DARREN BENTLEY reports from Austria. . .

AS Steve Cotterill continues to make those all-important decisions early into his reign, he appears to have come up trumps again!

Burnley's training base here in Obertraun, some 40 kilometres east of Salzburg, is renowned as being one of the best facilities in mainland Europe.

And what a setting!

The stunning Dachstein mountain range makes a pretty spectacular backdrop to the 22 sports, including four football pitches, fully equipped gymnasium, athletics track, outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts, table tennis, volleyball, hockey pitch and a whole host of other activities.

Cotterill's enforced alcohol ban went down like a lead balloon with the press lads, it has to be said.

But now I've got no excuse for not losing a few inches from the waistline that has suffered so much from my wine club membership!

JUDGING by the squeals coming from his direction on the coach journey to the airport, poker king Robbie Blake must have given some of his Burnley team mates a sleepless first night.

But Blake's victims had further financial penalties inflicted on them as the night wore on.

No sooner had the players enjoyed their evening meal, than boss Steve Cotterill held court as weekly fines were handed out for breaking club 'rules'.

Various players were singled out for such heinous crimes as 'wearing dodgy gear', 'not reaching the half way line with clearances' and, my favourite, 'parking a Mini across three spaces'. Can someone please tell me if that's possible in what is effectively a shoebox on wheels?

SOMETIMES, words don't quite do things justice.

The hour-long coach journey from Salzburg to Obertraun passes through some of the most picturesque and spectacular scenery Austria has to offer.

Chocolate-box houses festooned with flower boxes hug crystal clear lakes that act as a glass floor from which the mountains rise.

And Burnley marketing manager Edoardo Abis has his own unique way of estimating the height of some of those cliff faces.

"Look at that," exclaimed Edoardo as a cable car ascended a tree-lined mountain that rose majestically through the clouds.

"I reckon that must be double the height of Pendle Hill!"