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Real Reason Why Newcastle United Injury Record’s So Bad

9 years ago
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Newcastle United are yet again at the top of the Premier League injury league table.

United currently have eight officially out injured with Tim Krul very likely to make it nine after being sent home with an elbow injury by Holland.

The other eight who are listed as injured are Janmaat, De Jong, Gutierrez, Ryan Taylor, Aarons, Good, Dummett and Santon.

The worrying thing for me though is that the injury situation is almost guaranteed to get worse than this as the season progresses.

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While so early in the season you can put some down to simple bad luck, the pattern over recent seasons has followed the same predictable path.

As players get further into the season the injuries at Newcastle United pile up, year after year.

Look here at these quotes from Alan Pardew from 15 months and 3 months ago;

July 2013

“Faye Downey has come in to oversee us as a performance director, and we’ve worked harder than we have under my management anywhere. We’re really pushing the boundaries here.

“She’s making sure that we do it in the right manner.”

“I’m very pleased with what she’s added so far. It’s for the whole season.”

July 2014

“I am very pleased, we are looking in good shape.

“I’m very happy with Dave Billows. He has brought his vast experience from Everton to what we have been doing here.

“Combine that, and we have come up with what we think is as good a pre-season as we can get.

“The lads have enjoyed having him around. It’s a new voice at the training ground, a fresh feeling to us, that always helps too.”

It doesn’t matter, to a large extent, who you have looking after the fitness side at Newcastle.

Each season under Mike Ashley, the squad is so small and the key group of players is even smaller.

When these players are played week in week out they are going to pick up more injuries than clubs who have a strong enough squad to be able to rest them when they minor knocks.

So this summer both the club and the local press heralded the arrival of new head of fitness Dave Billows, saying exactly the same as when Faye Downey was brought in a year earlier.

I must admit I couldn’t believe that the press never picked up on this, or the fact that I saw not a single mention of Newcastle United thanking Faye Downey for her contribution, particularly with all the noise they made when she was appointed.

This is the sad thing about everything to do with Newcastle United under Mike Ashley, the same mistakes and papering over the cracks are constantly made, then repeated and repeated.

Until Newcastle United are allowed to have a squad worthy of the name then the same problems will appear every season.

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