Dan Bardell: Premier League need stronger concussion protocols after Aston Villa latest example
We’re delighted to welcome The Athletic’s Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Emi Martinez’s head injury in the Aston Villa defeat to Newcastle was just the latest example of an issue that needs stronger guidance, says Dan Bardell.
The Villans keeper took an accidental blow to the head from his own player at St. James’ Park on 29 October, but recovered to play on for a few minutes before eventually needing to be replaced by Robin Olsen.
He had been cleared to return by the medical staff originally before the situation changed, but the incident drew heavy criticism from pundits such as Chris Sutton, and Bardell believes while it is not an issue specific to Villa, it is one that needs stronger protocols in general from the Premier League.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News he said: “I think it’s a big problem in football in general, the concussion thing.
“I don’t think this was the first example of this kind of thing happening, it was just the most recent.
“With recency bias, if you’re the last one then you’re the one that’s going to be taking the heat, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen that happen in the Premier League.
“I’m not saying it’s right, I’m not saying he should have carried on, but they’re medical professionals, if they thought there was a genuine problem they would have said he needs to be taken off.
“He obviously seemed okay, even when he took in the ball before he did come off he gathered it as he normally would.
“But he did look groggy, he was down for a long time.
“There needs to be stronger protocols in the Premier League so if that kind of thing happens it means they automatically need to come off.
“Or they need to look at concussions substitutions where you can bring someone on and look at the player properly, with less time constraints and then you can maybe bring that player back on, if you think he’s okay and he passes the relevant checks.
“I don’t think it was great, I don’t think it was a brilliant look. But I also think it’s the last time it will happen, Villa are just the most recent one so that’s put them under scrutiny.”
Medical staff are put in a difficult position when players themselves are often so intent on continuing to play, even if it may be detrimental to their health.
There is an obvious interest for many involved for them to return to the game, but if there is a risk of major harm from a head injury the guidance from the authorities may need to be made far stricter to remove the grey area.
Unless or until a zero tolerance approach is put in place there will be continued examples of what happened with Martinez, and at some point it could have a serious outcome.
In other Aston Villa news, Bardell believes Harry Maguire going to the World Cup over Tyrone Mings is a farce.