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It’s Wrong For Celtic To Make Greg Taylor “Play Through The Pain Barrier.”

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Last night we found out something we’ve suspected; Greg Taylor has been playing with an injury.

I think that’s pretty irresponsible. I particularly dislike the term “playing through the pain barrier.”

I am not naïve enough to think that footballers at every club do not do this, but pain in these circumstances is your body’s well of telling you something is wrong.

I’ve been writing about them doing this over at Ibrox for a while now.

They throw players into the team when they aren’t fit all the time. We don’t make a habit of this, which is why I am always pretty frustrated when we do. Whatever the issue is with Greg, it should be allowed to heal.

If Bernabei isn’t up to the job what the Hell is he doing at Parkhead?

I don’t want to give Ange or the coaches a hard time here, they don’t deserve it. This will have been Greg’s choice to a certain extent, but sometimes you need to take the kid out of the line of duty for his own good. As exceptional as he has been this is just not worth jeopardising his future or his health for. We have to be better than this.

Greg has to be smarter as well. We have massive games coming up and he needs to rest and get himself back to peak fitness for them. We were all a little bit perplexed by Steve Clarke’s comments and I wanted to be pissed off with them if I’m being honest, but my issue isn’t with Clarke, it’s with whoever it is at Celtic who is pushing Taylor this hard.

I understand how this happens, at Ibrox as well as here but I think the way The Mooch talks about his unfit players forcing themselves through games is as cold blooded as it comes, and I think the state of their squad and the issues involving their players shows you what the consequences of this look like. We shouldn’t be putting Greg in this position and we should be letting him put himself in this position.

So I am actually grateful to Clark for bringing this to light.

Ange needs to do right by our player and put him on the side-lines for a spell. It’s the right thing to do.

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  • Jimmy R says:

    Shades of KT who finished up needing serious surgery on his hip. Clubs have a duty of care for the long term health of their staff. They need to take this much more seriously. The recently deceased Alan McGraw spent years on crutches because he was willing to take painkilling injections and play through the pain barrier. It ruined his life. That happened in the 60s, we should know better now.

  • Eldraco says:

    Clark is no friend and imo Greg is not good enough for CL. He is too slow to find the channel, to find the run and far to often clatters the ball against an opponent.

    Ange is gonna be thrilled at this.

    • Johnny Green says:

      I fully agree with your comment, neither of our left full backs are good enough for Europe. We should be looking for at least one upgrade on what we have at the moment. let’s hope though in the short term that Greg’s injury is minor and that he recovers soon.

  • Kevan McKeown says:

    Agree, we’re goin tae need him especially for these important league and cup games comin up. Even restin him over next 2 weeks could help. Bernabei for me, should be able tae step in, tho for these derby games comin its Taylor we need. Surely the coaches can see that. Don’t risk him makin things worse and bein out at a time when we really need our strongest team available.

    • Bigmick says:

      What happened to “trust in Ange”?
      If you think he’d risk Taylors long term health/career, you must be crazy.
      It’s just not gonna happen. Would you want players dropping out because they have a headache just in case he’s got a brain tumour?
      Pain can be managed, and the medical team, manager and players are not idiots. We trust Ange in all other areas,so calm down ffs.

      • Kevan McKeown says:

        @ Bigmick. Ffs, ahm no a G.P. and ah don’t see the letters ‘Dr’. in front of your name either there. Whit ahm sayin and just statin the obvious, is if he’s already been playin through injury, setbacks can and very often dae happen. Don’t see what harm a couple of weeks rest would dae him (imo). Would rather have him fit for the games in the weeks tae come, than these couple against the likes of Hibs or Ross C. Was actually givin our coaches credit when ah said ‘surely our coaches know’.Nothin tae dae wi ‘calmin doon’ and never used the term ‘trust in Ange’ maself, tho ah’ve every confidence in his runnin of the team and ahm sure he’ll dae the right thing. Nae doubts there whatsoever.

  • Johnno says:

    Bit harsh there James.
    We don’t know the full extent of any such injury and hardly unusual for players to be playing with slight knocks especially with such big games awaits.
    Also looking at the calendar, Taylor has a 3 week break after the mini hun match to be fully fit for the challenges ahead, and if Bernie is such a concern against hibs then he isn’t of much use to going forward either.
    Still remains the only position within the team where the difference in quality between the two players is to big and stands to need addressing in the summer.
    Bernie needs to start showing Ange he can be trusted more so as his overall play has remained so inconsistent still.
    Bit of a drama over nothing and don’t like Clarke either as just another tosser jumping on the anti celtic bandwagon especially when he wouldn’t have used Taylor for the upcoming games unless he was forced to, glad celtic haven’t given him the same option Ange faced, as confident enough to say that he would have made exactly the same decision as Ange did.

  • Woodyiom says:

    This is a non-story – the reason Taylor isn’t being allowed to be picked for Scotland is so that he can have a full 2 week break and let whatever “niggling injury” he has settle down. He wouldn’t have played anyway with Robertson and Tierney in the squad!!

    I’m pretty confident he’s fine and that Celtic (and Taylor himself) are sensibly managing the situation – as a serious half marathon runner I regularly run with niggling injuries – the key is to not over-train so as to be able to perform on the days that matter and the PROFESSIONAL physios, sports therapists and doctors at Celtic know exactly how to do that – it is literally their job FFS!!!

  • Geoff says:

    Clarke should have left any comments to Ange.
    It’s possible he has asked him to be excused to allow for recovery rather than join the squad when it’s doubtful if he will play ahead of Tierney or Robertson.
    Bernabei will probably play on Saturday.
    Don’t think Ange takes a risk with any players wellbeing.

  • The legend says:

    I know for a fact that the players aren’t happy with the head of sport science who was hired last year some have said he is totally out of his depth so this could be the reason this has happened as I don’t think Ange is the type of manager who would risk players well being.

  • The legend says:

    I know for a fact the players are not happy with the new head of sport science who was hired last year some have said he is totally out of his depth so this could be the reason for this as I don’t think Ange is the type to put players health at risk.

  • Ted McCluskey says:

    Celtic fans getting it yesterday big ange getting it today wtf ?

  • Jim Duffy says:

    I think bernabei should be given the chance ,more game time to see just how good or bad he really is,it’s unfair to judge him on the little playing time he has had.

  • John S says:

    As good an asset as Taylor is, I have to agree that it is for the good of the club and the player that he adequately recuperates.

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