Day three of Adam's West Brom US tour diary

Day three of my sojourn to The Golden State has been by far the busiest, writes our West Brom reporter in the United States Adam Grinsell.

Following a 90 minute drive from San Francisco I caught up with the team at their training session on the pitch at Bonney Field, home of Sacramento Republic.

And what a bizarre environment it is too.

Little did I or Albion know before we arrived in Sacramento, but the State Fair is in town - and it has pitched up right next to the ground.

During the game in the evening, the whole of one side of the stadium was lit up with Ferris wheels, roller coasters and the screams of their riders. The drive in to the parking lot involves detouring around pens filled with cows, sheep and other assorted livestock.

And if that wasn't enough, a monorail runs right around the whole show, so as Baggies were training in the morning some lucky passengers were getting a bird's eye view of their tactical set up.

It all certainly makes for a unique environment, and is something you feel only the Americans could muster. The match also gave me my first experience of those chaps who walk through the crowd selling popcorn and 'cotton candy'. Now I know I'm Stateside.

The day also saw my first meeting with the main man, boss Alan Irvine. He is very polite and engaging, and in the brief chat I had with him this morning I wished him luck, which he accepted gratefully. I also had a longer encounter with him in the evening during media interviews, again during which he was very accommodating and approachable.

The impressions I'm getting from those who know him over here, and after meeting him, is that he is and will be a very good coach on the training ground. It's confirmed to me that some fans jumped the gun a bit with the backlash the club, and Irvine himself, received after his appointment.

Let's give the bloke a chance, and judge him on his results.

Speaking of which, now to the game. To be honest, it wasn't great, but that's to be expected for just our third pre season match.

Liam O'Neil looked promising, as did Pocognoli on the other side of defence, while in the middle Gardner seemed to be involved more than anyone else - even if it did result in him being red carded by an over-zealous referee.

As you might expect there were only a handful of Baggies shirts in the crowd.

But one guy was really having a whale of a time. Holding his huge England flag aloft, complete with Albion crest, he spent the majority of the match dancing around in front of the Sacramento faithful.

And a word about them too, the Tower Bridge Brigade, named after a bridge in the city.

For a club in only its inaugural season, it certainly has passionate fans. They were simply brilliant, banging their drums and not stopping singing for one moment - they made the crowd of around 5,000 sound like double that.

Then again that could also have had something to do with the screaming kids in the fairground. And sheep. And cows.