I was thinking the other day how on earth did the players of former years manage without all these muscle tears. Even in the days of mudbath piches I cannot remember the type of injuries we are having now. In the 70s and 80s we were playing on pitches very susceptible to the weather - seen matches played in almost waterlogged pitches, snow on the pitch, players with rubber studs when it was frosty etc and often just very heavy with divots kicked up all the time. Can't recall the injuries we have now. Good job we have subs now. Does the difference in construction of pitches - Desso, turf and other synthetic surfaces make any difference. If so, you would think this would affect other clubs too. Everyone says it is our intense training methods or Hecky's fault but apparently there were intense training sessions with Wilder. We don't play matches with any greater intensity than many other sides so is it just bad luck.? Also Jebbison did his ankle ligaments when he waas just shooting in training, McBurnie and Sharp have rolled their ankles and Osborn had some kind of foot injury - you would think these ar just regular things for footballers and wouldn't keep them out for months. Are the modern boots a problem in that they seemingly offer no protection to the foot at all? They look more a fashion item now rather than being sensible footwear for the task. Amonst all these injuries we have players like Norwood and Egan who have barely missed a minute on the pitch. Very odd.