[Archived] Fitness?

[ABBEY]

after watching the play offs and the champions league finals and seeing players (fa cup final too) dropping after 65 mins and most players cramping ,my question is

,,Are players less fit now with dieticians /science/fitness coaches than in Garners day with 20 fags n 20 pints?

[Alex Rover]

The pace of the modern game is a lot quicker. Probably that.

[Husky]

I'd have to see the comparative stats. Like how fast and how far they ran then and now.

I was watching some old cricket highlights a short while back and it was amazing to see how unfit the players used to be. Like a fielder was on the boundary and the ball went past him for 4 about 2 yards from where he was stood.

[Tom]

No stats or science to back this post up but I would guess footballers and sportsmen in general are fitter than they have ever been and it's why we always see records broken consistently in athletics etc

Have to think footballers from yesteryear would struggle with the intensity (obviously with the same training Regime they could get to speed).

There is also few lean players these days they are all solid and put focus on all round muscle building etc even if they act like tarts

[Stuart]

No stats or science to back this post up but I would guess footballers and sportsmen in general are fitter than they have ever been and it's why we always see records broken consistently in athletics etc

Have to think footballers from yesteryear would struggle with the intensity (obviously with the same training Regime they could get to speed).

There is also few lean players these days they are all solid and put focus on all round muscle building etc even if they act like tarts

That's also potentially more down to more discrete doping!!

Just look at the Olympics, four years on and technology is catching up to be able to backward test samples. I did have concerns that over time the samples have more chance of being corrupted or for a natural chemical reaction to occur which changes the original sample. However, people with more knowledge about these things that me (especially clean athletes) want samples keeping even longer so that cheats will always be caught and titles transferred to clean athletes. The trouble with this though, whilst great in the long term, means that Olympics could be stolen by the cheats and clean athletes might not even get to compete. The career of any athlete is a short one.

Oh for the days when it was just about who was the fittest. Although I suspect there have been different levels of cheating long before people were able to be caught.

[1arC]

after watching the play offs and the champions league finals and seeing players (fa cup final too) dropping after 65 mins and most players cramping ,my question is

,,Are players less fit now with dieticians /science/fitness coaches than in Garners day with 20 fags n 20 pints?

All Garners goals have been removed from the record books. They tested some old blood and found nicotine in it.

[JAL]

Think the fatigue you maybe seeing in these end of season games will be purely down to players taking a break from training that's probably been a tad too long for them to endure to get back to the levels required in these games.

[A cup of beans]

No stats or science to back this post up but I would guess footballers and sportsmen in general are fitter than they have ever been and it's why we always see records broken consistently in athletics etc

Have to think footballers from yesteryear would struggle with the intensity (obviously with the same training Regime they could get to speed).

There is also few lean players these days they are all solid and put focus on all round muscle building etc even if they act like tarts

I think there's a whole list of advances that aid the modern player.

Strength, conditioning, diet, analysis and medical scrutiny.

I'd probably say : players from yester year could adapt and get up to speed, if they were offered the same technologies.

Be interesting to see if the modern players could adapt to the old ball, tackling and awful pitches.

[tomphil]

Coming through academies these days rather than the Dog and Duck hungover first 11 I think they are fitter for sure from a young age. Game is quicker so that might cancel it out to the watching eye.

Garner as much as we love him was busted by 29, should be peak years these days that

Having said that todays way of doing things would have robbed us of the likes of Scott Sellars and the game is poorer for it IMO. Where is the next Duff, Giggs, Kanchelskis, and so on. Speed kings with great technique also, made the game worth watching.

[Colt Seavers]

Coming through academies these days rather than the Dog and Duck hungover first 11 I think they are fitter for sure from a young age. Game is quicker so that might cancel it out to the watching eye.

Garner as much as we love him was busted by 29, should be peak years these days that

Having said that todays way of doing things would have robbed us of the likes of Scott Sellars and the game is poorer for it IMO. Where is the next Duff, Giggs, Kanchelskis, and so on. Speed kings with great technique also, made the game worth watching.

Garner turned 29 in the 88/89 season (the Palace play off year). If memory serves, it was his most prolific season with 25 goals in all comps. He was sensational that season. The following year he again scored a decent amount in a slightly weaker team including an excellent hat trick at home to Barnsley which you can find on YouTube.

The season after that, aged 31 he scored against Liverpool in a cup tie which followed a lengthy injury lay off ( his longest) after a groin operation. The following year, aged 32, he scored practically every time Kenny picked him, including some great strikes.

Just thought I would set the revisionist history straight.

[tomphil]

Fair do's, he's obviously older that I thought he was and I did post that without google being my friend............

But what I remember is he was out of steam by the time the Dalglish revolution started and that was a shame although he'd probably not have got much of a look in anyway. I'm sure the injury at that stage of his career didn't help but with todays level of fitness Garns could have gone on poaching goals at our level till he was at least 35 probably.

Seems his peak years coincided with the best Rovers team he'd played for, just a pity they couldn't go all the way.

[1arC]

No matter what anyone says about him, Garner was one of the reasons I fell in love with Rovers. A true legend in every sense of the word and I just love to see him play and score for Rovers.

[JAL]

Edit

[JAL]

Garner turned 29 in the 88/89 season (the Palace play off year). If memory serves, it was his most prolific season with 25 goals in all comps. He was sensational that season. The following year he again scored a decent amount in a slightly weaker team including an excellent hat trick at home to Barnsley which you can find on YouTube.

The season after that, aged 31 he scored against Liverpool in a cup tie which followed a lengthy injury lay off ( his longest) after a groin operation. The following year, aged 32, he scored practically every time Kenny picked him, including some great strikes.

Just thought I would set the revisionist history straight.

No got to correct you there, seem to remember once Newell and Speedie were out injured. Simon Garner along with Duncan Shearer really struggled to score and we slipped from top of the table down to seventh. A nil nil at home to Oxford United particularly stands were Simon really struggled. Thankfully Speedie and Newell returned to make it happen and the rest is history.

[Colt Seavers]

I think Garner scored 5 in 14 starts in his last season here. He lost a yard of pace after the groin op. I watched him a time or two at West Brom and a Pne friend of mine told me Garns was different class at their Wembley play final against Wycombe a couple of years after that.

Garner was as fit as he needed to be. He often scored late in games and was able to last the full ninety. Colin Hendry once told me that he rated Garner with Clive Allen who he played with at Man City. In fact he said he rated Garner above Allen as a pure finisher.

Jordan Rhodes could do with some of Simon's aggression and power in my opinion.

Loved Simon Garner!

[tomphil]

No matter what anyone says about him, Garner was one of the reasons I fell in love with Rovers. A true legend in every sense of the word and I just love to see him play and score for Rovers.

Me too, other kids at school went on about Rush or Lineker and that type. Not me and my mate, Garner was better than the lot in ours eyes. Remember that goal v Liverpool at Ewood in the FA cup when they beat us 2-1 ? Pure class, I've still got the Telegragh from after that game !

Just loved the stories about him as well like turning up at Ewood before a match on the bus with a fag in his gob and his boots in a Tesco bag

No idea if it happened but he was a proper bloke, like a Sunday leaguer living the dream.

[BigBeard]

Iam going to get shot down for this but I think performance enhancing drugs like steroids have an impact on injuries..... The game is fast these days and I think a lot of players have to be on performance enhancing drugs.....it is a well know fact that the sport cycling if your professional then you you take them other wise your at a disadvantage....why should it be any different in footy....the only issue is that the body can't take the mussel mass and gives out causing all sorts of injuries.....just my take

[Colt Seavers]

Me too, other kids at school went on about Rush or Lineker and that type. Not me and my mate, Garner was better than the lot in ours eyes. Remember that goal v Liverpool at Ewood in the FA cup when they beat us 2-1 ? Pure class, I've still got the Telegragh from after that game

I loved that goal too. I can't find it on YouTube. I am a bit of a whizz at transferring video to digital format if anyone has any significant Rovers stuff on that format. Would be good to have it on the net in one place for everyone's enjoyment.

[old darwen blue]

I loved that goal too. I can't find it on YouTube. I am a bit of a whizz at transferring video to digital format if anyone has any significant Rovers stuff on that format. Would be good to have it on the net in one place for everyone's enjoyment.

We need to chat John, I have a suitcase full of VHS cassettes of Rovers stuff and games courtesy of my late beloved mum!

[tomphil]

I loved that goal too. I can't find it on YouTube. I am a bit of a whizz at transferring video to digital format if anyone has any significant Rovers stuff on that format. Would be good to have it on the net in one place for everyone's enjoyment.

You don't know how to transfer VHS to a dvd do you ? Or know someone who can ? I've a load of old Rovers tapes that I'd like to get onto dvd if possible. A few got damaged recently after a rainer in in the loft and I was gutted, gone forever now !

[CAPT KAYOS]

Iam going to get shot down for this but I think performance enhancing drugs like steroids have an impact on injuries..... The game is fast these days and I think a lot of players have to be on performance enhancing drugs.....it is a well know fact that the sport cycling if your professional then you you take them other wise your at a disadvantage....why should it be any different in footy....the only issue is that the body can't take the mussel mass and gives out causing all sorts of injuries.....just my take

Not sure if you will get shot down BB and I agree there may be some element to this.

The other issue for me is simply because they are turning footballers into athletes rather than actual footballers - and there in lies the problem imo - football is not for pure 'athleticism'

Yes they probably are fitter - but do they actually need to be 'overfit' ?

[BlueMonday]

Not sure if you will get shot down BB and I agree there may be some element to this.

The other issue for me is simply because they are turning footballers into athletes rather than actual footballers - and there in lies the problem imo - football is not for pure 'athleticism'

Yes they probably are fitter - but do they actually need to be 'overfit' ?

I think this is right.

I was always told, let the ball do the work. Give me an intelligent footballer over an athlete any day. Just look a Tugay in the twilight of his career. And a chain smoker to boot!