No Foxy, I'm dealing with the matter at hand - injuries.
As was I, just the part of the matter at hand you discuss changes dependent on which part someone has a differing opinion on
Your initial point of Blackwell lying and that we've only actually had two injuries has now turned into a discussion as to whether or not the team should have been good enough. Relevant maybe, but a different discussion to your original claim.
If your point about all these players being out and that being a hindrance stands up, you'll be able to point to all those line-ups we've had which have been decimated and had very few players of experience or quality in them.
If you're attempting to suggest that we've had players out but you also accept that, in reality, that we've had good enough line-ups every week anyway then you do accept Blackwell has been talking guff about injuries.
But you can't have it both ways.
Actually, no, there is a middle ground.
I believe the teams we have been putting out should have been good enough to put up more of a fight than we have. Not to beat the other teams, we have no right to expect to beat anyone based on who we are. The teams should have been more than good enough to have put up more of a fight and gained more points than we have.
This doesn't mean however that injuries are irrelevant. They do have a big impact, whether it is 1 injury or 15, they always have some form of an impact.
As to whether our run is simply the fault of injuries, I don't think it is, there is far more too it that that. The injuries do have a contributory factor though, if nothing else that we don't get a settled side/build cohesion.
Mr Blackwell may well have used the injury card too much, or not mentioned other factors enough... But you are wrong to suggest it hasn't been a contributory factor and incorrect when you say we've missed merely two players.
As for Evans, as someone else mentioned, I would love to see McCabe's reaction to Blackwell suggesting a £3m player was one for the future. Priceless.
Shouldn't any player costing that much be "one for the future" rather than a short term fix?
That is partly why we have structured a deal that could be worth so much for him, he is young and professionals at United and Manchester City think that he has potential.
I'm sure you are far more qualified to say he's crap based on what you've seen so far (how much have you seen him by the way?), but others in the game beg to differ.
The only problem I see with Kevin Blackwell saying Ched needs time, is that in the mean time, others have to perform at such a level we can afford Ched some leeway. This is why we probably needed an additional body like Camara earlier, so that Ched could be eased into it if he needed to be.
In my opinion, he's right to give him time and he's right to try to play down expectations as the lad isn't having the start that he expected. He can either do that, tell him he's got to score 10 goals sharpish or drop him completely and say he's crap. I know which one I think is more likely to get the desired effect.