Newport County players and staff were back in work on Monday after a summer of huge changes at the club - and the Argus was there to take in all the action, with reporter CAIO IWAN invited to take part in the training session.

FOR many people, including new manager Terry Butcher, it was their first official day in the job.

Butcher spoke candidly, joking he didn’t recognise "half the players in the room" even though he admitted signing most of them. But he stressed that this was a fresh start for everyone involved, from the trialists to the newest signings.

Players were told sessions would get progressively harder as the week went on as they left Spytty Park's sports complex for the fields behind Lliswerry High School - where a day of relentless running awaited. Luckily, I was only there for the day.

Two-hour long sessions would be prepared twice a day throughout this week, with an extra session set for Saturday depending on fatigue levels.

After a lengthy warm-up, the first of three 15-minute runs around a 650-metre round track got underway, with the frontmen setting an almost Olympic-style pace - or so it seemed to me.

Bodies aching, the players gathered around the manager for a body circuit, in which 15 different exercises – including press-ups, sit-ups, lunges and planks – were done for 30 seconds each, one after the other with barely a break in between.

The players returned to Spytty for some lunch - prepared by the club chef - which included pasta, chicken, and salad.

The afternoon session once again began with a warm-up run. Then a big circle was formed, with a mix of first team and youth team players, and the balls were brought out for the first time.

Two balls were brought into play, and players had to pass it clockwise before running to the middle, complete a short exercise, and returning to their initial station in time for the second ball to come round. That draining drill carried on for 15 minutes.

The day finished with three separate five-minute runs, before another body circuit, this time with the exercises having to be done for 45 seconds. And that was that.

It looks like the County players have a tough pre-season ahead, with Butcher even going as far as saying it will be the toughest these players will have done in their careers. But it just might all be worth it by the end of the season.

The authoritative former England captain also discussed his targets for the upcoming season, declaring he wanted to end the 2015/16 season higher than last term’s ninth-place finish – a daunting task, he admitted.

His philosophy is based on the three ‘s’ – stamina, strength and steel. He emphasised the importance of being physically prepared, and insisted he wanted his players to be the fittest in the league. With the high pressing game they're expected to play this season, they’ll have to be.

The day I signed for Newport County...

IT wasn’t an attention-seeking stunt. It just seemed too good of an opportunity to waste and I was curious to see if people would actually believe me. And to my bemusement - and amusement - they did.

When I posted on my Facebook page on Monday night that I had signed a short-term contract with Newport County AFC, I was inundated with messages of congratulations. Some of the people who contacted me were people who I had not spoken to for years, some were ex-football coaches of mine, former work colleagues, but some of them were my closest friends. Even they had been fooled.

I’d received tweets, Snapchats, WhatsApp messages and upwards of 140 ‘likes’ and several comments within an hour of posting it.

On reflection, it wouldn’t be the most improbable notion in the world. I have had a brief stint playing semi-professional football, and represented Wales at schoolboy level. But I never thought people would buy it, hence my attempt to make it seem as convincing as possible.

The post was uploaded alongside a picture of me with County boss Terry Butcher, which no doubt added to its credibility. “Pleased to announce I’ve signed for Newport County AFC on an initial three-month contract after a successful, and brutal, first day of pre-season. Working with the great Terry Butcher will be a great experience – but the hard work starts now.” I added “#Blackand Ambers” on the end for good measure.

But when Mam got in touch saying people had been texting her messages of congratulations, and friends mentioned the BBC wanted to run a feature, I thought it was best to end it all.

Being a professional footballer was the ultimate dream when I was growing up. It was fun while it lasted.