Manager Paul Lambert has bemoaned the injuries we have faced this season, indicating he’ll be asking for a bigger budget this summer because a club the size of Villa he believes ‘needs a big squad.’
The quotes are carried by the Birmingham Mail today and I guess we are meant to ignore the fact that we’ve frozen players out, clearly not for wage purposes as the wages in Paul Lambert’s first season actually went up despite our cheap, cheerful and hungry policy, and I guess we are also supposed to ignore those players that he’s signed that, well, I’ve got more of a chance of getting near the pitch and having a proper run in the team I guess.
Okay, fair’s fair, we have been blighted by some serious injuries this campaign, and we’ve also had more than our fair share of little knocks and niggles that have kept people out reasonably regularly for one to two matches before they return and then pick up something a few more weeks down the line, so Lambert would have a point when it comes to selecting a side regularly without enforced changes getting in the way.
But even then, given we ignore players in form, we ignore players out of form and we seem to change the side around irrespective of injuries on a whim, I’m not sure if I really know anymore, let alone care for the PR spin.
However, I guess I have to do something today.
For the game against Fulham, and in no way you understand, being an excuse because the performance wasn’t any worse or better than many of the games since Lambert first joined us – and this has been done to death on the forum in terms of what the squad cost, when little was different when the squad cost twice as much against Stoke for example – we had Christian Benteke (achilles), Fabian Delph (achilles/calf), Gabby Agbonlahor (illness), Karim El Ahmadi (thigh), Jores Okore (knee), Libor Kozak (leg), Charles N’Zogbia (something), Gary Gardner (foot), Nicklas Helenius (thigh) and Chris Herd out for personal issues.
Now that is a number of players to contend with, can’t argue there, but having already assembled a squad that he doesn’t use, how many more players should we stockpile?
‘If you go through them, Okore is nearly a full season, Kozak virtually half a season, Benteke six months or so and Charles, so they’ve been major injuries, they’re not just strains or anything.’
Okore yes, Benteke has only just been ruled out, Kozak was sparingly used but was starting to adjust it seems, and for Charlie…well. I suppose only he and Lambert know his real future at the club outside of soundbytes and speculation.
‘As well as Christian, we were without Gabby and Fabian. It’s a big chunk and if you throw in El Ahmadi as well because he’s been playing really well of late. That’s four lads that have been playing virtually the whole season for us and when you lose that it’s a big chunk to lose.’
Fans will have their own ideas on whether those players are the loss they are being made out to be, although some have done better than others shall we say.
‘I think a club this size needs a big squad and these conversations will happen probably in a few weeks’ time.’
So quantity again then, we can’t afford to pay (the wages went up) big wages again, but we can stockpile 2-3 players who equal the wage we can’t pay, but at least we have depth – even though they’ll never play.
This football lark is quite easy isn’t it. Might try that with my personal budget, instead of buying an electric item that will work and last, I’ll buy cheaper, but buy 2-3 of them as at least I’ve got stock then.
It appears the Mail also asked the question that is on many of our minds given the spate of injuries we’ve had, not just in games, but also on the training pitch and Lambert seemed to imply it was nothing to do with training methods, just coincidental pointing to the fact that in a lot of cases players have picked something up when there was ‘nobody near’ them.
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