It's his first pre-season with the West Ham squad - and manager Alan Pardew is chomping at the bit to unleash his side on the Championship.
After taking over last October it was tough for the boss to find time to develop a rapidly-changing squad during a hectic schedule of matches.
But now he is relishing the chance to get a few weeks of unbroken coaching into his side.
"It's only in pre-season that you get time to do sessions where you can work on your own team," he said on the eve of the first pre-season game, at Umea in Sweden tomorrow.
"We can plan the season with a scientific approach. We're monitoring the players' fitness and will keep that up through the whole campaign - if a player is suffering from fatigue we will know about it almost before they do."
More on West Ham United atthe official site
Published Tuesday July 13, 2004
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