Thursday wasn't a good day for Trevor Wynne our kit manager. The lads all knew it was best to avoid the subject of wet tops and fishing with the minder of the club's playing and training apparel.
It all started to go wrong when the rain began to fall heavily during yesterday morning's training session. Mick McCarthy quickly went in search of his waterproof only to find that it wasn't where it should be.
Mick's 'polite' request to Trev as to its whereabouts was met with the feeble response that fitness coach Tony Daley must have taken it. Dale's hotly disputed the claim and the rain continued to soak the gaffer, who was heard to utter: "Trev, you're the worst kit man I've ever known!'
Crestfallen, but undaunted, after getting a replacement top for Mick, Trev then had high level talks with his assistant, that finely honed athlete known as Mort, about their recreational plans for the afternoon.
A spot of fishing in the hotel lake was the outcome and they were joined by Matt Murray who is keen on a spot of the old line dangling himself.
Well, if Trev was a little glum before the outing, he looked like the bloke who had just received a get well card from the Mafia when the venture was over. For Mort caught a massive Pike whilst the only thing Trev had to unhook was unused bait.
Not that Mort was best pleased. This Bear Grylls of the backroom staff was heard to whimper: "It scared the life out of me when I saw the size of it. Its teeth were massive."
My immediate thoughts were 'Look at it from the point of view of the fish'. Swimming calmly around looking for a quick snack and all of a sudden you come face to face with Mort. Now that is scary!
But for some us us there was no time for relaxation as I drove up to Newcastle,in Northern Ireland, along with goalkeeper Aaron McCarey and coach Pat Mountain for the Development game against Lisburn Distillery.
It was a fair old drive but worth it as the club's youngsters turned in a terrific performance with Sam Winnall taking centre stage with a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory.
The Express and Star's Tim Nash also made the trip up and he was obviously at his observant best as the game neared its conclusion.
Nashy was stood taking notes on the touchline when a Distillery player wearing a goalkeeper's kit went and stood by him. Never one to miss a line Nashy asked the player if he was about to go on as a substitute.
The minor detail that he had missed out on, however, was that the keeper was Philip Matthews who had just played for 70 minutes before being replaced.
Never mind Nashy, we've all done it!
Finally got back to the hotel at almost two in the morning. The bar was still open but I decided against a 'Billy No Mates' pint of Guinness and headed for bed as I still hadn't got over celebrating my fortieth birthday on Tuesday night.
