Express & Star

Wolves in Switzerland: Nathan Judah and Tim Spiers' Day seven diary

Each morning normally starts with an early rise around 7am.

Published

Well Saturday was slightly different - as we were still out having a few beverages.

An innocent night in Bulle ended up in a $100 Swiss franc taxi to Vevey and a free shuttle into Montreux.

We met up with a few of the media lads and finished up at the world famous Montreux Jazz Festival.

Picture a mile of bars, clubs, music and eateries along Lake Geneva that is still going strong at 5am and you get a pretty good idea.

Just don't ask Tim about sambuca!

TS: Well we certainly won't ask you about sambuca will we pal? Listen to the poddy today for the full story on Judah's quite shocking antics...

So a 10am rise today as there was no training (thank goodness) and it was pack your bags and head to Bern for the Young Boys game.

The stadium was very-much open air and more accessible than the Tissot Arena for the FC Basel game.

But it had a lovely family feel to it and the travelling Wolves fans were in their element.

Well most of them - a certain fan was made to pay 135 Swiss francs for a cheese fondue the night before (you've been had son!)

TS: It was pretty ramshackle in terms of having one wooden stand, a running track, etc but there was actually something quite quaint about the place. And they managed to cater for 3,000 who created a good atmosphere and despite the heavy defeat for Young Boys the home fans were in good spirits.

So many flags and the noise coming from behind the goal was superb.

The game was a stroll in the park from start to finish.

Ivan Cavaleiro continued his excellent pre-season with a goal and an assist.

Costa looked dangerous and deserved his goal (should have scored another) while Rafa Mir made it two in two and Leo Bonatini bagged his first since last December.

The scenes at full-time were quite incredible - the Uhrencup (which resembles the Champions League trophy in size) was presented to Danny Batth and Conor Coady in a Wembley style set-up.

Every player marched up the stairs in the old wooden stand as they held the trophy aloft in rather sheepish and comical fashion.

But silverware is silverware and hopefully it's not the last of the season!

Once interviews were finished and online we drove the beautiful town of Gruyere where we finally got to sample some traditional fondu in a superb restaurant.

The diet went out the window as potatoes, white bread and cured meats were dipped in to what can only be described as liquid gold (and all for 22 francs pp!)

The views were breathtaking and it was a lovely way to spend our last night in Switzerland - even if we were only there for an hour or so.

Alien bar in Gruyere

Back to 'Chez Spudah' and there was plenty of work still to do as we finished our copy and put together a bonus podcast to give the Wolves fans something to smile about this Sunday.

Who needs a World Cup final when you have the dulcet tones of Judah and Spiers anyway?!

TS: It was a great way to end off what's been an excellent week in beautiful Switzerland.

Having covered Wolves in France, Ireland, Austria and now here, this has without doubt been the most successful week in terms of the facilities, the preparations and of course the matches.

Wolves have convincingly beaten the team best teams in Switzerland and their fitness levels look to be in good shape.

From an Express & Star perspective it's been very productive too - I've had the luxury of of conducting about 12 interviews with players and staff. Wolves couldn't have been more accommodating and I hope our readers have enjoyed the coverage.

We hope you've enjoyed the diary this week and you've got a fun insight into how it all works.

Always remember, what goes on tour, stays on tour - sort of!