Michael Owen and Damien Duff were both spotted training on Tuesday, according to The Star, in a private session at Mottram Hall near Manchester. They did “a series of shuttle runs and fitness work which suggests he is well ahead of schedule in his bid to return to full fitness.” Good news for England, Ireland, and of course Newcastle!
In a game in which Newcastle scored first and looked promising, everything fell apart and we come away thoroughly unplayed. However, it’s the injury news fall-out that really matters here.
The good news: Viduka started, Enrique came on and looked reasonably up to speed, and Emre also featured. Barton was also there in the stands – should be returning soon.
The bad news: Viduka eventually hobbled off on 88 minutes after a rough tackle – potentially an aggrevation of his previous foot injury. Ameobi didn’t even feature on the bench, and Cacapa was nowhere to be seen.
The verdict: if Viduka turns out to be ok, injury-wise the game was a success (ignoring, of course, the result). If he’s out for any time at all, Martins will be left as our only fit out-and-out striker: not a good situation. More news to come.
Here’s the bit we all know and love:
Squad Announced:
Newcastle (from): Harper, Given, N’Zogbia, Rozehnal, Taylor, Enrique, Faye, Edgar, Beye, Milner, Geremi, Butt, Smith, Pattison, Viduka, Martins, Ameobi.
Of those players, Ameobi and Viduka look to be of any doubt due to fitness. Ameobi, with a groin strain, is rated as very doubtful, while BBC Sport think Viduka is likely to start, but with a recent ankle/foot injury, it could be close.
Beyond this squad, Cacapa is close to a return, also from a groin strain, but will definitely not feature tomorrow. Barton, Babayaro and Carr all look to be coming back within the next 2 weeks.
Apart from straight-forward injury concerns, Big Sam has a decision to make whether or not to bring back Shay Given, who did well against Arsenal on Tuesday, or keep the in-form Harper as his goalkeeper. Jose Enrique has only just returned to match fitness, but could allow N’Zogbia to be pushed forward, if “The Bull” is risked from the start. Sameoldshearer’s official, patented and frankly accurate team prediction goes like this:
Expect Enrique and Faye to come on at some point, as they have done in the past. There is also a chance Viduka won’t be risked, and if that happens Smith is likely to be pushed into an attacking role.
That’s the latest from Injury-Watch!
And the winner is…
Peter Ramage takes a prestigious award for being the player with the longest lay-off due to injury. After tearing his cruciate ligaments in Newcastle’s 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough on 26th August, it is now expected that he won’t play again for the whole of this season. He could be back in training by April 2008, but a realistic return to match fitness will come just as the season ends, and the player himself is hoping just to be back in the frame in time to get fit for preseason. If he doesn’t play a match again this season, that will be a whopping 350 days without a Premiership Match. Great work!!!!
Where to start?
The first post of a blog about injuries to Newcastle United football players, and who else to kick it all off but Michael Owen? He may have an impressive goal record for England – and for the Toon, in the few games he’s played – but it’s his injury record that makes for the most interesting reading.Take a look at this, courtesy of BBC Sport:
OWEN’S INJURY RECORD AT NEWCASTLE
31 Dec 2005: Breaks metatarsal at Spurs, misses several months
24 Mar 2006: Foot has still not healed, Newcastle announce he has had minor surgery to tighten a screw in his foot
29 Apr 2006: Returns against Birmingham but is in pain afterwards and misses last game of season
20 Jun 2006: Injures knee playing for England, misses all but last three games of following season
20 Jul 2007: Injures thigh in pre-season, misses start of season
25 Sep 2007: Sam Allardyce reveals groin tear and hernia concern
Fantastic. The latest injury is particularly exciting; Owen seemed to at last have returned to fitness, and scored 3 goals in 2 games for England. Yet within a week he was being substituted early in Newcastle’s 1-0 loss to Derby, and then he was forced to leave the pitch again in the next game against West Ham, on just 51 minutes. This was after feeling some pain, and later it was revealed that not only was a potential groin injury a concern, but that they were hoping to delay surgery until Christmas. An expert speaking on Sky Sports said that it was a strange decision to play him at all once the injury was spotted, since with potential hernia trouble treatment should be sought immediately. It turns out Owen has some kind of stomach weakness which is now certain to need swift surgery.
So now Owen is set to be out until 22nd October at the very earliest, and considering his re-injury record, this is likely to turn into early November. He’ll be out for both of England’s October Euro 2008 Qualifiers, but more importantly will miss Newcastle’s Premiership matches against Man City (A), Everton (H), and probably Tottenham (H). The pressure falls on Oba Martins to step up and fill the gap left by Owen’s rather under-used boots.
Today is a great day for football…
…and more specifically the city of Newcastle, as today it’s two football sides Newcastle East End FC and Newcastle West End FC have agreed to join forces. West End approached East End in Spring this year with a view to a takeover. Ultimately, it was agreed that West End’s players and most of its backroom staff would join East End, which also took over the lease on St. James’ Park. They have now decided to give the club a new name and a new image. At a public meeting, several new names, including Newcastle Rangers and Newcastle City, were suggested, before all agreed on Newcastle United.
