Salvage Operations

SAINT Stephen’s Day 1962.

England’s worst winter in living memory is not far away but for the moment football carries on as normal.

A Sunderland striker decides to chase a misplaced pass and the Bury goalkeeper, after initial hesitation, comes out to meet him. A collision occurs. The goalkeeper’s shoulder rams into the forward’s knee and the latter does not get up.

It will be two years before he plays again and this time only for three games. It is no use. His knee has been shattered beyond repair and Brian Clough must find another way to make his mark in football.

Fast forward to the second month of the current year. A Brazilian flying the Croatian flag in London lies in agony on the St Andrew’s turf and his Birmingham opponent leaves in shame for shattering his opponent’s leg and dislocating an ankle.

Paramedics take what seems an age treating the Arsenal man where he lies. Yet within days it is declared that Eduardo da Silva will play again in a number of months. A full recovery is expected.

Such optimism is not born of blind hope; a faith in medical science is its foundation. For injuries that would have ended careers just a few years ago can now be conquered via a range of improved surgical techniques and investment in rehabilitation facilities by the clubs themselves.

The whole world saw the Eduardo incident, even though television producers prudently spared viewers the gorier replays and Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, was no exception. It was a discussion amongst his peers, who concluded the Birmingham player, Martin Taylor, had been guilty of nothing but clumsiness. ‘‘I was at a game last week with somebody who has worked with Taylor,’’ Coppell said. ‘‘He said they were always on at him to try to be a little bit tougher because he was a gentle giant. There was no intent whatsoever.’’

Yet the incident held an extra fascination for the former England winger as, like Clough, misfortune propelled him into management prematurely. A bad challenge in a World Cup qualifier in 1982 ruined one knee and a player who had broken Manchester United’s record for consecutive appearances the previous year was forced to hang up his boots in October 1983.

‘‘The chances are that if I had the same injury today I would have got injured on the Wednesday, had an arthroscopy on the weekend and had a reconstruction the next week,’’ he said. ‘‘It turned out my cruciate had gone in that original injury. At the time, the man who operated on me was one of the first people to do arthoscopies in this country as opposed to the old ‘rip ‘em and clip ‘em’ operations there used to be.

‘‘Apparently when my cruciate snapped it did so with such force that it wrapped around the posterior cruciate so in subsequent operations, when the surgeon tugged on the cruciate, it still felt as if it was intact. It wasn’t. It was useless and that would have been spotted today.’’

That damaged knee is well known to the club’s physiotherapist Jon Fearn, who is convinced Coppell’s own stubborn desire to play in the 1982 finals hastened his demise. And Fearn, formerly of West Ham, also has words of caution for Arsenal and Eduardo having seen the career of Pierluigi Casiraghi ended before his eyes in November 1998. The Chelsea forward collided with Shaka Hislop in the home goal and 10 operations could not bring about the Italian’s return.

‘‘There is never a guarantee,’’ Fearn said. ‘‘Casiraghi had a horrendous injury. He didn’t only have fractures but nerve damage as well. Orthopaedic medicine has moved on tremendously over the last few years but it is dangerous to presume that everyone is going to be OK. It puts pressure on the player and on the medical staff at the club to presume that.’’

Another likely scenario is that Eduardo will recover sufficiently to score again but not for Arsenal. A move to a club with less lofty standards might be inevitable. ‘‘It is true that fewer players have to finish playing now than in the past but Premier League players have to be at such a high level that they might have to filter down the leagues and then fade out,’’ Fearn warned.

Arsenal physio Gary Lewin has been praised for his calmness and quick-thinking under pressure at Birmingham, having also had the presence of mind to bring substitute Gilberto on to the pitch to converse with Eduardo in his native Portuguese. But the physio’s worst nightmare could equally bear a name like Kenny Ward.

Ward was a modestly-talented winger in Scottish football in the 1980s but was tough. Too tough in fact as one of the most experienced physios north of the border, Phillip “Pip Yeates recalled. ‘‘If I ever write a book I’ll call is ‘Gie’s a Minute’ because that was what he was saying. He wanted to play on but it was a good job I didn’t let him because he had actually fractured and dislocated his ankle. I had to push him back down.’’

Yeates began his career at Dunfermline in the 1980s and has performed a similar role for the Scotland national team since 1994. Last year he moved to Rangers, whose Murray Park training complex in the north of Glasgow acts almost as a shrine to the current faith in medical science.

‘‘The difference between now and when I started is almost infinitesimal,’’ he said. ‘‘Dunfermline were part-time then and didn’t even have a gym. I had to beg, steal or borrow equipment from the local leisure centre. Murray Park is just brilliant. There is a hydrotherapy pool and a full rehab gym as well as a sports science doctor who is there all the time.’’