Water torture for Magpies' players

IT LOOKED ice cold from where I was stood overlooking on a wooden bridge, with the tide of the River Traun rushing beneath me, impatiently towards Lake Hallstatt.

And from the faces of the Notts County players it was.

Some sat on rocks on the water’s edge while others dared to wade out further, almost into the eye of the tide’s purposeful path, and stood immersed to waist-height, shivering.

It looked like a five-minute form of water torture for them all.

And the reason? Apparently, and I am no expert, it’s all about getting lactic acid, whatever that is, out of the players’ legs and invigorating their muscles with new blood and oxygen in order to help them stay fresh and, crucially, avoid injury.

I prefer to think there is no science involved at all, and it is just an elaborate joke to get a group of footballers to stand in freezing cold water, until their legs go numb.

Afterwards, I was asked if I was going to have a dip, so I was forced to explain with regret I had underwent a lactic acid examination before flying out to Austria and my legs were just fine, otherwise I would have joined them; I would have been the first one in; I would have even stood there for ten minutes, not just five.

I still fear I might have to take the plunge if they do it again before we leave Obertraun.

If I do, the Austrian hills will be alive, but not with the sound of music.