Should Sol have been keeping himself in shape over the summer?
Posted on August 6th, 2010 | 66 Comments |
There has been a bit of controversy since Sol arrived on Tyneside as training pictures revealed he was carrying a bit of excess baggage.
But that lack of fitness means that he is now likely to miss out in our opening game against Manchester United, and with defensive cover thin on the ground at the moment missing a player is something that Newcastle and Chris Hughton could do without. Now I dare say that even with a bit of excess weight he is far far fitter than you or me, but then again he is a professional sportsman, paid tens of thousands of pounds a week to be fitter than us, so why did he end up so drastically out of shape for a professional in the first place?
I’ll give him the fact that he got married over the summer and went on honeymoon, although I would have expected him to come back from that fitter than ever. I also understand that Campbell is a little bit further behind the rest of the team with regard to chasing match fitness, in fact he is three weeks behind by his own estimations, which I can accept, but it still doesn’t really wash with me.
At the end of the day, Campbell must have known he would have been signing for another club, whether that be Arsenal, Sunderland, Celtic or us, so wouldn’t it have made sense for him to keep himself in some sort of shape? The rest of the lads managed to do so, at least to a basic level by their standards, and they all went away on holiday with their mates or families ar whatever.
People may find this article controversial, or may feel that I am trying to stir up something that should be left alone. I’m not, it’s a genuine question as it concerns my football team. I have no interest in stirring up unnecessary controversy, it’s not what I am here to do.
Having said that, losing a player that is universally identified among fans as a good player has disappointed me a little. I guess all we can do is wait for Sol to gain his fitness slowly as an injury would be really bad news for us, especially with Steven Taylor out.
It’s doubtful whether or not Campbell will make a brief appearance at Ibrox tomorrow, purely in the interests of fitness of course, which raises another concern. Campbell will have to build up an understanding with the other centre-back in a competitive Premier League environmnt, which isn’t ideal.
I’m sure he will get back to peak fitness, but a little extra work in his own time, like the rest of the players will have done, wouldn’t have gone amiss.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
i think he is entitled to a few weeks off for his wedding..