03 Jan 2025 13:50:50
Do apparently Fofana is out for a very long time, at some point in the near future we are really hoing to have to cut our losses on these injury prone players.
03 Jan 2025 14:06:27
Sod’s Law says we do that and they never get injured again.
I think the Fofana is a hamstring, so I take some comfort that it isn’t a knee injury again.
03 Jan 2025 14:40:27
He could be out for the season Tom, he has hardly played for us in the last two and a half years. How can Maresca, set a defence up when he can't be relied upon to stay fit, the same goes for James.
03 Jan 2025 15:10:00
Bill, Fofana hasn’t been lucky with injuries that’s for sure but we can’t sell him while he is injured. He has to be fit and able to play. He also has to be able to pass a medical for any new club.
We may see him play again before the end of the season and hopefully the WCC. The club can then make a decision but it’s hard to imagine any club signing him until he has had a long period without any recurrence of injuries.
{Ed001's Note - that's not true Tom, players can sign elsewhere while injured. Liverpool signed Stewart Downing while he was out with a long term injury, for example. It happens fairly regularly.}
03 Jan 2025 15:46:42
Ed, I’m astonished that a club would sign players like James or Fofana without them proving there match fitness over a period of time/ matches.
I can’t remember Stuart Downing. Did he have a long injury record and how did it turn out?
{Ed001's Note - it does happen mate, though it usually means a highly reduced price. Sometimes even when the medical shows up an issue a player will be signed - Demba Ba had a known knee condition when he signed for Chelsea, for example. It is just a risk v reward thing.
Downing stayed fit but he wasn't a success. To be fair to him in his first season he created the most chances in the Premier League, but didn't get one assist because most of them fell to that useless drunk prick Andy Carroll.}
03 Jan 2025 17:27:01
Ed, I remember the demba issue and didn’t Utd sign RVN after an injury issue? I also seem to remember a couple of players getting moves with diagnosed he in the hearts.
I understand the risk reward argument but if I was a club owner I wouldn’t take the chance on a player who is habitually injured.
{Ed001's Note - I think RVN had an ACL tear in the days when it often ended careers, but Utd waited for him to return to fitness.}
03 Jan 2025 17:33:17
I seem to recall that Fofana had his medical in the USA at the behest of TB before he signed for us. I think we just have to accept that we can’t rely on certain players to stay fit. We have cover at RB but not much reliable cover at CB.
03 Jan 2025 18:04:52
Asa Hartford was the player I was thinking of with the diagnosed hole in the heart. I think the transfer got called off but another club signed him and he was amazing for them.