Is Freddy Excused Reason

According to Newcastle United Chairman Freddy Shepherd injuries are no excuse. So presumably Newcastle are expected to win irrespective of how many injuries there are, or how serious they are.

Now in the interests of Freddy we shall have to take this very slowly. A professional football club employs a squad of players because there are various factors which from time to time deprive them of the services of the odd player or two (or, in the case of Newcastle, more). One of those factors is injury. Others include suspension, illness, international commitments, tactical adjustments, internal disciplinary measures and loss of form.

It would be fascinating to discover which of these, if any, Freddy might regard as an acceptable ‘excuse’ but we simply haven’t time and anyway he’s extremely likely to get on to them one day, whether he understands them or not.

So for the moment we shall concentrate on injuries. To begin with, footballers do not like being injured and consequently they are inclined to do everything they can to avoid getting injured. This is because they like playing and tend to worry if they are prevented by injury from playing that they may not get their place back. After all, as professionals this is their living.

Surprising though it may seem, managers tend to pick the strongest squad they can for any particular game. It therefore follows that when first choice players get injured the squad is weakened and this, believe it or not, tends to reduce their chances of winning the game. The more key players are injured, the less the chances of success. It’s quite simple really.

What all this amounts to is that injuries are a reason for results falling below expectations. In the circumstances, perhaps that needs repeating. Not an excuse, a reason. Good managers do not make excuses and they do not need excuses, but when a number of their best players are injured, they are entitled to consider that as a justification for a dip in results. And there aren’t many people on Tyneside who would fail to classify Emre, Parker and Owen as good players.

Graeme Souness has put it all quite succinctly, suggesting that the reason Newcastle United are not winning enough football matches is that they haven’t been able to get all their best players onto the field.

Which is why he is an experienced top level football manager. And Freddy Shepherd is a chairman.