I am lucky enough to be in a profession whereby I can honestly say there are not many aspects of the job that I do not enjoy. However, I have to confess that one of the things that I am looking forward to when I hang up my boots is a "proper" family Christmas.
Don't get me wrong, I am fully aware that the Christmas schedule is a key one in the football calendar and ultimately helps to pay for the presents that are being opened by the kids, so I am not looking for pity or being ungrateful.
However I can't help but fire some envious glances at other members of the family who are tucking into their Christmas dinner while I am picking at my pasta dish!
My experiences have been more of a mixed bag. Some years I have been in on Christmas Day, and others I have just been given a heart rate monitor and told to go for a run. Thank goodness for the invention of the heart rate monitor! Saying that you do get some very strange looks from people on a Christmas Day walk. You instantly know that they are thinking: "Who is this crazy bloke going for a run on Christmas Day?"
On one particular Christmas Day during my time at Coventry City, we had to train at about four in the afternoon and then travel to London in preparation for a Boxing Day game at West Ham. That in itself was bad enough but on arrival at the hotel, it transpired that I was in a room on my own, meaning that I did not even have a room-mate with whom I could whinge about the situation!
Players are not the only ones who like the odd moan about the busy Christmas schedule. Managers often complain about playing too many games in such a short space of time and from time to time there is talk of a mid-season break. As supporters it would be interesting to get your views on the subject.
One player who struck me as being more determined than most not to lose the sense of Christmas spirit was Michael Proctor, a former team-mate of mine at Hartlepool. As a Rotherham player living in Sunderland, he was none too pleased about having to make the journey for a Christmas Day training session at the Yorkshire club. However, he deserved full marks for making the most of it - he drove to Rotherham with Christmas songs blaring out from his CD player and wearing a Christmas hat from a cracker.
The Christmas Day schedule in professional football is one that I have been part of for as long as I can remember. My dad was in training every Christmas Day and obviously as a little kid, I was gutted. Now I am the one who is a father and it is not a nice feeling to know that my little lad will be feeling the same this Christmas. 
Will power is the key for any footballer over the festive period. There is no end of sweet or biscuit selection boxes which can tempt you, and from a personal point of view, I have got immense respect for anyone who can turn down a Ferrero Rocher! Seriously though, as a player you have to try to prepare properly because you are playing a lot of games over a short period of time and a full Christmas dinner the night before a game is not really the way to go about things.
On a completely different subject, I have to make a public apology to our goalkeeper, Kevin Pilkington - a player who recently discovered, to his cost, how absent minded I can be in the mornings.
In ensuring that we are not late for training, the Notts County lads who have to travel the longest distances tend to arrive at the ground early. On the premise that we could all do with a caffeine boost before training, we have organised a tea-making rota.
It was my turn the other day and I thought things were going great, but that was before Kevin, the first to take a sip, suddenly spits his tea out. It was difficult to understand what he was saying in the tirade that followed but I did get the message eventually, I had put salt in the bowl rather than sugar!
I am not a practical joker so I can honestly say it was a genuine error. But I do appreciate that I did not do much to dispel the myth that all footballers are stupid!
