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O'Neill: We Will Continue to Look at Every Aspect From a Medical Point of View
Thursday, 11th Feb 2021 15:23

General manager of football operations Lee O’Neill says "nothing goes unturned" as the Blues look for reasons behind the injury problems which have plagued the squad over the last few years but adds that Town aren't the only club to have had such issues.

Last week, Kane Vincent-Young’s long-awaited return was put on hold for another six weeks after the right-back hyper-extended his knee in training.

The 24-year-old has been out of action since October 2019 having undergone two groin operations during that campaign. He returned in pre-season but suffered an achilles problem which has subsequently kept him sidelined and was close to being back in match action before picking up his latest injury.

However, Vincent-Young is far from the only player the Blues have lost to injury in recent seasons - 13 were unavailable for the Oxford match in December - and the ex-Colchester man is similarly not unique in having suffered setbacks during his recovery and rehabilitation.

O’Neill says he has looked into factors which may have contributed to the injury problems.

“First of all, contrary to what other people say externally, I know that our medical team and ground staff and everyone else work extremely hard to try and provide the best possible facilities and the best possible outcome for all of our players,” he told TWTD.

“We recruit staff that have got expertise and knowledge in that area. I have looked into the traction control of grass, I’ve looked into footwear, I’ve looked into training loads, GPS, everything.

“Unfortunately there are things we don’t have answers to. There are some things you can attribute soft tissue injuries to in relation to the way people train. There are contact injuries, we’re in a contact sport, that you cannot legislate for.

“They are very common also outside Ipswich Town, they do happen at other clubs. We’ve had more than most, but that is what it is, we have had injuries and we will continue to look at every aspect from the medical point of view.

“[Physio] Matt [Byard] and his staff work very hard to try and make sure the lads are fully fit. With Kane in particular they have been very diligent in trying to get him rehabilitated back to being able to get out on the grass.

“We obviously delayed his game experience and made sure he had a good amount of training in place and he simply got his studs caught in the grass and hyper-extended.

“Very unfortunate but it’s part of football unfortunately, people do get injured. We will continue to observe and review everything and it’s on a yearly basis, month-by-month, week-by-week, we look at everything. I don’t have the answers unfortunately.

“We speak to other clubs, look at Arsenal, look at Liverpool now, they’ve got the best of everything, they really have, so to have four central defenders out, to have their centre forwards out, for Arsenal to have the number of injuries they have season upon season, they looked at everything. There is no explanation of some aspects.

“Even when we’re recruiting players [we look at those] that have had robustness, that have been playing week in, week out, at their previous injury history. We looked at all of that but unfortunately for us Kane has had a few since he’s come here.

“He is as determined as ever to work hard and we’re hoping it’s only a small blip and in four-to-six weeks he might be back again.

“We’ve just got to keep working hard with the players and try and avoid getting injuries, but if you speak to other clubs they’re not dissimilar.”

He says the pandemic and the protocols which have been put in place haven’t helped matters.

“We can’t do the normal things we were doing prior to lockdown," he added. "Turning up in your car, going out and training, going straight back in your car and go back home again, that’s not normal, you would have had massage, recovery rooms, doing extra strength training and stuff like that.

“It’s been very difficult to do our normal programme over the last nine months. Players have had that difficulty as well.

“A shorter pre-season, getting back again and going back into a games programme as quickly as we did, the most condensed games programme we’ve ever had with the number of games we’ve played in a short period of time, it’s just not normal and I don’t have the answers unfortunately, I wish I did.

“But we will continue to keep reviewing everything and continue to look at everything and we’ll definitely search out and seek new advice, you always look at new footwear, you look at everything, the whole lot. Nothing goes unturned to try and get answers.”


Photo: Matchday Images



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wewerefamous added 15:30 - Feb 11
While you're looking for answers on injuries, can you also look for answers as to why Lambert is still here?
33

RegencyBlue added 15:34 - Feb 11
O'Neill spends most of his time looking for answers, trouble is he never finds any!
23

LWNR2013 added 15:39 - Feb 11
Every aspect:-
Will
Age
Bovvered
3

casanovacrow added 15:41 - Feb 11
Reminds me of players in interviews when they've just lost, state the problem, say it will be corrected, no ideas how to, just hope it sorts itself out.
If you're out of ideas maybe we should get someone in with some.
8

aas1010 added 15:44 - Feb 11
LAMBERT OUT .... why is he still here ? Answer that mr o Neil . Why hasn't lambert addressed us . Answer that ... why hasn't Evans sacked him answer that . Why are we being let down on results by a bad manager answer that . Why r we where we are answer that .... lambert out !!🪓🪓
14

BlueandTruesince82 added 15:46 - Feb 11
Wondering how Lambo is still here? Me too! Let the club know how you feel

http://chng.it/BxRY7kzW

Sign the petition, boycott the club, cancel seaaon tickets, support blue action.

14

Suffolkboy added 15:46 - Feb 11
A comprehensive ,nearly all encompassing coverage of the sort of issues which obviously concern ITFC ,just as much as supporters .
There's no doubt the new pressures of a compacted season are causing problems throughout the game at professional level ; we can only hope the enquiring open minded approach revealed here will bring its rewards ,for if it does then long standing issues may be resolved ?
Best of luck .
COYB
-3

carlisleaway added 15:48 - Feb 11
Exactly, why not look at the obvious reason.....get rid of Lamber.
9

ArnieM added 15:52 - Feb 11
O'N has practically paraphrased point by point my post on the forum about our injuries . And they say they don't read this forum !!

I'm pleased they ARE looking at every detail and speaking to the best PL clubs, about their injuries record and how they deal with things . But despite all the attention to detail they appear no closer to understanding WHY players are getting the types of injuries they are . Re injury with certain injuries is common. Hamstring being a primary example . Most “go” again within 12 months from original injury .

They simply just have to keep looking at things and maybe even consider getting in an external consultant to look objectively and be totally detached from systems & procedures undertaken at PR.

The players are our greatest assesses donuts in the Clubs interests to maximise their availability.
0

Trac70 added 15:53 - Feb 11
So Evans "puppet" has had his chord pulled and talks!!! The owner won't come out and face the media along with manager who appears to have "thrown his toys out" when people dare question him!!! The club I've supported for over 40 years has become a laughing stock. An absolute disgrace.
11

MonkeyAlan added 15:53 - Feb 11
No more of this nonsense ramble from O Neill. Christ it's boring. Why is Lambert still here? That's the main reason to all your questions. The club is rotten from top to bottom. Evans you muppet.
13

grow_our_own added 15:58 - Feb 11
I'd love to know how many of our training injuries are "blue-on-blue" contact injuries. Having a squad of approximately 84 players competing for 11 first-team spots probably contributes. I've played to a decent standard and this is what happens when there's high-competition between players.
Our squad is larger than all but two premier league clubs. We could offload half our players and wouldn't affect first-team performances IMO.
6

runningout added 16:01 - Feb 11
The longer this man and his own weak liaising to his boss goes on, the more fans will disappear and club goes down the pan
5

LimerickTractorBoy added 16:05 - Feb 11
Yes, aas1010, some answers as to exactly Paul Lambert is doing would be welcome from LON.
In all fairness dropping both fullbacks on Tuesday was unbelievable.
It is a ridiculous thing to say but is he actually doing things to peeve the supporters off?? Cause it really seems that way.
Promotion was so achievable in this mediocre league but I'd say it's gone now and the question has to be asked... Do we really want to go back into the Championship with PL In charge? No I'd say, he is a dinosaur, amongst other things too impolite to put into words here.
All this talk on here is just Venting anyway cause apparently nobody is listening and nobody cares.
Sad days for the good faithful supporters of Ipswich.
Shame on the people responsible for putting us here.
8

Skip73 added 16:10 - Feb 11
One of the reasons for the injuries is that hardly any of the squad are fully match fit due to constant rotation. I notice the likes of Chambers who never get 'rested' are never injured, coincidence?
4

herobobby added 16:13 - Feb 11
How much more bull do we have to listen too
Everyone only wants to see two headlines
“Lambert and O'Neill sacked”
Evans accepts bid for club

Be careful what you wish for....... don't make me laugh

Anything and I mean anything is better than this
8

suffolkblueeye added 16:16 - Feb 11
Everything these people say and do is disappointing.....Just get rid of Lambert now, bloke is an ostrich, in fact they all are....or Norwich fans
4

aas1010 added 16:21 - Feb 11
LimerickTractorboy ... well bloody said 👏 👏 👏 totally agree . The three amigos are killing this club . We want football back ! Sack lambert today
7

eddiespearitt03 added 16:25 - Feb 11
Perhaps O,Neil can explain how a winning team on a Saturday goes to a losing team on a Tuesday. (Other than dropping the better players from the Saturday)
8

BotesdaleBlue added 16:35 - Feb 11
What I can never understand is why we seem to have so many more injuries to key players than we had in the good old 1970's, when training on a muddy pitch during the week and then playing on muddy pitches on the Saturday. Something is wrong somewhere!!

4

truthsayer added 16:38 - Feb 11
Well consider this, if they are athletes, accidents happen and pulls and strain and breaks are common as we know but a body needs rest snd time to repair so review this part, review their drinking alcohol MO salah don't drink Norwaed does - drink driving! What do they eat, also prevention is the best approach , how well are they rested and rolled out. It's the little things take a leaf out of the British cycling guru who won us some many golds. Start and change one thing a week
2

BlueySwede added 16:45 - Feb 11
Fair enough. Some people seem to forget we are not the only club with injury problems, it happens and some of them are down to poor luck.
0

Saxonblue74 added 17:02 - Feb 11
He didn't give us answers about Lambert because that wasnt the question!
2

dyersdream added 17:08 - Feb 11
o'neil you could'nt asses how to make a hot bath cooler !
1

Lightningboy added 17:10 - Feb 11
Such a shame that KVY seems to be a total crock - he looked like the missing piece of the puzzle when he came in.

The injury list here though over the last 5 seasons has been beyond ridiculous - our club needs a massive overhaul from top to bottom in every department.
4


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