Guti’s leg definitely knacked says Argentina doctor. Shola’s foot a mystery.
Posted on August 28th, 2009 | 22 Comments |
Villani announced to the AFA (Argentine Football Association):
“Jonas Gutierrez suffered a muscle injury in his right leg playing for his club and will not be able to take part in the national team’s next commitments against Brazil and Paraguay, scheduled for September 5 and 9,”
The situation regarding Fenham hitman, Shola Ameobi, is somewhat more vague however. Chris Hughton’s assessment, made in the wake of the Carling Cup clash with the ‘Udders was:
“Shola has turned his ankle and to be fair to him he came straight off the pitch when he felt it so hopefully that has minimised any damage.”
Meanwhile Joe Kinnear’s best friend and renowned symbol of journalistic integrity, Simon Bird, has since reported that Ameobi’s foot is the problem, not his ankle. He rabidly reports in his piece, “Newcastle rocked by new Shola Ameobi injury blow”:
“Newcastle have been hit by a new hammer blow with striker Shola Ameobi suffering a suspected broken foot – leaving a massive hole in their weakened squad.”
He then goes on with the usual “club source” guff, reporting that his alleged contact deep inside the bowels of the Barrack Road beast has said:
“Hughton has been told to restock his Newcastle squad WITHOUT spending a penny over the weekend.”
Meanwhile, The Times’s George Caulkin hit the cut and paste shortly after, repackaging Bird’s fantasies in slightly more eloquent prose in his remarkably similar “Newcastle suffer double injury blow“.
Recycling isn’t always a good thing, George.
Hmm, the injuries are worrying.
In retrospect it’s easy to wonder if we should have bothered putting Ameobi and Jonas on to try and win a league cup game given the small squad and the fact that the Championship is way more important.