SENTINELCELTS

I can’t put down a book I started reading just two days ago.

It’s called The Straight Dope by Aussie journalist Chip Le Grand.

He dissects what could be the biggest sports doping-related scandal in the world, which claimed virtually all but one squad player of the Essendon ‘Bombers’ Aussie Rules footy team was given direct injections of non-approved substances around three years back: It’s a gripping, ripping read.

How it relates to Celtic is on the point of player recovery; a point raised by Lenny in a recent media conference.

To me, a key point for us now is at what cost do we keep playing the same players over and over?

In Le Grand’s book, Aussie fitness and conditioning experts reckon three days is not enough to recover from a 2-hr AFL match; they reckon ten days is a proper rest and recovery period. GPS data estimates that AFL players – positions dependent – run an average of 13-20kms per game (along with jaw-jarring head and body impacts).

EPL footballers tend to run just under 12kms.

What would Ryan Christie’s numbers look like I wonder?

The dilemma for Celtic – playing 3 games per week sometimes – is we all want results but we don’t have adequate recovery times to put our best and freshest 11 on the park every single game. That’s where shared responsibility must come in. It’s surely why we carry a 90million Euro ‘squad’.

Neilly reckons that making anywhere round three team changes has an adverse impact on results. Surely this tells us our overall team preparation and strategies – as well as individual readiness to play at the highest levels – has room to improve?

At CFC, we have the luxury of the best squad and, surely, best players in the league?
Injuries aside, why can’t we put out a second string 11 from Bain, Gordon, Bauer, Bitton, Hendry, O’Connor, Taylor, Ntcham, Rogic, Kouassi, Hayes, Griffiths, Morgan, Sinky, Bayo etc…and be able to beat a St Mirren or a Hamilton both with squads with fractional cost and quality?

Sure, it’s probably not as simple as I’m stating it – but it’s physically unsustainable for Neil’s first 14 to always get us results we’ve now become conditioned to expect, and its financially reckless to have too many high paid second stringers who can’t slot in to relieve the evergreens.

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The above is a guest article by Libero.

If you feel like penning a piece for publication and to help spark debate the email is sentinelcelts@gmail.com