Luke Freeman

[Statto]

Thing is he is short and stocky anyway and that's simply the way he is (and someone in the matchday thread commented that he does have a huge arse). But he looked out of shape and larger than usual, perhaps not too surprising given he's been injured, and actually might not have been able to do a lot of training because a groin issue does limit your options more than you'd think, tbh I wasn't expecting to see him get picked today

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[congo_red]

Thing is he is short and stocky anyway and that's simply the way he is (and someone in the matchday thread commented that he does have a huge arse). But he looked out of shape and larger than usual, perhaps not too surprising given he's been injured, and actually might not have been able to do a lot of training because a groin issue does limit your options more than you'd think, tbh I wasn't expecting to see him get picked today

This was my original point - I was if the opinion that he’d almost certainly been rushed back in, due to us being light on bodies in midfield - and it probably didn’t do him any favours, especially as he’d not been that good before he got the injury sorted.

[Carlos]

Short and stocky, historically hasn't done too bad for forest

[Project Zeus]

The club should fine him for misconduct for being in that shape. Absolutely disgraceful for a professional athlete.

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[Harvey]

I don't think weight is that important really. John Robertson was a fat fucker but could produce moments of pure genius

In fact my mind is thrown back to the 1980 European Cup final and pre-match when asked about how Forest would deal with star right side Manny Kaltz, Brian Clough merely said

"We’ve got a little fat guy who will turn him inside out"

And he did

[Carlos]

Andy Reid is shitting himself now

[Strummer]

I don't think weight is that important really. John Robertson was a fat fucker but could produce moments of pure genius

In fact my mind is thrown back to the 1980 European Cup final and pre-match when asked about how Forest would deal with star right side Manny Kaltz, Brian Clough merely said

"We’ve got a little fat guy who will turn him inside out"

And he did

And also the best quote from that match; Keegan to former team-mate Larry Lloyd, when they were both walking out the tunnel:

„You’re not going to kick me, are you Larry?“

„Oh no Kev“ replied Lloyd. „But my mate Burnsie is going to absolutely muller you!“

Cue Keegan turning to look for Burns, who coincidentally was just removing his false teeth, and then managed a couple of good old-fashioned brutal early „reducers“ on Hamburg‘s star man, who was thus terrified and spent large portions of the match, hiding at left back.

[Statto]

Short and stocky, historically hasn't done too bad for forest

Reid and Robertson weren't unfit though. I don't obviously remember Robbo playing for us, but Reidy was actually in good shape when he played, didn't spend a lot of time out injured until the last injuries he had, and didn't need to come off for fitness reasons, he was just that shape, not sure he was breathtakingly fast but didn't need to be as he is intelligent, read the game well, tactically capable and got into the right positions to begin with.

Freeman just looks like a fan who was drinking 13 pints and had a few gigantic kebabs last night and won a competition to play for the team.

I get he hasn't played for a while but he's clearly recovered enough to be in training so the weight should be coming off.

[Carlos]

I don't think Andy Reid was the epiphany of fitness Statto

[Project Zeus]

I don't think weight is that important really. John Robertson was a fat fucker but could produce moments of pure genius

In fact my mind is thrown back to the 1980 European Cup final and pre-match when asked about how Forest would deal with star right side Manny Kaltz, Brian Clough merely said

"We’ve got a little fat guy who will turn him inside out"

And he did

Forty years ago, mate.

Successful football clubs today have players that are at the peak of physical fitness. It's a bare minimum requirement for a professional. Unsuccessful clubs have players that can't even be bothered to keep themselves in a reasonable shape for non-athletes.

It's akin to one of us not showing up to work for months. Is this useless tub of suet even training? Look at the state of him!

Fine him and get him running laps around the pitch every day.

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[Statto]

I don't think Andy Reid was the epiphany of fitness Statto

Sure he liked loads of guinness and pizza but, to be fair, how many games did reidy look like he was blowing out of his arse before the end, and how many did he miss due to injuries/conditioning? Hardly any.

[Heffing Psycho!]

I don't think weight is that important really. John Robertson was a fat fucker but could produce moments of pure genius

In fact my mind is thrown back to the 1980 European Cup final and pre-match when asked about how Forest would deal with star right side Manny Kaltz, Brian Clough merely said

"We’ve got a little fat guy who will turn him inside out"

And he did

Problem is it isn't 1980 now, in fact I'd say it's even changed a lot in the last 10-15 years let alone 40. The majority of players, even at our level, are athletes and that level of fitness trumps talent 99% of the time. You can't have players who are 2 stone overweight waddling round the pitch anymore because other players will just run circles round them.

[Harvey]

Forty years ago, mate.

Successful football clubs today have players that are at the peak of physical fitness. It's a bare minimum requirement for a professional. Unsuccessful clubs have players that can't even be bothered to keep themselves in a reasonable shape for non-athletes.

It's akin to one of us not showing up to work for months. Is this useless tub of suet even training? Look at the state of him!

Fine him and get him running laps around the pitch every day.

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Andy Reid was also a fat fucker but head and shoulders above anyone else in the league

Obviously I'd rather players were fit and trim otherwise I'm sitting here thinking WTF

But I don't think a little weight gain on a footballer is as big a thing as people think

[Carlos]

Sure he liked loads of guinness and pizza but, to be fair, how many games did reidy look like he was blowing out of his arse before the end, and how many did he miss due to injuries/conditioning? Hardly any.

He missed pretty much a whole season.

[Harvey]

Put it this way - would you rather have a fat Luke Freeman or a thin David Vaughan?

[congo_red]

Andy Reid was also a fat fucker but head and shoulders above anyone else in the league

There’s a school of thought, that I’m in agreement or disagreement with, that Mr. Reid could have been one of the top Premier League players of his generation if he had been in better shape.

[Harvey]

There’s a school of thought, that I’m in agreement or disagreement with, that Mr. Reid could have been one of the top Premier Leagud players of his generation if he had been in better shape.

That's a good point

[congo_red]

He missed pretty much a whole season.

Rubbish. He was always back in three weeks.

[Heffing Psycho!]

Put it this way - would you rather have a fat Luke Freeman or a thin David Vaughan?

Thin David Vaughan please but I loved Quasimodinho with all my heart so I'd take him over a thin Luke Freeman as well.

[Project Zeus]

Andy Reid was also a fat fucker but head and shoulders above anyone else in the league

Obviously I'd rather players were fit and trim otherwise I'm sitting here thinking WTF

But I don't think a little weight gain on a footballer is as big a thing as people think

I said the same about Reid at the time. He should have been playing at a higher level than with us, and the fact that he wasn't was because he was so unprofessional with his fitness.

It really infuriates me - I can forgive players making mistakes on the pitch, but failing to manage their fitness like that takes years of slacking. It's 100x worse, for me, and I'd never want a player like that anywhere near my club.

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[Harvey]

I just think that while Freeman has obviously put on a little weight

a) we don't know why and are assuming it's through slovenliness; and

b) that it negatively affected his performance

I'll admit I'd rather see trim athletes turn out for Forest than fat fuckers, but he wasn't any better or worse today for me than before his injury when he was thinner

[Statto]

He missed pretty much a whole season.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_R...otballer)#Club

10-11 was the only real time he didn't play until going off for us in 14.

The only other time which looks lean is 13 games in each of 2 seasons at Spurs in the PL but then he wasn't really in the team, not that he wasn't available, and 16 for Charlton the year after.

10-11 looks leaner but it was spread across 3 clubs - 2 for Sunderland, 9 for Sheff Utd on loan then 5 for Blackpool, not sure he was injured for much of that, just wasn't picked.

39/42/32 for us is a reasonable return and doesn't suggest major injuries...

[congo_red]

I just think that while Freeman has obviously put on a little weight

a) we don't know why and are assuming it's through slovenliness; and

b) that it negatively affected his performance

I'll admit I'd rather see trim athletes turn out for Forest than fat fuckers, but he wasn't any better or worse today for me than before his injury when he was thinner

One thing we can say with absolute certainty is though...when he was a stand out performer in this league for QPR, he was carrying less timber. Of course, he also wasn’t carrying a groin problem. But hopefully he can shake ifc both the injury and the weight (and quickly) before his loan spell is up. Expecting him to do so when he’s barely back in training is a little unfair though.

[Harvey]

One thing we can say with absolute certainty is though...when he was a stand out performer in this league for QPR, he was carrying less timber. Of course, he also wasn’t carrying a groin problem.

You know it's almost as if people with physical injuries can't exercise as much

[congo_red]

You know it's almost as if people with physical injuries can't exercise as much

Who knew?