Dave Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7174311.stm Allardyce pleads for winter break Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce believes the Premier League is putting players' long-term welfare at risk by refusing to grant a winter break. The Magpies were held to a 0-0 FA Cup third-round draw against Stoke on Sunday, their fifth game since the start of the Christmas period. "It is a ludicrous situation," he said. It is an over-demand on high-performing athletes. That is very dangerous. "You would not ask a racehorse to do what we do." Newcastle have six days to rest before their match against Premier League champions Manchester United at Old Trafford. But Allardyce must now also factor in a third-round FA Cup replay at St James' Park on 16 January. And the under-fire manager believes the ever-expanding fixture schedules will eventually have a detrimental effect on players' post-career health. "Somewhere along the line - if not causing a serious injury because of fatigue - later on in life, professional players will have massive problems with hip, knee and ankle replacements and be crippled with arthritis," he said. "It is too much to ask of players over the Christmas period. It would be nice to reach this point and have a two-week break, as we should do. "The new lads here think it is crazy that everyone else has a break and we don't. "If they think we are crazy, then something must be wrong." A BBC Sport survey conducted in November found senior Premier League players in favour of a winter break. England and Portugal are the only major leagues in Europe without a mid-season break. Former England manager now Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is another advocate of a festive hiatus. "I am sure it would be good for the national team when they go to a big tournament and for the clubs playing in Europe," said the Swede. "They would be fresher at the end of the season." Load of bollocks IMO. Nowt to do with wanting him out or any other shit either btw; I've said I don't want to see him sacked. The Christmas holiday period is the only time where nearly all fans get the chance to see games. However much the football industry likes to ignore us, the fans are still the lifeblood IMO. Given the number of silly kick-off times and inflated ticket prices already, it's not a good idea to piss them off even more. Clichéd it may be, but for the money and quality of treatment these players get, they should be able to handle the increased workload. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenBartonCentrePartin Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 so he can jump the sinking ship, go AWOL and flee to Uruguay Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gray Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 wouldnt mind one after xmas, but not during Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 wouldnt mind one after xmas, but not during I think that would be the sensible option, the fans get their festive games which Dave quite rightly points out many of us get to see being off, and the players get their deserved rest. Considering how many games they play over xmas, a rest isn't exactly taking the piss is it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danswan Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 wouldnt mind one after xmas, but not during January would be an even shitter month with no footy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPERTOON Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 wouldnt mind one after xmas, but not during January would be an even shitter month with no footy. Agreed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Libertine Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 scrap international friendlies and finish the season a month earlier, or they could just try to justify their massive, massive salaries by actually playing football without moaning. im sure most people in part time employment would love a winter break too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 This will be one of our shortest seasons for a long time. If we were to bring in a break, they'd only moan about fixture congestion later on anyway. Fuck 'em. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparks Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 This will be one of our shortest seasons for a long time. If we were to bring in a break, they'd only moan about fixture congestion later on anyway. f*** 'em. Exactly, when do they expect to fit in these delayed games later in the season? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gray Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 erm, do they not mean extend the season by a couple of weeks? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 erm, do they not mean extend the season by a couple of weeks? Then they'll whinge that they haven't had enough of a lie down before some tournament or other starts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gray Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 true like, and it'll be expensive to take the kids away Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Our players will get a break during the FA Cup weekends once we are dumped out in round 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Our players will get a break during the FA Cup weekends once we are dumped out in round 4 They already get a midweek break while players not dumped out of cups don't. Allardyce should shove a cork in it. We're used to a much greater volume of games than this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE5 Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7174311.stm Allardyce pleads for winter break Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce believes the Premier League is putting players' long-term welfare at risk by refusing to grant a winter break. The Magpies were held to a 0-0 FA Cup third-round draw against Stoke on Sunday, their fifth game since the start of the Christmas period. "It is a ludicrous situation," he said. It is an over-demand on high-performing athletes. That is very dangerous. "You would not ask a racehorse to do what we do." Newcastle have six days to rest before their match against Premier League champions Manchester United at Old Trafford. But Allardyce must now also factor in a third-round FA Cup replay at St James' Park on 16 January. And the under-fire manager believes the ever-expanding fixture schedules will eventually have a detrimental effect on players' post-career health. "Somewhere along the line - if not causing a serious injury because of fatigue - later on in life, professional players will have massive problems with hip, knee and ankle replacements and be crippled with arthritis," he said. "It is too much to ask of players over the Christmas period. It would be nice to reach this point and have a two-week break, as we should do. "The new lads here think it is crazy that everyone else has a break and we don't. "If they think we are crazy, then something must be wrong." A BBC Sport survey conducted in November found senior Premier League players in favour of a winter break. England and Portugal are the only major leagues in Europe without a mid-season break. Former England manager now Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is another advocate of a festive hiatus. "I am sure it would be good for the national team when they go to a big tournament and for the clubs playing in Europe," said the Swede. "They would be fresher at the end of the season." Load of bollocks IMO. Nowt to do with wanting him out or any other shit either btw; I've said I don't want to see him sacked. The Christmas holiday period is the only time where nearly all fans get the chance to see games. However much the football industry likes to ignore us, the fans are still the lifeblood IMO. Given the number of silly kick-off times and inflated ticket prices already, it's not a good idea to piss them off even more. Clichéd it may be, but for the money and quality of treatment these players get, they should be able to handle the increased workload. All been said before. A good idea, but clubs would arrange tours instead. Biggest boost they could give is to abolish the transfer window, which if taken to court by someone, would surely be deemed unlawful Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thespence Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Biggest boost they could give is to abolish the transfer window, which if taken to court by someone, would surely be deemed unlawful The current transfer system was devised by EU nations & UEFA, UEFA extended the rules to non-EU countries in UEFA. The big clubs + UEFA got FIFA to agree to conditions on international transfers However The football authorities agreement with the EU holds no legal standing and would not prevent a challenge in either a domestic court, under laws such as Restraint of Trade, or in the European Court of Justice under Article 39, Freedom of Movement of Workers, or Article 81, Anti-Competitive Agreements. I wrote that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edd Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 scrap international friendlies and finish the season a month earlier, or they could just try to justify their massive, massive salaries by actually playing football without moaning. im sure most people in part time employment would love a winter break too. I love it when someone drags out that old argument. It's not about them not physically being able to play 2 or 3 matches a week, it's about the standard of football you get when they do. It might be a bit cliched but footballers today are athletes and you wouldn't expect an athlete to put in world class performances every few days while their opponents try and click lumps out of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 scrap international friendlies and finish the season a month earlier, or they could just try to justify their massive, massive salaries by actually playing football without moaning. im sure most people in part time employment would love a winter break too. I love it when someone drags out that old argument. It's not about them not physically being able to play 2 or 3 matches a week, it's about the standard of football you get when they do. It might be a bit cliched but footballers today are athletes and you wouldn't expect an athlete to put in world class performances every few days while their opponents try and click lumps out of them. Aye, Arsenal and Man Utd play more than anyone and they're shit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 High-performing, you say? [/WUM] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 It's ridiculous that we had only 3 games in October and 3 in November then 7 in December. Don't need a break, just a better spread of midweek games. Clubs in Europe are good enough to deal with the congestion caused by the inevitable reorganised games, but too powerful to let it happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shak Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I can see the arguement for it tbh. Two week break after the FA Cup third round wouldn't exactly be unbearable for fans would it? Given how many games the players have played over Christmas, it's only fair they get a bit of a break. I'd just abolish the Carling Cup and play more league games early in the season as Happy Face alluded to though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Edd Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 scrap international friendlies and finish the season a month earlier, or they could just try to justify their massive, massive salaries by actually playing football without moaning. im sure most people in part time employment would love a winter break too. I love it when someone drags out that old argument. It's not about them not physically being able to play 2 or 3 matches a week, it's about the standard of football you get when they do. It might be a bit cliched but footballers today are athletes and you wouldn't expect an athlete to put in world class performances every few days while their opponents try and click lumps out of them. Aye, Arsenal and Man Utd play more than anyone and they're s***. Point taken but they do have huge squads with depth compared to most other teams and where possible play reserve players in the cups and still often rotate players for league games. Any decent player we have, sorry had, would be playing every league and cup game if fit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
9 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Enjoy the Winter Big Sam!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karjala Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Enjoy the Winter Big Sam!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Enjoy the Winter Big Sam!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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