TALKING about modern initiatives on the coaching front, some of my colleagues tell me that most of the top clubs now are employing different people to help out on the fitness and training in particular.

At one time, there was the manager, his trainer and a physio.

The bus driver was also quite important for away games.

He brought the kit, helped to set it out and then nipped round to put in the order at the fish and shop to collect for the journey home.

Most clubs now have dieticians, fitness experts and, in the case of Steve McClaren at Middlesborough, a psychologist permanently on the staff.

It is interesting to see that people such as Sam Allardyce, a good old bread and butter, short-back and sides centre-half in his days at Bolton Wanderers, is now in the forefront when it comes to the use of all these facilities, plus things like pro-zone - not prozac!

A lot was made recently of how innovative Sir Clive Woodward is - I read he had 19 staff for England games - including a kicking coach.

That's fine, but other clubs have employed for quite a long-time now ex-players such as Ian Rush and Tony Cottee to work with forwards in training.

I was also quite amused to read in one of our nationals in a diary written by an old friend, Charlie Sale, the revelation that on England's last trip away, the under-21 staff ordered the hotel to remove all items from the mini-bars in the players' rooms.

Unfortunately for Charlie and his mole, I'm sorry to say this sort of instruction has been given by clubs and international teams to hotels for as long as I can remember.

So really, while we like to keep modern and up-to-date, many of the suggestions, particularly from new-comers to the business have already been tried - and the trusted ones retained.