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Gary Speed's weekly column

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Ice chambers, chicken for breakfast, Big Sam's return to the Reebok and why I'm not finished as a player quite yet...

I've had chicken and broccoli for breakfast, and just stepped out of two minutes in the ice chamber at minus 120 degrees. Yes, some things have certainly changed over 16 seasons as a Premier League footballer!

But one thing certainly isn't different and that's the sense of excitement and anticipation before the first day of a new campaign. In fact if anything I'm probably more on edge about this one than any of the ones that have gone before.

To a certain extent that's because the older you get the more you know you have to appreciate every season and every game, because you know it won't go on forever. I think you reach a stage where you either lose your motivation and hang your boots up, or the desire to keep playing burns even stronger. At my age there are no half measures and I should think that's the case for any of us oldies who are still going. Everyone keeps telling me to play on for as long as I can, but to be honest I don't think I need people to say that because I know when I do pack in it is gone forever.

I've got an extra motivation - and not only because of my new role as player coach. I keep reading little comments that my legs have gone so there's a desire to prove that wrong. And especially because I actually feel fitter and leaner than I have in years.

That's back to the breakfasts and Ice Chambers again! When Sam Allardyce left Bolton I think a lot of people assumed that the club's reputation as being on the cutting edge of sports science might go with him, but nothing could be further from reality. Why would we throw away all the things and ideas that Sam introduced? Sammy Lee has instead brought in some new people with some good ideas telling us more about what we should eat and when and all the players have really bought into it. I feel really good, and people might take the mickey for me saying so but I think I look good as well! I feel leaner and stronger and although my weight is about the same the body fat ratio is right down.

As for the ice chamber, I don't know how it works but I think it does. It's a room where the temperature is down to minus 120 degrees and you have to go in for 120 seconds wearing not much more than your boxers. It is very, very cold - which is stating the bleeding obvious I know - but it also feels very refreshing when you come out and the scientists say it helps recovery from work so you can train harder next day and it prevents injuries.

I think Sammy plans to name his first team today so that we can go through all our set pieces and so forth, and like anybody there's a bit of nerves about whether I'll be in it. I'd like to think I'd have some influence in my new role! But the competition is pretty strong now with Gavin McCann and a couple of other midfield players coming into the club so there's nothing to be taken for granted. I know I've got to fight for my place and justify it with performances like anybody else.

What will it all mean when the season kicks off tomorrow? We'll find that out. We've had a pretty good pre-season but I don't think anybody is fooled about what that means. Last year we lost all eight of our games before the start and then set off like a train losing only one of the first ten games. So the first bit of advice I'd give anybody looking at their bets this weekend is to take no notice at all of pre-season results and form.

Obviously there's a rich irony in Newcastle being our first opponents and Sam coming back to the Reebok. I'm not sure what kind of welcome he'll get but I hope it will be a good one because you can't deny he did a lot for Bolton Wanderers. And he's left behind a legacy of structure and ideas that we want to build on.

I'd love to see the established order of the top four broken by somebody this season. I hoped it might happen last year because it would be good for the rest of the League to prove it can be done. But you only have to look at the betting to win the Premiership to know how hard it will be.

Outside the obvious favourites of Manchester United at 2.52 and Chelsea at 2.86, only Liverpool are priced in single figures. And I know we plan to make sure they get off to a bad start but I still think Newcastle will have a better season, especially if Michael Owen gets and stays fit, and they are 190! They will also have the Big Sam factor.

He's already been able to sign players like Mark Viduka and Joey Barton that would have been beyond Bolton's budget and he'll change the club a lot. As an old Newcastle player I know the club always seems to be full of soap opera and this summer's been no different, but Sam will be very good at keeping all those things away from the players and getting them focused on the game.

As for us, well just as people are ready to write me off they don't seem to fancy Bolton's chances much either. But I reckon 50 for us to win the League without the big four or 12 for a top six finish are both decent bets. Here's hoping they come in!