English Football League / Ben Herd / 19 February 2009 /

Part-time betting.betfair.com columnist and full-time Shrewsbury defender Ben Herd tells us about his return to action, feeling the heat of the dreaded ice bath and giving "divers" something to really dive about.

I'm in a lot better spirits this week after playing my first two games in three months. Ironically, my last game in November was against Chesterfield,who we played at home on Saturday. All the same old feelings came flooding back as I stepped out onto the pitch; apprehension, excitement and a willingness to do well.

I must admit that I was lifted even more by the fans' loud cheer when my name was read out prior to kick-off. Fans should not underestimate the influence that they can have on players and games. The first 20 minutes or so did feel a bit surreal and it took a while for me to get my bearings!

It was a much better team performance and we fully deserved our 2-1 win. However, it did take me by surprise to be named MOM in the corporate lounge after the game. The customary bottle of champagne will be put on ice until the end of the season, hopefully for a promotion celebration!

I honestly thought that I would have felt a lot worse than I did towards the end of the game, but it was when the game had finished and I sat down that every muscle in my body started to scream!

It's fairly standard for John McMahon, assistant manager, or one of the older pros to take the lads for a cool-down after the game. I was in desperate need of it to be fair, the cool-down itself is also used, inadvertently, for a mini-debrief amongst the players and I suppose a little reflection of what just happened on the pitch.

The next step of any decent recovery is the dreaded ice-bath. I must admit that when the sun is shining in pre-season, I'm the first into the ice baths, but during the depths of winter, I have tended to give them a bit of a wide berth. However, on Saturday I was willing to give anything a try in aid of making my legs move again, so I grinned and bared it for 10 mins or so...let's just say, I think I'll wear some pants next time I venture in!

As a professional athlete, I could not think of anything worse than sitting down in the players' bar after a match and having a pint. However, that's clearly not the case for all players. One of my good mates in the game told me recently about the time when he was at Lincoln and was left out the squad at an away match. To lift his spirits he trundled in to the players' lounge and sipped on a pint of lager only for the assistant manager to burst in, informing him that he was starting the match due to an injury in the warm-up!

One event of the year that does go through a few bottles of bubbly is the PFA Player of the Year award, traditionally somewhere in London. I see this year's leading candidate on Betfair's markets is Nemanja Vidic. From a defender's point of view, it would be refreshing to see one of "your own" walk away with this prestigious award. Come decision time Vidic is definitely going to be there or thereabouts, especially when you consider the clean sheets that United have been keeping with the Serb very much at the heart of their record-breaking achievement.

I'm going to break away from the crowd a bit and plump for Ryan Giggs to win it instead, who is currently around the [4.0] mark on Betfair. I feel that his experience as well as performances this season have been first class and he's been a big factor in why United will retain their Premiership crown. From a Shrewsbury Town perspective, the one that would probably just edge it for me is Cocko (Graham Coughlan). Similar to Giggs, his experience has been vital to us this year and will be even more so during the last dozen games or so.

Even in League Two, if you didn't know any better, you may be forgiven for thinking that some players had been having a pint or two before a game judging by some of the diving that goes on. It is so frustrating when a player dives and the referee buys it and awards a free-kick against you, you do feel like really giving the 'diver' something to dive about the next time you're near him!

One player that turned diving into an art form is Jurgen Klinsmann. The guy's an absolute footballing legend and showed that some Germans do have a sense of humour with his celebration dive. There is no questioning his footballing ability and he has certainly gone down in the Hall of Fame at Spurs.

As for a top notch manager, for me the jury is still out. He is doing okay at Bayern Munich but surely they should be sitting pretty at the top of the Bundesliga instead of Hoffenheim, which are effectively a village team. Bayern take on Koln this weekend so, after my spot-on predictions of last weekend (Swansea-Fulham), it's Over 2.5 goals at [1.54] for me.

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