Earlsdon_Skyblue1
Well-Known Member
Some lads have really struggled with it
Most clubs won't identify those badly affected
See article below about a couple of Newcastle players earlier in the pandemic
Maybe the current strain isn't as bad as back in 2020 but individuals may still get serious complications
Newcastle manager Steve Bruce shocked by effect of Covid on players
- Two first-team players could be out for several more weeks
- ‘It’s frightening when you think they’re young, fit athletes’
Newcastle will not name those individuals affected by Covid on grounds of medical confidentiality.
Louise Taylor
Fri 18 Dec 2020 17.00 GMT
Steve Bruce said two Newcastle United first-team players remain seriously unwell with Covid-19 and could be out for several more weeks, if not months.
Whereas the majority of Bruce’s squad have recovered from the team’s recent coronavirus outbreak, Newcastle’s manager said “four or five” were still sidelined by the virus. “For a couple of them it’s had a damaging effect,” he added. “It won’t be a week or two [that they’re out], it will be longer than that.
“It’s not just fatigue, they’ve got other symptoms too. It washed over most of them but some are finding it a struggle. My thoughts are with the two players [worst affected] and their welfare.”
Bruce has been shocked to see such super-fit footballers floored by Covid. “It’s frightening when you think they’re young, fit and supreme athletes,” he said. “If anybody needs reminding of how serious this is, then we have witnessed it. Some of them seem all right but then the fatigue element hits them, but for two it’s beyond that. They’re still going to take weeks to get back; you wouldn’t think that this long Covid thing is possible in fit, young athletes.”
Newcastle will not name those individuals afflicted on grounds of medical confidentiality but Bruce has seen his squad experience a wide range of symptoms and degree of illness. “We’ve had the full set,” he said. “We’ve had vomiting, sores, mouth ulcers, no smell, no taste. The fatigue element is a big problem. For the vast majority who had it, fatigue is the one thing the virus leaves. They go for a walk for half an hour and then want to go back to bed. It’s as brutal as that. It’s been a really difficult couple of weeks. It’s extremely difficult to manage.”
That article is from two years ago though, from what was I presume a struggling Newcastle side. As you say, different variant and a lot of people have more immunity now etc. It just seems to me like this is typical football. As you say, no one really knows the extent of it, but surely if it had been a problem recently, Robins would have said so, even without naming names?
My question more is, are any of our squad currently struggling with after covid affects to this day. If yes, fair enough. I am just not sure we can keep using that line without any real evidence. It gets used over and over on here and we have enough deflections for people´s favourite players not performing as it is!