West Ham’s new head of medical is on a massive learning curve and loving it!
Richard Collinge arrived at the club three months ago and in his first major interview discusses the job he has taken on working with, keeping and getting fit the club’s multi million assets.
Talking to Standard Sport he said: “We are a busy department but that is the challenge I thrive on.
“Staff wise, Mr Pellegrini added more sports science staff so we met early on in the season to arrange everything.
“The learning curve is very steep, intensive but I always want to make sure that the players see that as a seamless culture.
They don’t want to come in and not understand how we work; we set our structure early on and while it might be slightly different to what the players have been used to before, they have been really receptive to it and bought into it.”
Collinge has arrived at a club where Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll, and more recently Manuel Lanzini, have suffered terrible times.
But he said: “It is definitely a challenge I enjoy. I think with Jack [Wilshere] and Andy [Carroll] there is a challenge there.
And he joked: The physio room would be a quiet and boring place if these players weren’t around! I thrive on that and I want to understand what has gone on in the past.
“We have to manage the individual, find the best strategy to keep them fit, things happen along the way but ultimately we want to prepare them and give them the best coping strategies.
“I can take up to six months to understand the schedule the player needs. It all comes back to the scrutiny we put on the players, we keep a very close eye on them but for all the good reasons.”
Marko Arnautovic is currently playing in pain and Collinge accepts the the risk must be managed properly in order to keep key men available.
He said: “I always think it is calculated risk taking. We would be foolish to push a player back too soon and not have a discussion about it, not weigh up the pros and cons.
“You can look at the squad list of any club and risks are taken every Saturday afternoon, you have to mitigate the risk. Medically and ethically we’re trying to do the best for the player.
“We’re dealing with multi-million pound assets here, we have referral sources outside the UK but communication has to be clear so we know what is happening, but it all comes back to a code of conduct. They are huge assets but they are also humans; the treatment I give a player here is the same I would have given with the NHS 20 years ago.
“This is an incredibly fast-moving environment, not to say the NHS isn’t, but every day is different you can come in and plan through a list and something changes. We have to be adaptable and versatile to be at the top of our game, we are always on the phone and emailing locally and around the world.”