Fatigue ?

[Sincilbanks]

I think that is a big factor, fatigue is one thing, but having some 14 stone centre half smashing into your leg or your ribs takes it toll. For every challenge that actually causes an injury there and then on the pitch, I'd say there are 3 or 4 in each game that may hurt at the time but won't really hurt until a few hours later and then will be aching and sore the next day.

Not all games are like that ofcourse, but plenty of them will be especially when playing against those teams at the bottom who will be scrapping to get points at any cost.

It's not just those more obvious ones though, the tussles in the 18 yard box for a loose ball, the set pieces where many players in a small area going for the same ball, all of those come with some element of physical contact and eventually you get an elbow in the ribs or a light-ish kick in the calf or some such and over the course of many games in a short space of time they build up.

 

[LondonFan]

I don’t disagree with any of the replies to my comment. My point though was that it is not fatigue or tiredness that is the main issue but all the other factors that have been mentioned.

 

[Brendan Bradley]

Even though the players at top European clubs have to cope with this all the time, I don't think there's much doubt that playing games every midweek instead of just every Saturday is physically draining. More so nowadays as football is quicker and more intense than ever before.

It does annoy me a bit, as it has others, when people refer to "three games in six days" because it's still two a week, but it has a greater impact than waiting 7 days to play the next match and training more often.

Because of financial constraints we have a squad that is higher on quality than quantity so the current crop of injuries puts more pressure on those who are still fit. I was surprised Johnson was playing yesterday, though, let alone starting in midfield, as he looks jaded and ineffective. Surely Jones, Sanders or Howarth, who haven't played much could started instead?

Fans of bigger (inverted commas) clubs think LCFC will fall away because of squad size, but does rotation necessarily mean that? It's alright having a big squad, what matters is whether the players replacing the first choice ones are anywhere near the same level. If not, then having a lot of mediocre standbys isn't going to help them.

 

[clanfordimp]

It's all psychological. The players aren't tired because they are playing too much football but they may be feeling the effects of not doing enough training. There is nothing players like doing more than as little training as they can possibly do but as soon as match day comes round cant wait to get out on the pitch and start playing the game. Now we all know that putting the work in on the training pitch is as important as the match but believe me some players love training whilst others absolutely detest it.
Its rubbish that the harder you train in pre season will put miles in the tank that you can call on later in the season. Pre season training and matches build you up to a certain level of fitness which you have to maintain through the season and games, rest time and training in a normal season would normally allow you to do that. This season though with games coming one after the other all they will be doing is playing then resting and then having a very limited amount of time on the training pitch in which to do the normal things that would keep them at peak fitness and sharpness. So it's not the fact that the players look jaded because they are doing too much it's more of a catch 22 situation of where you can't balance the training and preparation against matches because there are so many matches resulting in not so much a lack of fitness but a lack of intensity and sharpness because of the frequency of how quickly games come around.

 

[DEEPING IMP]

I know I get very mentally tired from watching Lincoln where i am kicking every ball. Then there is the physical bit lifting up a glass of red wine, the more I get worried the more wine is required. Shattered after every game, cannot get a decent nights sleep because either I am so excited we have won or thinking what are we going to do because we have lost. Need a personal trainer to get through it all. This is when we have success imagine when what I went through when were in the National league.

 

[Skip155]

Blimey it’s great that we’ve got so many sports science and sports psychology experts on here. I’m learning shed loads.

 

[jal jal]

Blimey it’s great that we’ve got so many sports science and sports psychology experts on here. I’m learning shed loads.

Hi Skip
But then it depends on what you've got shed loads of.

 

[NottyImp]

I know I get very mentally tired from watching Lincoln where i am kicking every ball. Then there is the physical bit lifting up a glass of red wine, the more I get worried the more wine is required. Shattered after every game, cannot get a decent nights sleep because either I am so excited we have won or thinking what are we going to do because we have lost. Need a personal trainer to get through it all. This is when we have success imagine when what I went through when were in the National league.

And it's meant to be fun.

 

[Davidimp]

Both our loanee forwards seem to be struggling the most especially Johnson, the injuries to Anderson, Archibald and now Scully aren't helping.
Someone elsewhere suggested maybe a change in formation and going 451 until we have a few more attacking options?

 

[nlondonimp]

Both our loanee forwards seem to be struggling the most especially Johnson, the injuries to Anderson, Archibald and now Scully aren't helping.
Someone elsewhere suggested maybe a change in formation and going 451 until we have a few more attacking options?

"Both our loanee forwards seem to be struggling the most especially Johnson"
and the other loanee you are referring to? morton? or rogers?

if you are referring to rogers, i would say there is little to suggest he is struggling from his actual performances.

 

[Chesterimp]

The two "struggling" loanees combined nicely for the first goal v Accy, and Rogers was involved in yesterday's winner.

They're young lads in their first exposure to senior football, and doing pretty well.

 

[Sincilbanks]

Blimey it’s great that we’ve got so many sports science and sports psychology experts on here. I’m learning shed loads.

It's funny because I feel exactly the same way about people regurgitating other peoples statistics and finding some wisdom in amongst them...

 

[PerthImp]

Rogers has only played a few games yet - he is a young lad. Surely he should be fine. I don’t think he is struggling or tired, I think its just his running style - ‘languid’ but deceptively quick and , like Johnson, quick feet.

 

[Edinburgh_Imp]

I'm not sure if my maths is dodgy, but for what it's worth, I think saying we've just played 3 games in just under 6 days is correct.

The Accy game kicked off at 6pm last Sunday. If you then move forward in 24 hour/1 day periods you get :

6pm Monday = 1 day later
6pm Tuesday = 2 days later
6pm Wednesday = 3 days later
6pm Thursday = 4 days later
6pm Friday = 5 days later
6pm Saturday = 6 days later (but we kicked off before this at 3pm)

 

[Davidimp]

"Both our loanee forwards seem to be struggling the most especially Johnson"
and the other loanee you are referring to? morton? or rogers?

if you are referring to rogers, i would say there is little to suggest he is struggling from his actual performances.

Just going on what the main commentator for radio lincs was saying during the game...

 

[Brendan Bradley]

I'm not sure if my maths is dodgy, but for what it's worth, I think saying we've just played 3 games in just under 6 days is correct.

The Accy game kicked off at 6pm last Sunday. If you then move forward in 24 hour/1 day periods you get :

6pm Monday = 1 day later
6pm Tuesday = 2 days later
6pm Wednesday = 3 days later
6pm Thursday = 4 days later
6pm Friday = 5 days later
6pm Saturday = 6 days later (but we kicked off before this at 3pm)

If you want to use that logic then you'd also say that playing Saturday and Tuesday is "playing 2 games in 3 days"

It's meaningless because teams are still playing once at the weekend and once in midweek - which is two games a week.

The intention is to imply it's something more than that.

As it stands only Grant and Eyoma of the outfield players are on course to play in more than 50 games this season.

 

[kickingimp]

Just seen radio lincolnshires comments after speaking to MA, Grant, Scully and Jackson all 50/50 to play tomorrow night

 

[cherryexile]

I'm not sure if my maths is dodgy, but for what it's worth, I think saying we've just played 3 games in just under 6 days is correct.

The Accy game kicked off at 6pm last Sunday. If you then move forward in 24 hour/1 day periods you get :

6pm Monday = 1 day later
6pm Tuesday = 2 days later
6pm Wednesday = 3 days later
6pm Thursday = 4 days later
6pm Friday = 5 days later
6pm Saturday = 6 days later (but we kicked off before this at 3pm)

Your calculation is correct. It is all semantics I suppose. Traditionally a day is calculated from midnight to midnight, not at some random point during the day, that is what hours are used for. All of the following statements are true,

We played 3 games over a 7 day period
We played 3 games within a week
We played 3 games within just under 6 24 hour periods between them
We played a game on the first day of the week, the fourth day of the week and the 7th day of the week
We started a 3rd game in a week 141 hours after we started the 1st game

But perhaps I am being pedantic.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Just seen radio lincolnshires comments after speaking to MA, Grant, Scully and Jackson all 50/50 to play tomorrow night

Archibald may be fit to play up to 30 minutes if required.

 

[berksimps]

I'm not sure if my maths is dodgy, but for what it's worth, I think saying we've just played 3 games in just under 6 days is correct.

The Accy game kicked off at 6pm last Sunday. If you then move forward in 24 hour/1 day periods you get :

6pm Monday = 1 day later
6pm Tuesday = 2 days later
6pm Wednesday = 3 days later
6pm Thursday = 4 days later
6pm Friday = 5 days later
6pm Saturday = 6 days later (but we kicked off before this at 3pm)

If you want to use that logic then you'd also say that playing Saturday and Tuesday is "playing 2 games in 3 days"

It's meaningless because teams are still playing once at the weekend and once in midweek - which is two games a week.

The intention is to imply it's something more than that.

As it stands only Grant and Eyoma of the outfield players are on course to play in more than 50 games this season.

Your calculation is correct. It is all semantics I suppose. Traditionally a day is calculated from midnight to midnight, not at some random point during the day, that is what hours are used for. All of the following statements are true,

We played 3 games over a 7 day period
We played 3 games within a week
We played 3 games within just under 6 24 hour periods between them
We played a game on the first day of the week, the fourth day of the week and the 7th day of the week
We started a 3rd game in a week 141 hours after we started the 1st game

But perhaps I am being pedantic.

I am not sure that these degrees of accuracy are important. It’s like defining Pi to more than six decimal places, which may not be enough for Barney but for the rest of us is plenty.

All MA and various commentators, including Horton, are doing is stressing that we are playing a large number of games in a reasonably tight time frame. We all get it, see it as the current norm and move on to the next game accepting that there are likely to be more injuries, which might have a greater effect a smaller squad.

Comparative fatigue, is not an excuse that MA is likely to be using anytime soon. You can see how it has affected us so far by looking at the League 1 Table.