Pre-season 2025

[Prufrock]

Dalby has never had a hamstring injury in his career, a couple of days into pre season with us and bang.

I know it can happen anytime, but questions need to be asked about the BWFC training methods and intensity for 2 x players to get hamstring injuries a couple of days into pre season - surely they should be eased back not straight into high intensity training ?

You’re already querying Schuey’s training methods?

I said BWFC training methods not SS specifically, I'm sure its not all on SS he will have fitness staff who oversee the high intensity stuff.

I think it's a reasonable question, mate. This has been going on for a while with new signings and I agree that Schumacher unlikely to be creating individual training plans. Given the Dalby amongst the first to be recruited under Schumacher, he might not have twigged it's been a long term problem (not talking about people pulling hammy's in a match etc.). The number we lose to hammy within the first week or so of signing is a problem for us.

I don't really get this. It's a completely new staff. The only possible continuity between regimes is the ground they're training on and from what I can work out they're on their jollies anyway.

Everyone gets injuries, but unless the badge is cursed we're on a new broom (FWIW I think there's enough to say the last regime were doing something wrong, but the new new lot, feck knows)

[Mar]

Dalby has never had a hamstring injury in his career, a couple of days into pre season with us and bang.

I know it can happen anytime, but questions need to be asked about the BWFC training methods and intensity for 2 x players to get hamstring injuries a couple of days into pre season - surely they should be eased back not straight into high intensity training ?

You’re already querying Schuey’s training methods?

I said BWFC training methods not SS specifically, I'm sure its not all on SS he will have fitness staff who oversee the high intensity stuff.

I think it's a reasonable question, mate. This has been going on for a while with new signings and I agree that Schumacher unlikely to be creating individual training plans. Given the Dalby amongst the first to be recruited under Schumacher, he might not have twigged it's been a long term problem (not talking about people pulling hammy's in a match etc.). The number we lose to hammy within the first week or so of signing is a problem for us.

I don't really get this. It's a completely new staff. The only possible continuity between regimes is the ground they're training on and from what I can work out they're on their jollies anyway.

Everyone gets injuries, but unless the badge is cursed we're on a new broom (FWIW I think there's enough to say the last regime were doing something wrong, but the new new lot, feck knows)

I would imagine that we have a set training programme that was created prior to Schumacher coming aboard and that has just persisted without really raising any red flags. These injuries could easily be dismissed as 'unfortunate' or 'bad luck', but it may be more indicative of how we're training and the intensity it puts on certain parts of the body.

It's become some what of a running joke that we'll sign someone and they'll be out injured pretty much straight away.

I suspect that we're just persisting with training programmes until the penny drops on the medic teams. After all we're likely using data science to indicate how they should be training.

[Prufrock]

I would be astonished if that was the case. New staff will absolutely have come with their own programme.

Seems pretty clear we've previously recruited people who are made of glass, so Forester is no surprise. Dalby more likely just one of those things. Certainly not enough evidence yet to suggest it's a problem with the new broom.

[Worthy4England]

I would be astonished if that was the case. New staff will absolutely have come with their own programme.

Seems pretty clear we've previously recruited people who are made of glass, so Forester is no surprise. Dalby more likely just one of those things. Certainly not enough evidence yet to suggest it's a problem with the new broom.

I agree in the main, Pru, I suspect at the top level, people will have their own programme, but just sometimes, there's a bit of it that slips through the cracks as the new replaces the old, maybe they just let "week 1," stay as it was, because it shouldn't impact their "12 week pre-season plan", fundamentally. For sure, Forester not a huge surprise to be visiting the injury table and Dalby could be one of those things - I'd sort of expect from (what are we up to? 6? signings), maybe 2 or more to crash with something. Maybe they looked at what happened with Sam and made a change - who knows.

Disappointing, but like you say no clear evidence at the moment.

[The_Gun]

Amen, Pru.

In my experience, fans of pretty much all clubs think their players get too many injuries, and fitness staff/training regimes often get blamed.

[Bertie Wooster]

Amen, Pru.

In my experience, fans of pretty much all clubs think their players get too many injuries, and fitness staff/training regimes often get blamed.

So Dalby who has never had any hamstring issues in his career, gets a hamstring injury 2 days into pre season at Lostock - which I'm sure that SS said in his latest interview may be because of fatigue - 2 days into pre season.

[The_Gun]

Amen, Pru.

In my experience, fans of pretty much all clubs think their players get too many injuries, and fitness staff/training regimes often get blamed.

So Dalby who has never had any hamstring issues in his career, gets a hamstring injury 2 days into pre season at Lostock - which I'm sure that SS said in his latest interview may be because of fatigue - 2 days into pre season.

Do you track injuries at other clubs? If not, you're just pissing in the wind here.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

FFS. I did my first hammy after over 20 years of playing sport. It happens sometimes. Ironically, when I did mine the first time I'd probably warmed up better than usual. I put it down to a slight slope and the onset of becoming an old fart

[BWFC_Insane]

A lot of the injuries we’ve had historically in training at least to my memory have been contact injuries. I feel that during the season we should often be on non or low contact training. I know modern way is for training at high intensity throughout and contact throughout but I do wonder sometimes.

The thing with muscle injuries pre season is that I think there is likely less you can do. Though a scientific approach is best I believe we are moving in that direction now more generally.

Forrester is a recurrence of the tendon injury he has so that sounds like a longer term issue that was never resolved properly. I fear for him as those sorts of hamstring injuries can plague a career.

[BWFC_Insane]

Amen, Pru.

In my experience, fans of pretty much all clubs think their players get too many injuries, and fitness staff/training regimes often get blamed.

So Dalby who has never had any hamstring issues in his career, gets a hamstring injury 2 days into pre season at Lostock - which I'm sure that SS said in his latest interview may be because of fatigue - 2 days into pre season.

You can strain your hamstring running for the bus with zero fatigue. It’s probably a bit unlucky.

If anything maybe they should look at the surfaces they train on but I think it’s likely that there isn’t a lot a league one side can do to prevent muscle injuries like this. Even the top end of the game with all the money there haven’t really gone much beyond the cryotherapy and prevention stuff that was de rigour 15 years ago.

[Worthy4England]

Amen, Pru.

In my experience, fans of pretty much all clubs think their players get too many injuries, and fitness staff/training regimes often get blamed.

So Dalby who has never had any hamstring issues in his career, gets a hamstring injury 2 days into pre season at Lostock - which I'm sure that SS said in his latest interview may be because of fatigue - 2 days into pre season.

Do you track injuries at other clubs? If not, you're just pissing in the wind here.

Ignoring through the season stuff that happens during matches, do you not think, the last few years we seem to have broken a fair few pots, in training, within the first couple of weeks of signing? I don't care if they do the same at other clubs, that's their problem.

[The_Gun]

Amen, Pru.

In my experience, fans of pretty much all clubs think their players get too many injuries, and fitness staff/training regimes often get blamed.

So Dalby who has never had any hamstring issues in his career, gets a hamstring injury 2 days into pre season at Lostock - which I'm sure that SS said in his latest interview may be because of fatigue - 2 days into pre season.

Do you track injuries at other clubs? If not, you're just pissing in the wind here.

Ignoring through the season stuff that happens during matches, do you not think, the last few years we seem to have broken a fair few pots, in training, within the first couple of weeks of signing? I don't care if they do the same at other clubs, that's their problem.

Not that I can recall. Who are you referring to?

[Worthy4England]

I'll go try look at the list! Pretty sure we broke a good few as it was bought up on here repeatedly the last two years - to the extent it was a running joke.

[The_Gun]

I genuinely can't remember, but I just had a look at the last two seasons and can't see any.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I thought the problem at Lostock was rain-sodden pitches. Surprised if that's a major issue immediately after Western Europe's hottest-ever June.

I do suspect that the Dalby injury might just be sheer bad luck. I tore my groin last Monday playing football - playing football as I have, decreasingly energetically, pretty much every Monday for 15 years in rain, shine and snow. How did I do it? Literally falling forward onto the ball (I was in goal).

However, while I've no idea how we compare to other clubs - and I'm very aware of two psychological tendencies, namely confirmation bias and "just our luck" syndrome - I completely understand why people feel like we have a lot of injuries: even if it's not abnormal, it feels chronic, which can feel systemic.

The other thing that's bad luck is that Dalby is not just (perhaps) our most exciting signing, he's also in a severely undernourished department. Without being cruel, if I had to pick a first-teamer to be injured, it might be Forrester - near the back of an overlong queue, and less sellable than Johnston. The very opposite is true of Dalby, who might have been (with Sharman-Lowe?) the least replaceable player (as is, window continues, etc).

[Worthy4England]

I thought the problem at Lostock was rain-sodden pitches. Surprised if that's a major issue immediately after Western Europe's hottest-ever June.

I do suspect that the Dalby injury might just be sheer bad luck. I tore my groin last Monday playing football - playing football as I have, decreasingly energetically, pretty much every Monday for 15 years in rain, shine and snow. How did I do it? Literally falling forward onto the ball (I was in goal).

However, while I've no idea how we compare to other clubs - and I'm very aware of two psychological tendencies, namely confirmation bias and "just our luck" syndrome - I completely understand why people feel like we have a lot of injuries: even if it's not abnormal, it feels chronic, which can feel systemic.

The other thing that's bad luck is that Dalby is not just (perhaps) our most exciting signing, he's also in a severely undernourished department. Without being cruel, if I had to pick a first-teamer to be injured, it might be Forrester - near the back of an overlong queue, and less sellable than Johnston. The very opposite is true of Dalby, who might have been (with Sharman-Lowe?) the least replaceable player (as is, window continues, etc).

I don't think we have more injuries than most other teams, most of the time on average. I do think we had a problem very specifically with first few weeks post signing. Not had chance to look yet.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I don't think we have more injuries than most other teams, most of the time on average. I do think we had a problem very specifically with first few weeks post signing. Not had chance to look yet.

Fair enough - but trust me Worthy, while you may analyse it in full and respond, there are a lot of Twitterers reacting – from the fatalistic "typical us" to the angry "when will we learn".

I mean for all I care they can scream into that particular void till they go hoarse – I'm only on there hunting transfer titbits – but the point is that August's fixtures could make a horrific month for an under-prepared or understaffed team. Should we lose the first couple, I've no doubt that will be added on to the inglorious end of the previous campaign and suddenly Schumacher's 'free hit' ain't so free.

[Worthy4England]

I don't think we have more injuries than most other teams, most of the time on average. I do think we had a problem very specifically with first few weeks post signing. Not had chance to look yet.

Fair enough - but trust me Worthy, while you may analyse it in full and respond, there are a lot of Twitterers reacting – from the fatalistic "typical us" to the angry "when will we learn".

I mean for all I care they can scream into that particular void till they go hoarse – I'm only on there hunting transfer titbits – but the point is that August's fixtures could make a horrific month for an under-prepared or understaffed team. Should we lose the first couple, I've no doubt that will be added on to the inglorious end of the previous campaign and suddenly Schumacher's 'free hit' ain't so free.

I'm glad I don't use that particular platform for anything, other than very odd occasions when a vid on it is pointed in my direction from someone I know - such as the one you posted from Marbs

I think most were happy for "free hit" in what was seen as a defunct season, from when he moved in we had 7W, 3D and 7L. 24 points at 1.41 - down from the 1.51 that got Evatt a "mutual termination." Wasn't really a new manager bounce, per se and it got wackier the longer it went on. Based on approximately "sweet fcuk all," I suspect the dressing room will be a happier place without Collins in it and probably Big Ric, for whom it was fairly clear, the interest had gone.

Like you, I'm sure folks have taken notes from end of last season and to all intents and purposes, he's been able to do some large scale clear out and change which is going to make it tricky to say "I'm still working with all Evatt's players."

The fixtures aren't hugely supportive of a great August! But I'm actually looking forwards to going to games again, after the borefest that was possession football and hopefully we find a better balance

[BWFC_Insane]

I don't think we have more injuries than most other teams, most of the time on average. I do think we had a problem very specifically with first few weeks post signing. Not had chance to look yet.

Fair enough - but trust me Worthy, while you may analyse it in full and respond, there are a lot of Twitterers reacting – from the fatalistic "typical us" to the angry "when will we learn".

I mean for all I care they can scream into that particular void till they go hoarse – I'm only on there hunting transfer titbits – but the point is that August's fixtures could make a horrific month for an under-prepared or understaffed team. Should we lose the first couple, I've no doubt that will be added on to the inglorious end of the previous campaign and suddenly Schumacher's 'free hit' ain't so free.

I see from other places that on that platform the ‘in built’ AI response is now suggesting we give a second holocaust a try.

Truly truly do not understand how why any self respecting business has any presence on that thing at all.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I see from other places that on that platform the ‘in built’ AI response is now suggesting we give a second holocaust a try.

Truly truly do not understand how why any self respecting business has any presence on that thing at all.

Oh it's a cesspit, Musk is a dangerous freak, and it encourages wrong'uns to band together.

However, it allows Bolton Wanderers to directly contact a follower-base of 255,000. Any business, trying to sell tickets and merchandise and what the hell ever else, would need a very strong reason to abandon that target-market database.

Whether you or I agree with that ethically is a different thing, but surely you must understand it.