Southampton's Benali reveals what goes on on pre-season tour

The thought of a new campaign is becoming very real and I'd love to see the modern-day pre-season under Russell Martin up close.

The club have confirmed they will be playing Eastleigh before heading to Spain for a training camp with two matches in July.

For many of the pre-seasons that myself and my colleagues did, we almost braced ourselves for a bit of a beasting right from day one.

The sports science side of it would argue that that would probably risk more likelihood of an injury than a steadier method.

It was always a stage of pre-season when you couldn't wait for the footballs - that was the saying, 'I can't wait for the balls to come out'.

It was always so tough. Casting my mind back, I always used to do my own stuff and people in the group would come back at different fitness levels.

Some would use pre-season together to build that up but I think collectively under Gordon Strachan, we were the fittest I can remember.

He pushed everyone hard - alongside other sides of the game - but we saw the benefits that brought. We'd be scoring goals late in games.

We were feeling strong between 80 and 90 minutes and often had the energy to beat the opposition and that gives you a bit of mental psychology too.

I've always been a bit of a home bird personally so going away for an extended period was never something that I relished.

It was being away from my family, my wife and especially the kids when they came along, so I always found it a little bit tough in that sense.

I completely understood the reason for doing it; getting some warm weather in different locations and a chance to be together around the clock.

It has its benefits and builds camaraderie and all that kind of stuff. We were actually in La Manga one year when we signed Rory Delap.

I was in a room and I think they thought, 'You know, we'll put him in with Franny. He may sleep a lot but he's a good welcoming committee.'

Franny Benali pictured on pre-season tour in Sweden (Image: Daily Echo)

I think a lot of the lads put in a request to change their roommate because I slept too much.

But over the years I roomed with so many players, including Jeff Kenna in the early years, Matt Le Tissier a lot and Marian Pahars as well.

We didn't always go to these nice and luxurious locations that became commonplace by the end of my career.

I remember quite a few trips in the UK and having a bit of a beasting at army camps over the years is still very fresh in my memory. 

We would play English sides or maybe travel north of the border to play teams in Scotland that were often ahead of us in their pre-season schedule.

Eventually, we'd start going overseas and I remember Scandinavia being a popular destination, largely English-speaking and they play similar kinds of football.

Football does a good job of covering what goes on on these trips these days with social media clips and journalists in or around the camp.

The bit you don't see is the private moments with the squad all together in the evening, with a week's worth of entertainment to generate.

That comes down to the non-football side of it and it could be managers, coaches or even the senior players to come up with ideas.

We had table tennis competitions and card schools were always a big thing, even through the season when we used to be doing a lot of journeying.

I mean, I never got involved in them, I steered well clear! But there'd always be a card school going on somewhere.

If you are on a nice resort, there are some restaurants you can go to in the evening and a golf course that you can pop onto.

You need to come up with an itinerary to keep things fresh, there's a big chunk of downtime and you don't just want to sit staring at the wall or your roommate.

I think that's a great environment in any industry you're in, having some fun and those light-hearted moments.

It's such a long season, whether you're a player, staff member, covering the club in the media - or even as a fan! 

There are times when you're just slogging away and the hours can be long, you're travelling and your emotions are all over the place. 

We experienced a whole new level with the play-off final when we were bogged down in the serious side of it, knowing what was at stake.

You need to factor in those moments of relaxation and there will be that balancing act to manage as well for Russell this pre-season.

Have a good weekend, all.

Franny.