Looking at the Paul Lambert reign so far, I have to ask myself one major question – just what is the deal with training? More to the point, why are so many players suffering such serious injuries with such regularity. Libor Kozak breaks his leg, Charles N’Zogbia (apparently) does his achilles, Gary Gardner does his ACL and Christian Benteke is ruled out of the World Cup also ends up with an achilles issue.
Ignoring for the moment the potential for injuries that are made up – an issue that reared its head before with Richard Dunne being out for the season when reports from the player stated it was more a case of being told he wasn’t required at training – there has to be some concern that the training regime is doing some serious damage.
Managers and coaches having issues with training isn’t a new thing. I remember Graeme Souness having issues as a manager at multiple clubs, with the injury lists stacking up, only to miraculously get better following his departure.
At Aston Villa, you do have to wonder just what is going on. In the past, we’ve seen Randy Lerner get personally involved in sending players to see American specialists to investigate their injuries. So why hasn’t that happened in recent times, especially with all the serious injuries occuring.
Now, yes, Gary Gardner was at risk of a second ACL because of his earlier injury. At such a young age, he may well struggle to regain any kind of consistent career if he is released, but he is just one example. What then of Benteke, of N’Zogbia, of Kozak? Are Villa simply one of the unluckiest teams in the league?
To answer that, we have to ask a question that isn’t very easy to answer – are all of Villa’s injuries real? If they are, the club has a big training problem that has to be fixed pronto.
And if they aren’t? If Villa are lying about injuries, then we’ve got a whole different issue. We know for a fact that the communications from the top are managed very heavily, to the point that a lot of fans nowadays will say the only reason they actually read the official website is to get information on fixtures.
The question then is what exactly is the reasoning as to why Villa would lie. What benefit can be drawn from such a choice?
There’s a logic that dictates that it keeps players who aren’t needed away from the core team, that it keeps team spirits high by eradicating those who don’t act as a positive influence. In that sense, there’s a logic that makes sense, perhaps helping the club from making overt statements about a particular player (or players) and avoiding legal arguments. After all, the last thing the club needs is to get taken to court again.
Do I support that thinking – the logic that states that players who are a negative influence should be removed from the group? I do, yes, but the problem I have is that we can’t explain every injury away as a cover story – there are real injuries that have to be addressed.
If I was Lerner, and obviously I’m not, I’d be looking at bringing back in that expertise from specialists again. If Villa are having a training issue that damages players, simply logic dictates it needs to be addressed as unhealthy players means a depleted team and a lower return on investment for those sold – a player with injuries is generally worth less than the same level of player without them.
So Villa, with an injury list as long as your arm, and a team depleted in the latter stage of the season, what comes next? Are we to expect the same going forwards, or has something got to change?
For this fan, one voice as I am, something has to be looked into – whether Villa are suffering swathes of injuries, lying about them, or a combination of the two, Villa need to fix an issue that poses a risk to their very future as a Premier League club.
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