Crippling schedule catching up on Dundalk

The attrition rate in the Dundalk squad is starting to rival that of the Irish or Leinster rugby panels.

The latest casualty in Friday’s derby with Drogheda was rightback, Sean Gannon, who now joins Robbie Benson, Stephen O’Donnell, Patrick McEleney, Shane Grimes on the injury list while others such as Chris Shields, David McMillan, and Sean Hoare are only starting to regain some fitness.

Manager, Stephen Kenny must be wondering when this exceptional run with injuries will end, for while he will acknowledge that Dundalk had a better than average run with serious injuries over their last three title winning seasons, he could never have anticipated the list of casualties experienced since the players resumed pre-season training.

Obviously the injuries have denied the manager the opportunity to field a settled side, and consequently the team has not reached the levels of performance anticipated, with another patchy and at times nervous display against Drogheda, that was illuminated at times with some slick passing that yielded the first two goals and numerous chances, but also with some very sloppy defending, highlighted by some poor passing out of defence.

No doubt the manager and the coaching staff have sought reasons for the number of injuries incurred, and would be failing in their responsibility if they did not seek those answers.

Some will argue that the injuries sustained by the players retained from last season’s panel, O’Donnell, McMillan, Shields and Benson (and Ronan Finn now with Rovers) were a legacy from the run-in to the League, Cup and European games, and as a result the players did not get a sufficient close-season rest.

The burden placed on the Dundalk players to complete their domestic and European schedule was totally irresponsible on the part of the powersthat-be, and it was pointed out on more than one occasion by fitness and medical experts that there was no duty of care for the players in placing such a heavy burden on their bodies.

Only recently one of the top managers in the game Jose Mourinho complained that the playing schedule currently imposed on his Manchester United squad was ‘crippling his players’, and he added that the Premier League ‘didn’t give a shit about Europe’, whereas other countries supported their teams that were playing in Europe.

Where did we hear those comments before?

Last November when Dundalk had to play League and Cup games within days of European matches, including the FAI Cup final which they were ordered to play just two days after an arduous trip to Petersburg where they covered themselves in glory against Zeni and did the country proud at the same time.

But the schedule that Mourinho was complaining about for his well paid stars was nothing near as demanding as that asked off the Dundalk players, some of whom are part timers, having to hold down day jobs.

We all know that the reality is that if Dundalk are fortunate enough to match last season’s European run they will get again get little or no support from the FAI in terms of altering the playing schedule for as Mourinho said of those who administer the fixtures: ‘they are happy to see players flogged to breaking point’.

On many occasions at the end of last season Stephen Kenny pointed to the heavy demand that was being placed on his players and argued that it had consequences in terms of their welfare.

Perhaps his team are now seeing those consequences of that heavy schedule with the injuries that McMillan and Shields carried over from last season, and those picked up by O’Donnell, Benson and Gary Rogers since they returned to training.

In previous seasons Dundalk’s superior fitness sustained them in many matches, and was envied by many teams. That fitness was achieved over the previous seasons by a rigorous and planned schedule, starting each pre-season.

Clearly that schedule was interrupted by the legacy from last season and it may well now be of value not just to Dundalk but other clubs for a study to be undertaken by fitness and medical experts to determine if the burden of last season’s playing schedule has contributed to the this season’s casualty list.