Domenech Holds On To Injured Players (and Club Managers Aren’t Happy)

You know why I love Managerial Musical Chairs at the club level? Because with every new rotation, Raymond gets a whole new set of managers to piss off. How boring it would be if it had just been Arsene and Houllier over and over?

Latest on the list is Bolton’s Gary Megson, who is none too happy that Nicolas Anelka is living life at Clairefontaine rather than back home in England where Megson feels he belongs. Says Gary:

“He is suffering from an elongation in the thigh and the diagnosis forecasts he’ll be unavailable for six weeks. It would be an immense error on their part to say that he can remain and thus train or play. It would be a nightmare for Nic and for us.”

Domenech is unimpressed by this argument.

“Nico is called up. He will see the doctor and we will know where he is,” explained the sélectionneur. “If he is fit, he stays. If he is not fit, he will return to his club, even though I think that the best place to be looked after is [here]. Every day he has four kinés to care for him. He has only that to do. We can give him all the tests we want.”

Domenech then goes on to talk about not just Nico, but also Florent Malouda and Jérémy Toulalan, who are also injured.

“I am very optimistic, especially after having discussed this with them. It is they who are directing this. And they want this.”

If you’re Megson, or Alain Perrin (Toulalan, Lyon,) or Avram Grant (Malouda, Chelsea), are you getting a little nervous here? And then the article goes on to say,

Domenech does not hide that he is counting on them, and that he hopes that they will play. “If they are called up, it is because I think that they have the ability. Sometimes, in four or five days, one can recover. The motivation for an international match makes it possible to get past the lack of [recent] competition. I am more anxious when it’s long-term. I could have taken Willy Sagnol but he has not played for 7-8 months. Somebody who doesn’t play for two or three weeks, it is not problematic. Often, they recover and they play. We saw that with William Gallas lately. Thus I do not see why I would not select them.”

And tonight, Gary, Alain and Avram are saying little prayers and renewing their prescriptions for Prozac and Nexium.