Most players play into their late 30's, very few retire at 34/35 unless they can't find a club or suffer an injury. Players learn their game as they get older, they don't get to 30 and suddenly turn **** and forget their skillset. He's experienced, but he isn't old, not even for a footballer.
Who said they turn to **** and forget their skillset? We're talking about him suffering from a soft tissue injury. Most players don't play at this level until they're 38/39. Richard Garcia has only just turned 34 but he's been back in the A-League for the last 3 years because he wasn't good enough to keep going with us.
I did, because that's the impression I get from people who think that players over 30 aren't worth signing. A lot of PL players drop down the leagues to prolong their career, it doesn't mean they're any less useful. I mean how old was Deano when he took us to the PL? We've had a fair amount of experienced players who've done great jobs for us. Garcia in my opinion was a typical PB signing, I never thought he was up to playing at our level anyway but because of his endeavour and drive he kept his place in the team. Ditto ***an and Folan, I wasn't surprised they dropped down when they did.
No, because hamstring injuries aren't exclusive to over-30s, they're just more common. If this ends up being a long term injury then that's going to be a bit problematic. Delph only missed 3-4 weeks with the initial injury and was obviously mismanaged.
Players over 30 for 1.5-2m aren't worth signing on our sort of budget, when we should be looking for younger players who will have some long-term benefit to the club. Let's see how long the injury is.
Why? We need players to take us to the PL, that's all that matters. We can focus on our youth once we're an established PL team, signing them now is a bit pointless if we don't get promoted. If we bring in a couple of older heads to do a job for a season then great.
And if he's sitting in the injury room with a bad hamstring he's not really doing the job, is he? Let's see how long he's out for before continuing this.
Have the club officially confirmed this Maloney injury ? I have seen nothing from the club. He was brought off tactically by the wee one after he got a yellow card I thought ?
Suppose he isn't with our medical department so we can't really comment until he's back from international duty.
Could be right. Maybe we'll hear about it tomorrow. He won't stay with the Scottish squad/meds if it's serious I suppose. I watched the whole game & didn't notice him exhibiting any discomfort , but then it was on telly.
He looked fine to me. Didn't limp off. Showed no signs of injury while playing. Delph had his hand up and clutching his leg right away. Maybe only a minor twinge if at all. If its more serious it'll be a blow...he was looking great!!
Played well in both Scotland's games in the last 5 days. He'll add something to our team I'm positive. Despite some (one ?) on here decrying his age.
Depends what he's 'done' to his hamstring. A minor tweak will probably be 2 or 3 weeks off. A proper tear will be months.
