David Wheater - Done for 9 months.

I'm not Wheater's biggest fan; he's not lived up to his potential at all BUT he could have been an asset for us in the Championship.

I might get some stick for this suggestion but is it really all down to luck the number of injuries we've had. I know that the club invested a lot of money in the Allardyce era (a scheme BSA was proud of) into injury prevention. Obviously, you can't do anything about leg breaking tackles, but there are measures clubs can take to reduce the risk of players pulling this that and the other (steady!).

Doffcocker, if you're really suggesting that Wheater tore his ACL by landing awkwardly, in front of 24,000 witnesses, and that a different arse on the manager's seat on the touchline would have prevented this, then frankly, you're a bit of a wally.

Well for next season we either keep Zat and/or keep Boyata and move him to CB. Alonso should be fit for left back. We will have to keep Ricketts and Stennie. Not a world class defense on paper. Should be able to hold the Barnsley attack..

Natasha Whittam wrote:

Sluffy wrote:It's like dealing with spoilt children on here sometimes rather than thirty something’s.

I'm 28 you bastard.

You must be enjoying these exciting times as our prem fate hangs precariously. It's put years on me, but you've got younger Natasha. Perhaps L'Oreal should take note and provide their customers with a support BWFC introductory pack with every jar of face cream.

Gutted Wheats is out for so long, I thought he was building a half decent partnership with Ream and if we had gone down we had the prospect of a very good back 4 for that league.

Sadly I can see Knight being given a new contract with this happening.

If I had to bet I would say that the decision has already been made on Knight. With this age/wages he doesn't tick many boxes for Coyle in terms of his wage budget next season and especially if we go down. I think he will be out the door if we go down, and probably out the door if we stay up.

and eagles plays even when his hair is slightly skew whiff

Lofty_Love wrote:and eagles plays even when his hair is slightly skew whiff

Eagles is always immaculately turned out. Not a hair out of place as he rides tackles like a quicksilver lothario looking for his next conquest.

Reebok Trotter wrote:... rides tackles like a quicksilver lothario looking for his next conquest.

You silver-tongued devil, you!

largehat wrote:If I had to bet I would say that the decision has already been made on Knight. With this age/wages he doesn't tick many boxes for Coyle in terms of his wage budget next season and especially if we go down. I think he will be out the door if we go down, and probably out the door if we stay up.

You're just trying to cheer me up.

Zat Knight will get a new contract if Coyle is still in charge, it's just the sort of ridiculous thing he would do.

Offer Zat a one year contract ..... unless we have somebody else waited to come in which I highly doubt. I don't think they had CB on the shopping list for the summer. We will need a backup at minimum.
I personally think Wheater is our best defensive player. I still think he is better than Cahill...... just my opinion.

largehat wrote:Doffcocker, if you're really suggesting that Wheater tore his ACL by landing awkwardly, in front of 24,000 witnesses, and that a different arse on the manager's seat on the touchline would have prevented this, then frankly, you're a bit of a wally.

Not quite the suggestion and I wasn't necessarily talking about this particular injury.
People are putting all our injuries of the last few seasons down to bad luck. It may well be the case that we're just sodding unlucky, but Allardyce's views on Newcastle at the time Graeme Souness was manager and they were getting sympathy for their "bad luck" with a never-ending injury list was that there's only so much you can blame on luck, and that with the right fitness programme, certain risks can be reduced by a considerable percentage.

OK, so out of all our injuries this season, which do you suspect (I don't expect you to know) may not have occurred under Allardyce?

Here's a list of players who have been ill or injured for all or part of this season:

Jussi Jaaskelainen - Thigh strain
Rob Lainton - Thigh strain

Marcos Alonso - Broken foot
Tyrone Mears - Broken leg
Sam Ricketts - Ruptured achilles
Dedryck Boyata - Ankle ligament damage
Joe Riley - Hamstring damage
Gretar Steinsson - Hip/thigh injury
David Wheater - ACL

Stuart Holden - Knee ligaments/cartilage
Ricardo Gardner - Hamstring, then hip/thigh
Nigel Reo-Coker - Hamstring
Sean Davis - Knee ligaments/cartilage
Lee Chung-Yong - Broken leg
Josh Vela - Fractured ankle
Darren Pratley - Glandular fever
Fabrice Muamba - Critical illness

David Ngog - Hamstring
Tom Eaves - Knee Ligaments
Tuncay Sanli - Tonsilitis

There may be other injuries I have forgotten.

Add to this that Reo-Coker, Eagles, Mark Davies, Kevin Davies and Ryo are all playing on with injuries at the moment.

So here you go, Doffcocker. Please specify from this list which injuries you think are down to poor management/facilities/rehab or whatever from the above list, or alternatively, admit that you're in that special category of fan who isn't happy unless he is whinging about the club.

largehat wrote:OK, so out of all our injuries this season, which do you suspect (I don't expect you to know) may not have occurred under Allardyce?

Here's a list of players who have been ill or injured for all or part of this season:

Jussi Jaaskelainen - Thigh strain
Rob Lainton - Thigh strain

Marcos Alonso - Broken foot
Tyrone Mears - Broken leg
Sam Ricketts - Ruptured achilles
Dedryck Boyata - Ankle ligament damage
Joe Riley - Hamstring damage
Gretar Steinsson - Hip/thigh injury
David Wheater - ACL

Stuart Holden - Knee ligaments/cartilage
Ricardo Gardner - Hamstring, then hip/thigh
Nigel Reo-Coker - Hamstring
Sean Davis - Knee ligaments/cartilage
Lee Chung-Yong - Broken leg
Josh Vela - Fractured ankle
Darren Pratley - Glandular fever
Fabrice Muamba - Critical illness

David Ngog - Hamstring
Tom Eaves - Knee Ligaments
Tuncay Sanli - Tonsilitis

There may be other injuries I have forgotten.

Add to this that Reo-Coker, Eagles, Mark Davies, Kevin Davies and Ryo are all playing on with injuries at the moment.

So here you go, Doffcocker. Please specify from this list which injuries you think are down to poor management/facilities/rehab or whatever from the above list, or alternatively, admit that you're in that special category of fan who isn't happy unless he is whinging about the club.

Some antibiotics would have cleared that tonsilitis up.

doffcocker wrote:

largehat wrote:OK, so out of all our injuries this season, which do you suspect (I don't expect you to know) may not have occurred under Allardyce?

Here's a list of players who have been ill or injured for all or part of this season:

Jussi Jaaskelainen - Thigh strain
Rob Lainton - Thigh strain

Marcos Alonso - Broken foot
Tyrone Mears - Broken leg
Sam Ricketts - Ruptured achilles
Dedryck Boyata - Ankle ligament damage
Joe Riley - Hamstring damage
Gretar Steinsson - Hip/thigh injury
David Wheater - ACL

Stuart Holden - Knee ligaments/cartilage
Ricardo Gardner - Hamstring, then hip/thigh
Nigel Reo-Coker - Hamstring
Sean Davis - Knee ligaments/cartilage
Lee Chung-Yong - Broken leg
Josh Vela - Fractured ankle
Darren Pratley - Glandular fever
Fabrice Muamba - Critical illness

David Ngog - Hamstring
Tom Eaves - Knee Ligaments
Tuncay Sanli - Tonsilitis

There may be other injuries I have forgotten.

Add to this that Reo-Coker, Eagles, Mark Davies, Kevin Davies and Ryo are all playing on with injuries at the moment.

So here you go, Doffcocker. Please specify from this list which injuries you think are down to poor management/facilities/rehab or whatever from the above list, or alternatively, admit that you're in that special category of fan who isn't happy unless he is whinging about the club.

Some antibiotics would have cleared that tonsilitis up.

Funny, but I went to all that effort

I'm not necessarily 'having a go' at the club. I'm saying that I'm not as quick as most people are to assume a huge injury list is all down to bad luck.

I'm a student of finance, not physiotherapy, so I couldn't specify (with the exception of the obvious ones) exactly which from your list were non-preventable.

There are such things as Ligament/Achilles/Hamstring Injury Prevention Training/Strategies/Programmes. How much the club is aware of them, how much focus it puts into them and what difference they could have made to the injury list in hindsight is something I can't comment on.

I accept that what you're saying is absolutely spot on in theory, however we simply have no way of knowing how well the club looks after that side of things. Not only is it highly specific and specialised knowledge, it's an area of the club's activities we are simply not privvy to.

I will say one thing though. I have been to Euxton since Coyle took over and he has discontinued use of the ultra-low temperature chamber that Allardyce ordered from Scandanavia. Either he, or someone advising him, is not convinced of its benefits. The thing is potentially so dangerous, only 2 people at the club are allowed to operate the controls. I went into it with it switched off and had to leave the door open.

So it's probably fair to say that the methodology has changed but we don't know if it's any better or worse.

Nobody would be questioning the club's fitness and sports science methods if we were in 8th place in the table. This season I've read all sorts of opinions about Coyle surrounding himself with yes men and chums etc. Nobody said this last season either... where were we in the table for most of last season?