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INJURY UPDATE
Not-so-SuperMarian-kle
by Cunning Nut
15-12-04
Bet Beatts' red card didn't hurt as much as Marian's ankle now does
Marian first hurt his ankle in a match against Charlton in September 2002. Verdict: minor ligament damage.
Then he twisted the same ankle in a match against Blackburn in November 2002, but was deemed fit enough to come off the bench in the Newcastle game a week later.
Four days after that he played the full 90 minutes for Latvia in their away fixture against San Marino on the 20th of November. Apparently he was in pain by the end, but Latvia had already made their third substitution on the 64th minute.
In early December that year the ankle was placed in plaster for a couple of weeks. In January it was decided he needed an operation on it (apparently similar to the operation Mark Draper had).
Months of injections, scans, operations, wishing, hoping, setbacks, maybes, ifs, buts etc.
Pahars' next appearance for Saints was in late November 2003 coming on as a sub after 70 minutes in an away game against Aston Villa. Later that season he had a groin injury that kept him out of the last few games. After recovering from the groin injury Pahars played in a few games in the European Cup 2004. After Latvia were knocked out he returned fit and raring to go.
In the Swindon friendly Rory Fallon clattered that very same ankle that had caused Marian so much pain, grief and trouble in the preceding one-and-a-half years. Because of that tackle Marian went over his ankle and he was quoted as saying that the pain was in "exactly the same place (as before)". This was early August so Jim Joyce was optimistic about Pahars being ready for the start of the season - "very minor strain". As we know that didn't happen. An ultrasound scan failed to show any damage in the ankle, but an MRI scan came up with ligament damage deep within the foot.
The ankle had gone through three operations in two years. This time an injection was the chosen method as it was thought the injury was a new one and not a recurrence of the old one, as reported on September 13th.
Two months later there was again light at the end of the tunnel as Pahars returned to full training. On the 1st of December Marian completed 45 minutes in the reserves against Leicester on a bumpy and hard ground. He suffered pain in his ankle in the days following the game, but after having a couple of good training sessions he was again able to start in the next reserve game. That was 14th December when he limped off 15 minutes into the first half.
Now we're waiting for the verdict on his latest injury. Is it just a minor setback and he'll be back in training in a couple of weeks? Or is it another two-month spell out before he can return to full training? Or is it more serious and yet another operation is needed? Is his career as a professional footballer under threat?
(Pahars signed an extension to his old contract in 2002 and it doesn't expire until June 2006, by the way.)
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