Retired sports doctor Dr Colin Fettes says play-off schedule may have contributed to Inverness Caley Thistle's injury crisis
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A DISTINGUISHED voice in sports medicine in the Highlands has condemned the SPFL Premiership play-off system as a threat to player welfare.
Dr Colin Fettes (70), now retired, previously served as club doctor at Caley Thistle, Ross County, Clach and St Johnstone, as well as providing care for players in the Scottish FA’s international squads at under-21 and youth level for 200 matches.
A member of the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine UK, Dr Fettes has expertise in musculoskeletal medicine, exercise medicine and team care.
He also worked for British Athletics at major international events, providing support for top competitors including Linford Christie and Colin Jackson, as well as covering Scotland’s shinty internationals.
With a keen interest in local football, that expertise has stoked concern over Caley Thistle’s continuing injury difficulties as manager Billy Dodds grapples, at times, with double-figure lay-offs.
The retired medic does not say unequivocally that blame for the scale of injuries at ICT lies with last season’s play-off demands.
But he is clear that the Premiership promotion system, with six intensive matches in three weeks after an already arduous campaign, risks exactly that kind of scenario.
“There are definite provisos to any assessment of injuries at Caley Thistle,” Dr Fettes stressed.
“I’m more concerned with the pressure that the current play-off system puts on players physically.
“I come at it from the perspective of sports injuries and the ‘athlete’, in this case the footballer.
“Looking at these individually, the anterior cruciate ligament problems for Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh happened during the play-offs. For other individuals, the play-offs clearly had nothing to do with it.
“But looking at the playing load, it is very difficult for players.
“They suddenly went from playing 36 league games to 42. Those six matches within three weeks are like cup finals in terms of the pressure and intensity.
“With any injuries you look at load and recovery, and the recovery time simply wasn’t there this summer, with only five weeks until the new season kicked off.
“That’s before you factor in pre-season training to get everyone going again. It is a very small window.”
Dr Fettes worked with Caley Thistle’s head of physical performance Ross Hughes for a spell at County, and praised his work in managing the injury situation alongside manager Dodds.
“In terms of training load, I know Ross Hughes at Caley Thistle knows exactly what he is doing, so playing load rather than training load is the problem,” Dr Fettes said.
“I wouldn’t for a minute criticise the club at all for training load. I have seen that criticism on social media, but I would commend Caley Thistle for doing an amazing job in the circumstances.
“But if you asked Laura Muir to do an extra six events at the end of a long and successful season, she and her staff would tell you where to go. Linford Christie and Colin Jackson would do exactly the same.
“Whether it is to do with microscopic changes in the muscle or tendon, ligament or even the bone, we don’t know.
“That’s beyond the scope of what we can identify, but my overall impression is that introducing the current play-off system was a crazy thing to do.
“That’s no reflection on the club who, I think, have done incredibly well to remain in contention.”
Dr Fettes says it is accepted generally in football that 10 per cent of players, on average, will be injured.
Caley Thistle have exceeded that for a lengthy period of time now.
As well as Walsh and Sutherland, they have had Robbie Deas suffer a fracture in his leg, along with Roddy MacGregor (ankle), Scott Allardice (thigh), Danny Devine (knee), Austin Samuels (shin) and, most recently, Billy Mckay (calf).
At individual level, multiple causes and misfortunes can be to blame. Zak Delaney (hamstring) and Daniel MacKay (knee) were not even part of the club during the play-offs.
Nevertheless, Dr Fettes feels the potential impact of the play-offs on the overall burden of injuries should not be ignored.
“Generally at a club, you see 10 per cent of players injured at any time – in Caley Thistle’s case, it is about 40 per cent,” he said.
“The one factor that sticks out, clear as day to me, is the play-offs. I did say to people at the time ‘this is going to hurt’ but no-one really listened.
“The football authorities need to look seriously at lessening the load of matches for clubs in the play-offs, whether that is reducing the maximum number of games to four or even three with just one meeting at a neutral venue.
“There is a duty of care towards the player. Their welfare is being put at risk by this extra part of the season being stuck on. I think it is an unnecessary risk.”
