Season › 2014-15 › News
Everton duo unlikely to face Germany
O'Neill resigned to being without McCarthy and Coleman
Martin O'Neill has admitted that there is very little chance of either James McCarthy or Seamus Coleman being fit enough to make the Republic of Ireland's Euro2016 qualifier against Germany next week.Both players are nursing soft tissue injuries and were already ruled out of their country's match against Gibraltar, although O'Neill's explanation of McCarthy's problem is at odds with that provided last week by Roberto Martinez.
The Everton boss had suggested that the midfielder was left out of the squad that travelled to Krasnodar because of tightness in his quad but O'Neill says that, like Coleman, McCarthy sustained a hamstring strain.
"No, no, it's a hamstring injury," O'Neill is quoted as saying. "I think he got a scan on it. Whatever grades they are this day, it's definitely not (fatigue)."
"With Seamus, it's not the hamstring he's done before, it's the other side, he's been feeling very, very tight. You know what Seamus is like: he'd want to play, he'd want to play for both club and country. But if he's not right."
"I'm not obviously in control of club affairs so I don't know how things are dealt with there but I'm sure very professionally. I'm hoping that Seamus and James will be available, if not for us now, then for Scotland. But I just don't know."
"I haven't spoken to Roberto Martinez, but I had a word with Seamus - Seamus doesn't feel fantastic at the moment - and James ."
"There was talk about James being available, or trying to be available, for last Sunday's game against Manchester United, but I think that was a long shot.
"At the moment, you would say that there is no chance of them being available," he concluded.
Both players are presumably staying at Finch Farm to continue their recoveries in the hope that they might be available for the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday week.
On the flip side of the injury equation, Darron Gibson is now fully fit, raring to go for his country and hoping to start both qualifiers after missing almost a year with a knee injury.
“Being out for so long, it was going to take me a while to get back in the swing of things and get match fit,” Gibson told evertonfc.com. “The start of the season was just about getting minutes, but now I'm ready to go and hopefully I can show the manager that in training this week.
"Coming back and having to fight for my place has been hard. I knew I would have to fight for it but I didn't realise it would be so mentally tough but I'm going to keep pushing — keep going until I'm starting."
Quotes sourced from Irish Herald
Reader Comments (17)
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2 Posted 08/10/2014 at 19:14:10
3 Posted 08/10/2014 at 19:35:26
We lost Steve Tahijan ( American conditioning coach) in the summer. Was he pushed? Did he jump because of Martinez and are we missing him big time?
4 Posted 08/10/2014 at 20:41:25
Is it the physio team? The pitches? The training methods? The amount of sideways or backward passes? Or just the shite pre-season?
Either way, it needs serious attention.
5 Posted 09/10/2014 at 00:02:28
6 Posted 09/10/2014 at 07:44:09
Can the awful pre-season explain these injuries? The players clearly started the season unfit. I'm assuming they've now been pushed too hard to get their fitness levels to where they should've been.
Martinez is really trying my patience.
7 Posted 09/10/2014 at 08:36:02
8 Posted 09/10/2014 at 09:24:57
A comparison of the amount and type of injury sustained at the Old Bellefield training complex and at Finch Farm is currently underway. ItÂ’s quite hush hush at the moment, so do not expect any club statement; however, if we see replacement training pitches being prepared and laid in the next few months, we will know why...
9 Posted 09/10/2014 at 12:38:50
What reason does RM have to lie ? What does he gain ? So unless you are a conspiracy geek, there's nothing to see here apart from the second part of the piece about Gibbo being fit and raring to go. I notice no one picked up on the positive !
10 Posted 09/10/2014 at 13:00:37
IÂ’d prefer to believe Martinez over OÂ’Neil any day of the week!
11 Posted 09/10/2014 at 13:24:10
If Martinez's pre-season is to blame then surely he would know after all these years as manager.
But selling Duffy to Blackburn though was wrong without replacement.
12 Posted 09/10/2014 at 14:55:24
13 Posted 09/10/2014 at 15:33:42
14 Posted 09/10/2014 at 15:45:24
Finch Farm is in Halewood, just outside the village. As many of the local gardeners (me included) are aware, the local soil is quite dry and free draining. My own lawn dries out like concrete in any spell of weather where no natural rain falls for a few days or so. Finch Farm was formerly arable farming land known for its quick drainage.
Current thinking at Finch Farm is that the playing surface is drying out at the sub-soil level, leading to a hard surface just beneath the contact area of stud penetration. Although the pitches are constantly watered, the problems persist, hence the study of injuries of Bellefield vs Finch Farm.
There are two all-weather pitches indoors which use an American form of Astro turf; however, too much use of this surface causes other problems, as Oldham Athletic found out about 10 years ago.
Obviously the manager knows his stuff on sports injuries and it was he who initiated the current analysis/study. As I said in my other post.... Do NOT expect the club to make this public — it’s best not to put your errors into the public domain.
15 Posted 09/10/2014 at 21:04:39
16 Posted 10/10/2014 at 07:47:23
17 Posted 10/10/2014 at 16:22:47
I think he must have got a sniff of what is going on with Finch Farm training pitches and the Bellefield vs Finch Farm injuries analysis.
Remember, you heard it on ToffeeWeb first, LOL
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1 Posted 08/10/2014 at 18:46:13