Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2013 11:23:10 GMT 1
A la Captain (from the Ronny Gill)
Newcastle United may well be way out in front in this league table – but it is a summit that no side would want to be at the top of.
Because even if you believe that the Magpies used “too many injuries” as an excuse too many times last term, the cold facts from last term’s disappointing performance are now there for all to see – and lack of availability for Alan Pardew’s side was his biggest problem.
Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Fabricio Coloccini, Davide Santon, Tim Krul and Cheick Tiote were all key figures who were missing at key times.
Thousands of fans in our recent Toon Survey pointed to the fact that the squad lacked depth, but even then United suffered 41 separate injuries and almost 80 in all, the most reported injuries in the entire Premier League.
It was a recurring theme for most of the Europa League participants and, while the Continental competition may seem like the dream ticket, it is little wonder that Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers wasn’t too distraught that his team missed out this term, especially as he is now under immense pressure to earn a top-four finish in his second term in charge.
For United, unavailability last season was the watchword. With a new term about to start in just two months time, the hope is a lighter schedule can prove the difference between 16th and the upper reaches of the top flight.
In a special Chronicle report, reputable website Physioroom.com have calculated that in total United boss Pardew lost an incredible 1,745 days in terms of players spending time on the treatment table, with key men sustaining various problems.
United chiefs have previously described their injury woes as “freakish” – the average time spent on the treatment table per injury was 30 days.
Injuries on Tyneside aren’t a new problem. In 2005 ex-boss Graeme Souness, denied the service of the likes of Kieron Dyer, Steven Taylor and of course Michael Owen, felt that the training fields of the club’s first-team base were the problem and so switched sessions to the Academy.
Could it also be argued that the exit of Bobby Robson’s former fitness coach Paul Winsper, now hot property in the United States with Nike and the MLS, started the rotten trend of players missing games through knocks?
Certainly Winsper’s record Stateside showed that at Toronto FC, muscle injuries were almost eliminated.
In the case of Souness, though, there was no hard evidence that the surface at Darsley Park was to blame and when Glenn Roeder took his place in 2006, he switched things around.
Sam Allardyce’s army of technical and backroom staff arrived a year later. But for all the raving about sports science and a team of experts it still didn’t stop the spate of injuries on Tyneside, with stars like Owen, Mark Viduka and Oba Martins all suffering tweaks in the 2007/08 season.
Ever since it has been a story of injury woe for the likes of Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear, Chris Hughton and, apart from last season’s fortunate run without key players being ruled out, for Pardew with very few Toon stars unaffected by injuries.
Yet the injury woes from last season showed no mercy to Pardew and his backroom team.
Whether it is bad luck, technical issues or anything else – had United had the likes of Cabaye, Ben Arfa and Coloccini available to them for long periods, a better finish than 16th would arguably have been achieved.
And Phsyioroom.com’s stats reveal: l Newcastle lost 1,745 days to injury last season;
•Wigan came in second with only 1,281 days – that’s 464 days difference, almost the same as Stoke City managed in the whole of the season (496 days)!
•The Newcastle total indicates a figure of 85% above the average for this season;
•Newcastle had the most reported separate injuries of any club (41) – only QPR (36) and Aston Villa came close (31);
•Muscular problems were the root cause in over 39% of cases (683 days), a total which is 40% higher than their nearest rival, while Newcastle had more hamstring problems reported (13) – 56% of this total;
•Average time spent on the treatment table 30 days, losing a total of 1,745 days;
•Newcastle had 13 hamstring injuries – significantly losing Ben Arfa, Steven Taylor and Cheick Tiote for large chunks of the season.
United’s schedule will be reduced massively next season without the Europa League. Then they will be back down to 38 Premier League games plus cups, so they will have more recovery between games and more time to spend on the training field.
Pardew felt that Thursday-night football was also a big factor, saying after the last game of the season: “We spoke to the Arsenal backroom team and they said that playing Tuesday night made a huge difference.”
United will start the season with Tim Krul, Rob Elliot and Haris Vuckic still nursing injuries, while Ryan Taylor is facing a long lay-off after a recurrence of the knee problem that started the horrendous injury run.
Whether it has calmed down by the time he returns next year remains to be seen. But certainly, United will be hoping to finish as low down this particular table as they possibly can.
Newcastle United may well be way out in front in this league table – but it is a summit that no side would want to be at the top of.
Because even if you believe that the Magpies used “too many injuries” as an excuse too many times last term, the cold facts from last term’s disappointing performance are now there for all to see – and lack of availability for Alan Pardew’s side was his biggest problem.
Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Fabricio Coloccini, Davide Santon, Tim Krul and Cheick Tiote were all key figures who were missing at key times.
Thousands of fans in our recent Toon Survey pointed to the fact that the squad lacked depth, but even then United suffered 41 separate injuries and almost 80 in all, the most reported injuries in the entire Premier League.
It was a recurring theme for most of the Europa League participants and, while the Continental competition may seem like the dream ticket, it is little wonder that Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers wasn’t too distraught that his team missed out this term, especially as he is now under immense pressure to earn a top-four finish in his second term in charge.
For United, unavailability last season was the watchword. With a new term about to start in just two months time, the hope is a lighter schedule can prove the difference between 16th and the upper reaches of the top flight.
In a special Chronicle report, reputable website Physioroom.com have calculated that in total United boss Pardew lost an incredible 1,745 days in terms of players spending time on the treatment table, with key men sustaining various problems.
United chiefs have previously described their injury woes as “freakish” – the average time spent on the treatment table per injury was 30 days.
Injuries on Tyneside aren’t a new problem. In 2005 ex-boss Graeme Souness, denied the service of the likes of Kieron Dyer, Steven Taylor and of course Michael Owen, felt that the training fields of the club’s first-team base were the problem and so switched sessions to the Academy.
Could it also be argued that the exit of Bobby Robson’s former fitness coach Paul Winsper, now hot property in the United States with Nike and the MLS, started the rotten trend of players missing games through knocks?
Certainly Winsper’s record Stateside showed that at Toronto FC, muscle injuries were almost eliminated.
In the case of Souness, though, there was no hard evidence that the surface at Darsley Park was to blame and when Glenn Roeder took his place in 2006, he switched things around.
Sam Allardyce’s army of technical and backroom staff arrived a year later. But for all the raving about sports science and a team of experts it still didn’t stop the spate of injuries on Tyneside, with stars like Owen, Mark Viduka and Oba Martins all suffering tweaks in the 2007/08 season.
Ever since it has been a story of injury woe for the likes of Kevin Keegan, Joe Kinnear, Chris Hughton and, apart from last season’s fortunate run without key players being ruled out, for Pardew with very few Toon stars unaffected by injuries.
Yet the injury woes from last season showed no mercy to Pardew and his backroom team.
Whether it is bad luck, technical issues or anything else – had United had the likes of Cabaye, Ben Arfa and Coloccini available to them for long periods, a better finish than 16th would arguably have been achieved.
And Phsyioroom.com’s stats reveal: l Newcastle lost 1,745 days to injury last season;
•Wigan came in second with only 1,281 days – that’s 464 days difference, almost the same as Stoke City managed in the whole of the season (496 days)!
•The Newcastle total indicates a figure of 85% above the average for this season;
•Newcastle had the most reported separate injuries of any club (41) – only QPR (36) and Aston Villa came close (31);
•Muscular problems were the root cause in over 39% of cases (683 days), a total which is 40% higher than their nearest rival, while Newcastle had more hamstring problems reported (13) – 56% of this total;
•Average time spent on the treatment table 30 days, losing a total of 1,745 days;
•Newcastle had 13 hamstring injuries – significantly losing Ben Arfa, Steven Taylor and Cheick Tiote for large chunks of the season.
United’s schedule will be reduced massively next season without the Europa League. Then they will be back down to 38 Premier League games plus cups, so they will have more recovery between games and more time to spend on the training field.
Pardew felt that Thursday-night football was also a big factor, saying after the last game of the season: “We spoke to the Arsenal backroom team and they said that playing Tuesday night made a huge difference.”
United will start the season with Tim Krul, Rob Elliot and Haris Vuckic still nursing injuries, while Ryan Taylor is facing a long lay-off after a recurrence of the knee problem that started the horrendous injury run.
Whether it has calmed down by the time he returns next year remains to be seen. But certainly, United will be hoping to finish as low down this particular table as they possibly can.
