Slaven Bilic has announced the squad is on its way from its Chadwell Heath training headquarters.
The news comes at more or less the same time as the crushing news that Winston Reid is set to miss the next four weeks with a new hamstring injury – his third in less than a year.
Many fans have been questioning the Chadwell Heath facilities for a long time and whilst the announcement is a shock, there is absolutely no question that it will be met with widespread relief.
The manager made the news public in his morning press conference ahead of the weekend match against Stoke City which sees the squad without Reid, Payet, Moses, Lanzini and Sakho.
Bilic declared: “We were planning on moving the training ground to Rush Green at the end of the season, now we are moving that forward.
“We will be training at Rush Green from Monday. The pitches here at Chadwell Heath are soft on top, but hard underneath which is the worse combination. So I have made the decision to go to Rush Green where the pitches are better.”
Having done some reading from sports based journals looking into this sort of thing i have actually found yes the ground most probably is a problem. Spent about 5 minutes and I found 3 studies saying the same thing!! I also believe way back when Alan Curbishley was in charge he wanted a new training ground back in 2007 i think it was!!
However, I do feel the rehab team dealt with Carroll’s injury management poorly. I remember an interview with Big S.A. who said he was using injections to get through his final stage of rehab, which i’m sure most people could understand is not ideal to need injections and still play… Then he went and got injured again… I think the rehab team have slightly changed since this time its also Refreshing too see the move in training facilities, I hope it see’s an injury free west ham team next season!!! COYI
Does look like an admission that there might be a problem with the pitches there. i thought they were the exact same set up as at the Boleyn. Maybe not.
Chadwell Heath may be a problem but it has been the traing ground for many years and there has never been as many injuries citing it as the problem as there is now.
Maybe the traing and warm up and warm down needs to be looked at?
i’m no physio for sure but can’t help feeling there’s a sense of well placed urgency here.
like my dreams this season’s fit players expectations of playing at peak fitness seem to be fading and dying.
that’s it though! don’t even think of changing our beloved Bubbles – I’ve always loved the honest acceptance of ambition over expectation. far more humble than the vain-glorious anthems of most of the competition.
good luck with the move to rush green Slav … with our current luck with injuries best make sure the bus driver is fully insured coz he’s bound to bump into something en route.
COYI