FC St. Pauli

The Boys in Brown ushered in the new campaign in bright sunshine and a pleasant 21 degrees. From the off, it was obvious they were delighted to be back on the pitch kicking a ball about again. After the team talk and customary activation in the gym, the players took to the training ground at 11.34 CET, with new recruits head coach Alexander Blessin, goalkeeper coach Sven Van Der Jeugt, goalkeeper Ben Voll and midfielder Robert Wagner beginning with a quick photoshoot for the media representatives in attendance.

From left to right: Sven Van Der Jeugt, Ben Voll, Robert Wagner and Alexander Blessin.

For the outfield players, the 90-minute session began with some running drills before they split into three groups for various passing drills. Still in three groups, the workout continued with the first game-related exercise on a small-sized pitch with six small goals. The players got down to business straightaway, leaving Blessin very content with the quality and intensity of the work. Elsewhere, goalkeeper coach Van Der Jeugt put Ben Voll and his Under-23 colleagues Kevin Jendrzej and Ronny Seibt through their paces.

Senior keepers Nikola Vasilj, Sascha Burchert and Sören Ahlers plus right-back Manolis Saliakas and striker Simon Zoller all completed customised workouts. Hauke Wahl and Philipp Treu did not take part in the whole session, pulling out after the first game-related exercise to do a few laps of the pitch before putting in the odd high-intensity run under the watchful eye of performance coach Thomas Barth.

New acquisition Robert Wagner (yellow bib) under challenge from Erik Ahlstrand (red bib).

"It was a lot of fun to have the ball at your feet again after six weeks off and it felt really good," said new signing Robert Wagner, who already knows Philipp Treu and Carlo Boukhalfa from their time together at Freiburg and aims to get to know the other players better over the next few days.

Jackson Irvine was also glad to get going with his teammates after the long summer break. "I wasn't the only one to be really happy to start pre-season today, everyone was," he said. "The weather played ball as well, so it was a good start." The task now is to get to know the new head coach over the next few weeks and take his footballing philosophy on board. "There are lots of similarities to what we already know, though some new things are sure to come as well. I'm looking to learning and getting to know the new boss personally better," Irvine added.

A variety of sessions have been lined up over the next few days before the first week of training concludes with the opening pre-season friendly against fourth-tier outfit Bremer SV at the Uwe Seeler Sportpark in Malente (Am Stadion 4, 23714 Malente) on Saturday (15.30 CET). Tickets costing 10 euros (concessions 5 euros) can be purchased at the gate on the day.

Photos: FC St. Pauli