I think the key fact we need is, what is the average of medium/long term injuries sustained in L1 across all clubs, and where do we actually sit in the resulting league table. We all fixate on our own players, for sure I do, but we hardly stop to look at what's going on elsewhere. Heaven know how we get this stat though.
During the Ipswich game it was said that their "back six" are virtually unchanged all season. But I also recall that Bow's promotion team was virtually injury-free before Christmas, save for Bielik. And none of us thought RD was investing in the back room, or indeed the pitch.
But to be fair to @mendonca, there was at least one team who lost a key player early on to a non-impact injury. Can't recall who it was, maybe Plymouth? But then again, one swallow doth not a summer make...
When TS came in, he mentioned quite rightly that our players might be more injury prone due to market we were swimming in.
The first few transfer windows saw us purchase some more resilient players but we have now returned to making the same old mistakes - signing players like Thomas who don't come from an injury free past and relying on kids (Leaburn, Clayden and now some CBs), due to cheap squad preparation.
Definitely seems more a case of bad luck though (Inniss and Aneke excluded).
O'Connell played 93 games the last 2 seasons for Rochdale. Then he got injured blocking a shot. Lavelle played 55 games for Morecambe the season before joining us, then he got injured for us last year.
Fair points made. At least it seems we are comfortable that there has not been any gross cost cutting in the Valley pitch and Training ground (which I did see had a decent facelift)?
Garner will be without Terell Thomas, who was forced off with a hamstring injury on Saturday, while Conor McGrandles also suffered an impact injury during last weekend’s Emirates FA Cup clash.
“Terell had a scan this morning and it’s a tendon in his hamstring,” the boss revealed. “Again, it’s a really unfortunate injury because, as his knee was planted, there was impact and that’s just pulled the tendon in his hamstring. He’s going to be missing for a period of time.
“Unfortunately, Conor McGrandles took a heavy impact on his ankle and he’s also going to have a good period of time out as well,” added the boss. “We’re suffering with a lot of trauma injuries at the moment which is really unfortunate. There’s not too much we can do about that; it’s just bad luck and what’s happening within these games.
I have believed our repeated injury problems is because we sign players who just about good enough for the division and our therefore playing on the edge of their physical abilities for 90+ mins . We're as the better players can perform below that level of commitment for match of the game but still be better than the opponents. Then step up to that full physical commitment when needed during the much.
Definitely seems more a case of bad luck though (Inniss and Aneke excluded).
O'Connell played 93 games the last 2 seasons for Rochdale. Then he got injured blocking a shot. Lavelle played 55 games for Morecambe the season before joining us, then he got injured for us last year.
There’s no such thing as “luck”. We just use it as a lazy way to explain things we can’t be bothered/don’t have the knowledge to better explain.
Definitely seems more a case of bad luck though (Inniss and Aneke excluded).
O'Connell played 93 games the last 2 seasons for Rochdale. Then he got injured blocking a shot. Lavelle played 55 games for Morecambe the season before joining us, then he got injured for us last year.
There’s no such thing as “luck”. We just use it as a lazy way to explain things we can’t be bothered/don’t have the knowledge to better explain.
I don't think that's necessarily true, of course you can have bad luck. In 3 of the last 4 PL seasons Liverpool have got 90+ points. In the other they had all 4 centre backs injured at one point and got 69 points. Surely that was just bad luck rather than something they couldn't be bothered with?
it ain't the injuries that are not normal, it's the fact we have no cover for them
TT was bought in as cover though. How much cover for 'cover' can you build into a squad limited to 22 senior outfield players? I wonder how many CB's Plymouth have in their 22. If 4 or 5, then they won't have adequate cover in other areas. It's a balancing act and having versatile players to cover is as important as being lucky.
it ain't the injuries that are not normal, it's the fact we have no cover for them
But that at least is measurable. How big is our first team squad, how does that compare with the rest of the division. A complication would be the inclusion of academy players within a squad. I think that if Andy Holt at Accrington had looked at us on CL moaning about our cover (in the last five seasons in L1) he might have had something to say to us about it when he went for a beer in the Swan...
Full back and up front are probably the only places you can argue we dont have adequate cover. Some positions like CB you can argue we are unbalances (no left footer etc) but we do have the right numbers.
I've felt we were cursed ever since Cullen and Igor dislocated their shoulders in the same match. I predicted the day JJ took over Charlton would finish 8th last season with no major injuries or 14th if the main players miss too many games. Inniss,Fraser, Aneke when he resigned and Stockley when he was on a goal fest (seems hard to believe now)
I don't blame our medical staff as we have had some top people in recent years.
Under Roland Duchatelet we did once lose site of what the long term injured players were doing over the summer but we have at least improved since then with treatment.
When Swarovski have had an imput in creating our players it's hardly surprising that some of them crack !
We have some right injury prone players on our books and have done for very many years now. Unfortunately, some players’ misfortune appears to be rubbing off on others’ luck. Fortunately we have a good academy and have some players that can have a real go in a few positions, but we need this luck to change for the better in the second half of the season if we are to stay in contention for a play off place.
Re the very many years, I can remember us in the then 1st division having to play a CB at striker position and Steve Gritt playing pretty much all over the park, we were so bare, so really is nothing new.
Fair points made. At least it seems we are comfortable that there has not been any gross cost cutting in the Valley pitch and Training ground (which I did see had a decent facelift)?
Looks like my theory from nearly 2 years ago did have some legs in the end....
CM: “The assessment of Will Abbott and his team is that one of the reasons the club has endured so many soft tissue injuries is because of the uneven nature of the training pitches, because they hadn’t been fully looked after for a long period of time. They needed to be dug up, otherwise it may be difficult to prevent the same kind of injuries happening again and again.
“The Valley used to be a state-of-the-art stadium but had clearly been left largely unaltered for more than 15-20 years and was in bad need of being brought up to speed."
Fair points made. At least it seems we are comfortable that there has not been any gross cost cutting in the Valley pitch and Training ground (which I did see had a decent facelift)?
Looks like my theory from nearly 2 years ago did have some legs in the end....
CM: “The assessment of Will Abbott and his team is that one of the reasons the club has endured so many soft tissue injuries is because of the uneven nature of the training pitches, because they hadn’t been fully looked after for a long period of time. They needed to be dug up, otherwise it may be difficult to prevent the same kind of injuries happening again and again.
“The Valley used to be a state-of-the-art stadium but had clearly been left largely unaltered for more than 15-20 years and was in bad need of being brought up to speed."
Comments
During the Ipswich game it was said that their "back six" are virtually unchanged all season. But I also recall that Bow's promotion team was virtually injury-free before Christmas, save for Bielik. And none of us thought RD was investing in the back room, or indeed the pitch.
But to be fair to @mendonca, there was at least one team who lost a key player early on to a non-impact injury. Can't recall who it was, maybe Plymouth? But then again, one swallow doth not a summer make...
The first few transfer windows saw us purchase some more resilient players but we have now returned to making the same old mistakes - signing players like Thomas who don't come from an injury free past and relying on kids (Leaburn, Clayden and now some CBs), due to cheap squad preparation.
O'Connell played 93 games the last 2 seasons for Rochdale. Then he got injured blocking a shot.
Lavelle played 55 games for Morecambe the season before joining us, then he got injured for us last year.
Having said that it can only be considered ‘bad luck’ if all potential hazards have been eliminated, have they?
I don’t know where the rumour came from but the Curse on the Valley has been around since my early days of supporting the club.
While the Valley wasn’t built on an American Indian burial ground the rumour I’ve always heard, follows something similar along those lines?
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/garner-we-want-keep-momentum-going
Garner will be without Terell Thomas, who was forced off with a hamstring injury on Saturday, while Conor McGrandles also suffered an impact injury during last weekend’s Emirates FA Cup clash.
“Terell had a scan this morning and it’s a tendon in his hamstring,” the boss revealed. “Again, it’s a really unfortunate injury because, as his knee was planted, there was impact and that’s just pulled the tendon in his hamstring. He’s going to be missing for a period of time.
“Unfortunately, Conor McGrandles took a heavy impact on his ankle and he’s also going to have a good period of time out as well,” added the boss. “We’re suffering with a lot of trauma injuries at the moment which is really unfortunate. There’s not too much we can do about that; it’s just bad luck and what’s happening within these games.
. We're as the better players can perform below that level of commitment for match of the game but still be better than the opponents. Then step up to that full physical commitment when needed during the much.
But at this level there is not the money or squad spaces to have cover for the cover. 4 CBs would normally be enough.
New terminology from Ben.
I've felt we were cursed ever since Cullen and Igor dislocated their shoulders in the same match. I predicted the day JJ took over Charlton would finish 8th last season with no major injuries or 14th if the main players miss too many games. Inniss,Fraser, Aneke when he resigned and Stockley when he was on a goal fest (seems hard to believe now)
I don't blame our medical staff as we have had some top people in recent years.
Under Roland Duchatelet we did once lose site of what the long term injured players were doing over the summer but we have at least improved since then with treatment.
When Swarovski have had an imput in creating our players it's hardly surprising that some of them crack !
You are always going to have a number of freak injuries. Couple that with Aneke and Inniss your always going to have one or two out.
Our injuries seem to cluster, I strongly suspect that's because the "back ups" come in cold and are then over played.
CM:
“The assessment of Will Abbott and his team is that one of the reasons the club has endured so many soft tissue injuries is because of the uneven nature of the training pitches, because they hadn’t been fully looked after for a long period of time. They needed to be dug up, otherwise it may be difficult to prevent the same kind of injuries happening again and again.
“The Valley used to be a state-of-the-art stadium but had clearly been left largely unaltered for more than 15-20 years and was in bad need of being brought up to speed."