Brunt's Knee...

come what may he will still be paid for the duration of his injury.

I would say offer him a new deal for a year only with an option of a 2nd. He will be out till christmas/new year so offering him any longer would be a huge gamble if his knee hasnt fully recovered going into may 2017.

I think there's some sort of PFA agreement that a player who gets injured near the end of his contract keeps on getting paid at the same rate while he recovers. I'm not 100% sure on this though or whether it is the club or the PFA who pays him.

I'm more sure that his medical treatment is a given under the terms of his contract. I'd imagine the club has insurance and it'll be that which picks up the medical bills.

Bloody cruel luck that this should happen twice to the fella especially when he was just getting himself established as a first teamer.

I've never been one to moan that footballers get paid too much. At any moment in any game it could all just go like a puff of smoke in a stiff breeze.

Let's just hope he makes a full and speedy recovery and comes back to bang in the goals that see us promoted next season.

It's unfortunate when a footballer gets injured but they all know the risks. Hopefully Brunt can make a full recovery and kickstart his career again but I don't feel we fans should feel bad if for whatever reason it's not with Argyle. We spent considerable money on Matt LeCoint (sp) but got little back in return. Ultimately it's the risk any athlete or sporting person takes.

A reasonable read of what goes through the mind of injured players can be seen here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

We took a punt on Lecointe and lost. That's the way it goes. I don't suppose it was much of a gamble though. He couldn't have been on much of a wage as a first year pro and the extension was unlikely to factor in a pay rise but had he regained fitness and begun to fulfill his ptential then we might have had a million quid plus player on our books. OK it didn't pan out that way but if it had then renewing that contract would have been a shrewd piece of business.

I don't think the "little back in return" does justice to anybody concerned here. Everybody did what they could to make it work; it just didn't. And that was sad for all parties involved.

I accept my wording could've been better but Matt was a player under contract which we had to honour while he was injured. I'm sure there's others too but it's late so no researching for now.

And what is wrong with that?

Most employees get sick pay - why shouldn't footballers?

Never suggested our injured players shouldn't get paid.

We do have history of giving contracts to injured players, Mpenza and Maclean for instance. If we now have a medical team who wont pass such players fit then maybe we should be thankful.

That's a different matter.

Presumably we carry out fitness assessments to ensure the players we sign are healthy enough to start with!

Then it is down to the competence of the procedures and those following them.

You could argue that Brunt was a crock when we signed him but we had months of ready service out of him and then he knacked the other knee. That's just bad luck - and, arguably, it's far worse for him than it is for us.

Brunt's knee illustrates perfectly the philosophy of Tory boy Brent. Keep them on the shortest contract possible with no sick cover. Paying medical fees is not nearly the same thing as receiving a living wage. And we still have an NHS of course. Reminds me of the dockyard and asbestosis. 
And I can feel Brent's dislike from here of having to pay footballers holiday pay during the Summer break.
Hey, let's not pay teachers during the school Summer holidays, what a wheeze. More money for the pension fund.

What with the ground breaking agreement Brent made to defer millions of pay after admin, I can't think Argyle under his leadership are the most well thought of by professional players. I wouldn't touch his sort if I had footballing options.

Sir Francis Drake wrote:

That's a different matter.

Presumably we carry out fitness assessments to ensure the players we sign are healthy enough to start with!

Then it is down to the competence of the procedures and those following them.

You could argue that Brunt was a crock when we signed him but we had months of ready service out of him and then he knacked the other knee. That's just bad luck - and, arguably, it's far worse for him than it is for us.

I assume our medical team will assess Brunty on probable future fitness.  If he's likely to make a full recovery we'll hopefully give him a new contract which reflects his likely future worth to us.  If he's unlikely to make a full recovery then the club is correct to not renew his contract but as they've stated they will give him the medical assistance he needs.  It's an unfortunate situation but I can't blame the club's stance on this one.

The other side of the coin is we may well currently have players in our squad who aren't prepared to give 100% at this stage of their Argyle career for fear of getting injured.  Swings and roundabouts I spose.

If you've read it do us a favour and cut and paste the meat Les, it will save a lot of pain, well OT won't cos I won't bother trying to read it.

PLYMOUTH Argyle striker Ryan Brunt will have company as he recovers from an operation to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee this summer.

Midfielder Ryan Lane, 19, has also had similar surgery and both he and Brunt will work with physio Paul Atkinson during the close season.

It is the second time that the unfortunate Lane has torn his ACL in the same knee and has again put his career with the Pilgrims on hold.

Brunt was having an excellent season for Argyle, scoring 10 goals in all competitions, until he suffered his injury in the 1-0 defeat at Barnet on March 1.

The 22-year-old had his operation in London last Tuesday and it went well, according to manager Derek Adams.

Brunt is on target to return to action within six to nine months.

"It was a straightforward ACL operation," said Adams. "He had to get his legs working quite quickly.

"He's progressing as we thought he would after the operation.

"He will probably be in this week, into next week, just to have a look at how he's doing.

"After the rest period, he will start to get back strengthening the knee and surrounding area very quickly.

"The physio and medical staff will look after him.

"Himself and Ryan Lane, one of the players from the youth squad, have got the same injury so they will work together."

Adams explained that Lane, who comes from Looe in south-east Cornwall and is a former Ivybridge Community College student, tore his ACL a couple of months ago.

The midfielder started an apprenticeship with Argyle in the summer of 2013 and made an immediate impact.

He played as a substitute for the first team in a pre-season game against MK Dons at Home Park and scored with a spectacular 30-yard shot.

Lane had an operation to repair a torn ACL in December 2013 and returned to action the next October.

As his two-year apprenticeship was so badly disrupted by his injury he was able to continue it this season, without playing at under-18 level though.

Lane made three substitute appearances for Argyle's first team in pre-season – in the away games against Elburton Villa and Bideford and against Reading under-21s at Home Park.

He went on to play 12 times for the Pilgrims' side in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Division One West this term and scored eight goals before his latest injury.

It is unusual to tear the ACL in the same knee and Adams said: "Because he was at a young age the first operation was done in a different way.

"This time it has been done the way that a senior person would have had it done."

Adams will speak to Argyle academy manager Kevin Hodges about the future of Lane.

The Pilgrims' boss has talked to Brunt since his operation. "He's in as good a mood as he can be in," he said.

"He's very positive. He knows what the operation is about because he had it in the opposite knee (earlier in his career) and knows how to recover from it."

Brunt signed an 18-month contract with Argyle, which ends in June, when he arrived from Bristol Rovers in January 2015.

Asked about Brunt's future beyond the end of the season, Adams replied: "We have still to discuss that."

Thank you.