Sunderland's last full day on the Algarve brought some much-needed relief from the blazing sun and stifling heat present since they arrived. Although, saying that, everything is relative, I guess - the mercury still touched 28C!
Warm-weather training without the harsh sunlight is just what they needed, and Sunderland's open training session on Monday evening in front of fans and then their session today were ideal conditions. And a glance at the forecast for tomorrow suggests their game against Roma will be played in similar weather.
A few years ago it used to be the strawberry blond Duncan Watmore making a beeline for the suncream on pre-season, but these days it is the fair-skinned Alex Pritchard first in the queue!
READ MORE: Luke O'Nien gives his verdict on Sunderland new boy Dan Ballard after his first outing
Ruling himself out
Sunderland's pre-season trip has coincided with the high-drama of Boris Johnson's resignation back home, and the starting gun being fired in the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister. Eleven candidates put their name forward, since reduced to eight, and when I asked a member of the Sunderland staff if he fancied having a crack at it he muttered: "I'm about the only person who isn't chucking my hat in the ring by the sounds of it!"
At the heart of the action
Invisibility is the name of the game for a journalist attending training. Keep out of the way, let the players and staff get on with their session undisturbed, observe, and leave the chat for before/after.
But we're in the social media age now, and suddenly everything is up for grabs - or at least, it is for club media. Watching training as Sunderland's media team wander on the pitch amongst the players, filming and taking pictures, is a sight that would have been unthinkable not too many years ago.
For today's young coaches like Alex Neil and his generation, I suppose it's what they're accustomed to. But I can't help wonder what Roy Keane or Peter Reid would make of it...
A long (final) day ahead...
Sunderland have got a busy day ahead of them tomorrow as they prepare to head for home after their friendly against Roma. The Black Cats have an early start for the 11am kick-off, then it's back to the hotel to pick up their luggage and off to the airport.
They are flying back to Manchester, then making the three-hour journey by coach, arriving back in the North East in the early hours of the morning. It makes for a gruelling day, but at least they have a day off to look forward to on Thursday.
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