Lord Kangana wrote:

In the first instance, you have to feel sorry for Cahill. An outside shot at a world cup place, on the back of which could have come his "big move", to a club with the money and ambition to enable him to win things. From our selfish point of view, it gives us a greater chance of holding on to him for another season. I just hope its associated with a knock in training, rather than an underlying medical issue, because that would be his career over, which would be heartbreaking for such a young talent. I'm not panicking too much. Yeah, its a big loss for us, but between O'Brien, Steinsson and Ricketts and a vastly improved Knight I think we've got the personnel to cope, and a manager in charge who's demonstrated he can organise a defence.

I'm not panicking, but equally I am not confident, Knight aside I have little confidence in the rest at centre back for the rest of the campaign.

Fulham with their two strikers out injured are one thing.

They were awful going forwards.

Other teams will offer far more threat and whilst its obvious Coyle has improved us defensively he wasn't noted at Burnley for building a team to grind out 1-0 after 1-0 and lets face it, he was up against it before.

Now he's got an even harder task.

As to the Burnley point, most people spectacularly missed the point of what Coyle did on saturday. But for a dodgy referee, we ground out a 1-0, which considering we had 2 changes of personnel, and 3 changes of position in the back four, was a stroke of genius from our manager. Sadly, after a couple of years of "throw McCann on and hope for the best", people have become accustomed to assuming the worst.

Lord Kangana wrote:

As to the Burnley point, most people spectacularly missed the point of what Coyle did on saturday. But for a dodgy referee, we ground out a 1-0, which considering we had 2 changes of personnel, and 3 changes of position in the back four, was a stroke of genius from our manager. Sadly, after a couple of years of "throw McCann on and hope for the best", people have become accustomed to assuming the worst.

Sorry LK but even you must be able to see the absolutely ridiculous hypocrisy in your posts.

Yes OC is a better manager than Megson. Yes he has improved us in several areas, yes we're all a lot happier with OC in charge.

But on Saturday we were shite. Had that exact performance and result been achieved under Megson you'd have written nowt but criticism after moan after criticism, at least be man enough to admit it.

The last 20 minutes we played well and should have won the game BUT Fulham were injury hit missing anything up front, and quite simply were waiting for us to put them out of their misery and we couldn't! The fact we were abysmal for 60 minutes cannot just be brushed under the carpet as whilst a referee may ultimately be to blame had we played with the right system and tempo from the off I daresay we'd have won the game.

IMO now is the time when OC has to be start to be judged on results as any manager would and of course should be. We're getting to the sharp end of the season and hard luck stories, or solid defences are second to three points on a Saturday.

We've got the players but whether enough of the key ones (Taylor, SKD, Cahill, Klasnic, LCY) are fit or on form is another matter.

BWFC_Insane wrote:

Lord Kangana wrote: As to the Burnley point, most people spectacularly missed the point of what Coyle did on saturday. But for a dodgy referee, we ground out a 1-0, which considering we had 2 changes of personnel, and 3 changes of position in the back four, was a stroke of genius from our manager. Sadly, after a couple of years of "throw McCann on and hope for the best", people have become accustomed to assuming the worst. Sorry LK but even you must be able to see the absolutely ridiculous hypocrisy in your posts. Yes OC is a better manager than Megson. Yes he has improved us in several areas, yes we're all a lot happier with OC in charge. But on Saturday we were shite. Had that exact performance and result been achieved under Megson you'd have written nowt but criticism after moan after criticism, at least be man enough to admit it. The last 20 minutes we played well and should have won the game BUT Fulham were injury hit missing anything up front, and quite simply were waiting for us to put them out of their misery and we couldn't! The fact we were abysmal for 60 minutes cannot just be brushed under the carpet as whilst a referee may ultimately be to blame had we played with the right system and tempo from the off I daresay we'd have won the game. IMO now is the time when OC has to be start to be judged on results as any manager would and of course should be. We're getting to the sharp end of the season and hard luck stories, or solid defences are second to three points on a Saturday. We've got the players but whether enough of the key ones (Taylor, SKD, Cahill, Klasnic, LCY) are fit or on form is another matter.

Total agreement there for once
We cannot afford to miss chances like we had Saturday, but back to my mantra if certain players are not delivering they should not be playing! A lesson Megson never learned.

Totally gutted he's out...hope him all the best in his recovery.

BWFC_Insane wrote:

Lord Kangana wrote: As to the Burnley point, most people spectacularly missed the point of what Coyle did on saturday. But for a dodgy referee, we ground out a 1-0, which considering we had 2 changes of personnel, and 3 changes of position in the back four, was a stroke of genius from our manager. Sadly, after a couple of years of "throw McCann on and hope for the best", people have become accustomed to assuming the worst. Sorry LK but even you must be able to see the absolutely ridiculous hypocrisy in your posts. Yes OC is a better manager than Megson. Yes he has improved us in several areas, yes we're all a lot happier with OC in charge. But on Saturday we were shite. Had that exact performance and result been achieved under Megson you'd have written nowt but criticism after moan after criticism, at least be man enough to admit it. The last 20 minutes we played well and should have won the game BUT Fulham were injury hit missing anything up front, and quite simply were waiting for us to put them out of their misery and we couldn't! The fact we were abysmal for 60 minutes cannot just be brushed under the carpet as whilst a referee may ultimately be to blame had we played with the right system and tempo from the off I daresay we'd have won the game. IMO now is the time when OC has to be start to be judged on results as any manager would and of course should be. We're getting to the sharp end of the season and hard luck stories, or solid defences are second to three points on a Saturday. We've got the players but whether enough of the key ones (Taylor, SKD, Cahill, Klasnic, LCY) are fit or on form is another matter.

I'm judging on results. I'm comparing this to draws at home to Hull and Stoke, losses to Blackburn and Sunderland, away losses to Hull and Wolves. Fulham are a far superior side to any of those, so when 2 of your first choice defenders go out immediately before the game, you apply tactics to the situation. If Elmander could finish, Clattenburg wasn't a cock and Schwarzer wasn't as good a goalkeeper as he is, we'd have had a bagfull.

And hypocrisy? Don't talk soft, we threw on a winger and a striker when it was 0-0 against a team much further up the table than us. Megson would have brought Davies off for McCann and settled for the point. And we'd have conceded. Just like the rest of the vocal minority, you need to take a deep breath and admit to yourself that Megson was a f*ckin awful manager, and that he should have been rid a long while ago. The options were myriad, and clearly all better.

Lord Kangana wrote:

BWFC_Insane wrote: Lord Kangana wrote: As to the Burnley point, most people spectacularly missed the point of what Coyle did on saturday. But for a dodgy referee, we ground out a 1-0, which considering we had 2 changes of personnel, and 3 changes of position in the back four, was a stroke of genius from our manager. Sadly, after a couple of years of "throw McCann on and hope for the best", people have become accustomed to assuming the worst. Sorry LK but even you must be able to see the absolutely ridiculous hypocrisy in your posts. Yes OC is a better manager than Megson. Yes he has improved us in several areas, yes we're all a lot happier with OC in charge. But on Saturday we were shite. Had that exact performance and result been achieved under Megson you'd have written nowt but criticism after moan after criticism, at least be man enough to admit it. The last 20 minutes we played well and should have won the game BUT Fulham were injury hit missing anything up front, and quite simply were waiting for us to put them out of their misery and we couldn't! The fact we were abysmal for 60 minutes cannot just be brushed under the carpet as whilst a referee may ultimately be to blame had we played with the right system and tempo from the off I daresay we'd have won the game. IMO now is the time when OC has to be start to be judged on results as any manager would and of course should be. We're getting to the sharp end of the season and hard luck stories, or solid defences are second to three points on a Saturday. We've got the players but whether enough of the key ones (Taylor, SKD, Cahill, Klasnic, LCY) are fit or on form is another matter. I'm judging on results. I'm comparing this to draws at home to Hull and Stoke, losses to Blackburn and Sunderland, away losses to Hull and Wolves. Fulham are a far superior side to any of those, so when 2 of your first choice defenders go out immediately before the game, you apply tactics to the situation. If Elmander could finish, Clattenburg wasn't a cock and Schwarzer wasn't as good a goalkeeper as he is, we'd have had a bagfull. And hypocrisy? Don't talk soft, we threw on a winger and a striker when it was 0-0 against a team much further up the table than us. Megson would have brought Davies off for McCann and settled for the point. And we'd have conceded. Just like the rest of the vocal minority, you need to take a deep breath and admit to yourself that Megson was a f*ckin awful manager, and that he should have been rid a long while ago. The options were myriad, and clearly all better.

I also think we would have seen the Arsenal wonder kid on but for the injury to AOB

Lord Kangana wrote:

As to the Burnley point, most people spectacularly missed the point of what Coyle did on saturday. But for a dodgy referee, we ground out a 1-0, which considering we had 2 changes of personnel, and 3 changes of position in the back four, was a stroke of genius from our manager. Sadly, after a couple of years of "throw McCann on and hope for the best", people have become accustomed to assuming the worst.

Pretty fair summarisation LK, how many fans have said I'd like to see us grind results out, I'd rather loads of 1-0 wins than play pretty football and get beat everyweek

Not panicking no - but concerned, yes.

Hope the lad is ok - huge blow for us, but if a long term problem a huge blow for England.

GC is a great example of classic English - strong, physical & a decent sort. Great example for the kids.

I do agree with all the comments that this will be the period OC will show his mettle but I also see the point that without that obvious, false disallowed goal, we would have ground out a 1-0 result, so OC is doing his job in my book, despite the injury setbacks.

In OC we trust.

This will explain a lot to the slow start on Saturday if not all the performance.

Gutted for him as his WC chances must be getting slimmer by the day.

Club haven't said how long he will be out but I'm edging my bets towards the rest of the season.

Here's to hoping AOB's injury isn't too serious. Who'd have thought I'd have been saying that at the start of the season.

It's just a massive shame this didn't happen before the window shut.

It's likely to be a minimum of 6 months to be honest.

Basically he has to take blood thinning medicine, which means any knock he gets on the field would be dangerous and he'd be at a high risk of internal bleeding.

The "average" course is apparently 6 months, and he comes out of hospital today, I can't see him walking straight back into the premiership after a six month course where he can't do anything where he'd risk "getting a knock".

This is bad news for us, but it's horrible news for Gary, he had a real chance of going to the World Cup, and now...well, obviously not.

FD wrote:

It's likely to be a minimum of 6 months to be honest. Basically he has to take blood thinning medicine, which means any knock he gets on the field would be dangerous and he'd be at a high risk of internal bleeding. The "average" course is apparently 6 months, and he comes out of hospital today, I can't see him walking straight back into the premiership after a six month course where he can't do anything where he'd risk "getting a knock". This is bad news for us, but it's horrible news for Gary, he had a real chance of going to the World Cup, and now...well, obviously not.

Hopefully no reason why he can't keep up a light training regime and be approaching match fitness when he comes off the medication.

I'm not convinced that a "light training regime" would be enough to stay premier league fit...

Meh, feck it. If it means taking risks, I'd rather just tell him to go home and come back for pre-season training. Maybe have him out on scouting missions/doing whatever Sean Davis and Joey O are doing with their lives. There's no point risking his career (and, cynically, our investment) by trying to rush him back. Gutted for him though.

Disaster for us too, probably need to send for Mark Connolly.

Should still stay up though, if we can't out-point two of the bottom ten then there's something wrong.

Tombwfc wrote:

Meh, feck it. If it means taking risks, I'd rather just tell him to go home and come back for pre-season training. Maybe have him out on scouting missions/doing whatever Sean Davis and Joey O are doing with their lives.

Exactly, he is still a young player. It's not worth the risk, see you next season Gary.

Tombwfc wrote:

Meh, feck it. If it means taking risks, I'd rather just tell him to go home and come back for pre-season training. Maybe have him out on scouting missions/doing whatever Sean Davis and Joey O are doing with their lives. There's no point risking his career (and, cynically, our investment) by trying to rush him back. Gutted for him though. Disaster for us too, probably need to send for Mark Connolly. Should still stay up though, if we can't out-point two of the bottom ten then there's something wrong.

Indeed - and whilst Cahill is a superb player, I don't see that two from O'Brien (A), Shittu and Knight is any worse that the defences of either Wolves or Burnley. Let's face it, Clarke Carlisle is hardly Franz Flippin Beckenbauer, is he?

We have, after all, stayed up in the past with a short-arsed left-back filling in as a central defender. This is a rather more positive situation, as regards cover.

Didn't we get an away draw at Fulham, under Megson?

FD wrote:

I'm not convinced that a "light training regime" would be enough to stay premier league fit...

I think where M42 is coming from is that it'll be less of a shock to his system come pre-season. And it can be pyschologically damaging to players when they have long-term injury, especially when they have little contact wih the club, so if he's capable of coming down to the training ground and joining in light (and most definitely non-contact) training, than I would see that as a good thing. Keeps his fitness at a reasonable level, keeps him occupied and out of trouble, doesn't just leave him to get on with it on his own. The support of his team mates, the coaching staff and the medical staff in this instance could be immeasurable.

FD wrote:

It's likely to be a minimum of 6 months to be honest. Basically he has to take blood thinning medicine, which means any knock he gets on the field would be dangerous and he'd be at a high risk of internal bleeding. The "average" course is apparently 6 months, and he comes out of hospital today, I can't see him walking straight back into the premiership after a six month course where he can't do anything where he'd risk "getting a knock". This is bad news for us, but it's horrible news for Gary, he had a real chance of going to the World Cup, and now...well, obviously not.

I'm not sure you can say it will be at least 6 months. There are numerous types of blood clot some of which are life threatening and some less so. From the report on BWFC website the clot has been dissolved and he is now out of hospital. We can pretty much discount any Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) or else he would still be in hospital. You are correct though that a blood thinning medicine (Warfarin) is normally given but there is no set time limit for this.

People with a high risk of DVT or had major heart surgery may be on Warfarin for the rest of their lives. If Cahill (A really big IF) is prescribed Warfarin then he could be on it for as little as 5 days or not at all. As you have said FD, blood thinning tablets can result in internal bleeding if you get a knock or difficulties in clotting if you cut yourself.

So unless we get to speak to the club doctor then anything else is pure speculation and guesswork.