BOOTHAM Crescent is a quieter place this week after the players began their six-week break.

The whole squad were in on Monday for tests on their fitness levels and told what condition we expect them to be in when they come back. We had a meeting in which they were given plans to follow and it went well but now we have to trust that they look after themselves while they are away from the club.

It was difficult last year because I took over after everybody had been sent away but now they are fully aware of how they need to spend their next six weeks. Certain players will be given a little bit extra to do and, as I stated in the Press earlier this week, Stuart Wise needs to lose some weight. It's a case of looking after yourself nutritionally but some players are also underweight and need to increase their body fat levels.

On the whole, everybody follows the same programme. It's a time for rest but you can quickly lose your fitness levels.

In terms of diet, players will need to cut back on carbohydrates which you usually have a high intake of when you are exercising daily but, if you don't get them out of your system, they can soon turn to body mass. Take-aways will need to be steered clear from, as will most of the food that everybody enjoys.

With alcohol, the players are allowed to drink in moderation but they can't be doing it every day just because there is no training to get up for in the morning because, again, it can quickly turn to fat.

As a player, I will be following the summer programme as closely as everybody else but, as manager, I feel that my works starts now. I am holding talks this week with a number of potential targets.

It's a case of finding out where we are with certain players to get ahead of the game. In most cases, you can't sign deals until current ones run out in July but they can sign pre-contract agreements.

There have been tough decisions I have made regarding people's futures over the last two weeks and now there are tough ones to make concerning getting the right personnel to do a job next season.

We have already got half-a-dozen trialists coming in but I want to get active, work hard in the next three weeks and sign two or three players at least before going away on holiday in June. My holiday will also be football-orientated as I am taking my family away to Portugal conveniently at a time to coincide with the European Championships.

My wife is fine about that because she knows what I'm like. It will be nice to spend some time with my family and switch off a little bit although I will still be connected to Bootham Crescent as the place we are staying has e-mail and a fax machine.

I have got tickets for all the England games right up to the final, which will cause a problem if we get there as I have told the players they must report back on July 1, which is three days before. We start the season a week later because of being relegated but we have decided to keep the original programme so we are, gaining a week's extra preparation.

Everybody will have their bodies tested on the first day back to make sure they have looked after themselves, which certainly makes pre-season easier. If anybody has not followed the programme correctly they will be doing extra work.

I think we will then have about 17 to 21 days before our first friendly and we are hoping to finalise details of our pre-season programme shortly.

As a manager, I am expecting a much busier summer than I did as a player when you go home, have your rounds of golf and totally switch off when you are on holiday. I will not work as many hours over the summer but I will only be taking two weeks off rather than six.

You look forward to the summer as players because it's a long season and you are ready for a break whether you have a good, bad or indifferent year. Pre-season training is really terrible, sheer hell basically, but you always come back with fresh optimism and we have got to look forward now.

Updated: 11:03 Thursday, May 13, 2004