Lee Clark calls for a full-scale investigation into one of the big issues at relegated Rotherham United
LEE Clark has been in professional football since he was a teenager, but the 53-year-old reckons he's never seen an injury scenario as bad as the one he's faced at Rotherham United since becoming manager.
Like predecessor Matt Hamshaw, the new boss is battling against a double-figure casualty count that has been a major contributor to the club's League One relegation that was confirmed this week.
Clark, a Premier League player with Newcastle United and Fulham and a man with nearly 15 years in various hot-seats behind him, is so shocked so many men are in the treatment room that he has called for a “deep-dive” probe into the issue.
“Absolutely there has to be a unbelievable review on everything,” he said. “You can't have a season - not just with the results, but with the injury scenario - that's just been. I've never experienced that.
“Even when I started playing and we didn't have all this medical technology, we never had injury situations like this. And repetitive injuries as well ... I mean, there are players who have had five or six separate injuries this season.
“You've got to be robust to play this game. You have to be ready to go Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday in the EFL. And it's high-intensity all the time. Nobody gives you anything for free. Everybody's up and at it.”
The players with the most chequered fitness records he is referring to are probably Marvin Kaleta, Josh Benson and Kian Spence, all of whom have suffered regular absences this term and are out of action at present.
Other men to go through protracted spells on the sidelines are Sam Nombe, Hamish Douglas, Dan Gore, Joe Powell, Denzel Hall, Lenny Agbaire, Jordan Hugill, Dru Yearwood, Cameron Dawson and Josh Kayode. Loanees Martin Sherif, Kion Etete and Thomas Holmes also missed a lot of games when they were at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
“This cannot just be brushed under the carpet,” Clark said. “I've heard people say, it's just been one of those unlucky seasons. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That ain't getting brushed under the carpet. It needs a deep dive. You're restricted how long you can play certain players. No, no.”
Clark has the Millers job until the end of the season and may or may not be in charge next season. He and chairman Tony Stewart are due to talk about the future.
Rotherham will be a League Two side for the first time since the 2012/13 campaign and the Geordie said: “Whoever is the manager of the club has a huge job, but he also has a good one. Because there's the opportunity to press the reset button and give these Rotherham fans - who are fantastic people, fantastic fans - the team they deserve.
“That's a team playing with heart, playing with passion, playing with enthusiasm, playing with pace, playing with fitness, playing with drive.”
The drop became mathematically certain following a home loss against Barnsley and an away defeat at Wigan Athletic. Clark has been scathing about the lack of fight the Millers showed in both games.
“When you lose, you lose in the right manner,” he said. ”There's a right way to lose. The teams that are successful - when they lose, they bounce back. And they have characters. That's the way it is.”