the edges of the training pitches where the groundskeepers stood, working to get the field back to shape before the players could use it.

The cold remained, however, and Leo pulled his jacket closer around himself as he made his way through the entrance.

The complex felt different with the whole squad back together, and by different, it just felt louder.

More voices carried through the corridors, staff moved between rooms with tablets in hand, and somewhere further inside the building, the voices of his teammates were hard to miss.

Leo followed the noise toward the cafeteria and the moment he stepped inside, he spotted several faces he hadn’t seen in the past couple of weeks.

Femi Seriki was there, along with Carlo, Reyes and James McClean, all of whom had spent the break away with their respective national teams.

A few other players were scattered around the room, some eating while others were still standing around their tables, catching up after their time apart.

Leo smiled and then passed by them, offering greetings as he did.

”Morning.”

”Morning, mate.”

”Calderon.”

He moved through the room, shaking hands and exchanging quick greetings as he went.

”How was it?”

”Long.”

”I can tell. You look terrible.”

”Thanks, you wanker.”

”You’re welcome.”

The laughter around the room came easily.

There was none of the usual urgency that accompanied a normal training morning.

Most of the players were simply enjoying being around each other again.

Leo eventually found Carlo sitting at one of the tables and pulled out the chair opposite him.

”Carlo Regutti, Italian international,” Leo said as Carlo picked his head up and snorted.

”How was the break?”

Carlo shrugged.

”The usual.”

”What do you mean, the usual?” Leo said while Carlo seemed to swallow.

”Just as it always was.”

Carlo took another bite before adding, ”Training. Hotel. Training. Match. Hotel.”

”Sounds exciting.”

”It wasn’t really with all the drama that comes with the squad.”

Leo laughed quietly as Carlo swallowed and then looked across the table.

”Spalletti wanted to call you up again.”

Leo raised an eyebrow.

”Really? Why?”

”That’s for him to answer,” Carlo said as Leo’s expression changed slightly.

”He said he tried to get you in for a bit, but his medical team warned against aggravating your ankle, as they knew even if he said he wouldn’t let you play, he probably would have.”

Before Carlo could say anything else, Ezra and Reyes appeared beside the table.

Reyes pulled out a chair while Ezra dropped into the one beside Carlo.

Carlo looked around and found one odd thing out.

”Where’s Jake?”

”He’s in the gym,” Ezra replied, causing Leo to raise a brow.

”Why,” he asked.

”Yeah. He’s doing a bit with Thompson.”

Carlo shook his head at Ezra’s reply before snorting.

”Of course he is.”

”He said he wanted to get some work in before everyone else,” Ezra continued as Leo shook his head with a wry smile.

”That doesn’t sound like him.”

That got a round of nods from the players around the table before they all began to dig in.

And Leo, without a plate in front of him, stood and made his way toward the food counter.

By the time he returned with his own plate, Carlo, Ezra and Reyes were already halfway done.

Leo sat down with them and from there, the conversation moved from one subject to another without settling on anything for very long.

Reyes brought up something that had happened during the international break, and Carlo immediately disagreed with his version of events and for a while, it was simply the squad being together again.

Gradually, the plates emptied.

The noise in the cafeteria began to settle as players finished their meals and started filtering out.

There was still plenty of time before anything resembling a normal training session would begin.

But the truth, in fact, was there wasn’t going to be one.

The club’s medical and laboratory staff had scheduled assessments for everyone returning from the international break, along with routine checks for those who had remained at Wigan.

And one by one, the players were taken through them.

It stemmed from weight, moved on to hydration and then things like mobility, muscle readings and then recovery markers.

The staff worked through their list carefully, making notes and asking questions about how each player had felt during the break.

The returnees were given particular attention.

They had spent the previous two weeks travelling, training and playing in different environments, often with little time between matches.

And so the club needed to know what state they had actually come back in before deciding how quickly they could be pushed.

Once the assessments were finished, there was no immediate training session waiting for them.

Those who wanted to go home were allowed to do so.

Others could remain at the complex and complete recovery work with the conditioning staff.

A few of the players who had spent the international break away chose to leave almost immediately.

They had travelled enough over the past couple of weeks and wanted the chance to sleep properly in their own beds.

The players who had remained at Wigan took a different approach.

Some stayed, with most of them moving into the recovery area for light work, while others used the gym or went through individual conditioning programmes designed to get them back into a proper rhythm after the quieter period.

By late morning, the training complex had settled again.

Downstairs, the players were beginning to disappear one by one.

However, away from the player complex, Dawson sat across a table from Nolan and several members of the club’s performance staff.