Petr Cech needed surgery for depressed skull fracture.

Chucky the tree

Goalkeeper Petr Cech underwent surgery for a depressed fracture of the skull after being knocked unconscious in Chelsea's victory at Reading on Saturday.

Cech was injured in a first-minute collision with Stephen Hunt at the Madejski Stadium and his replacement, Carlo Cudicini, was also later knocked out following a collision with Ibrahima Sonko.

A statement from Chelsea read: "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Petr Cech was transferred to the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford last night to the specialist neuro-surgical unit.

"He underwent surgery for a depressed fracture of the skull.

"The operation was successful but it is too early to give an accurate assessment of his condition.

"Naturally everybody at Chelsea wishes Petr, and Carlo Cudicini - who was discharged last night after being knocked unconscious - a speedy recovery from their injuries.

"Chelsea FC has reviewed the video of both incidents. We endorse the post-match comments of Jose Mourinho regarding the seriousness of these incidents.

"Chelsea will be writing to the Football Association with our observations."


Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho revealed after the victory that he feared for Cech's life following the collision.

He also believes Hunt's challenge is similar to Ben Thatcher's infamous clash with Pedro Mendes, for which the Manchester City defender received a lengthy ban.

"I am not surprised by what Petr has - to be alive he was lucky," Mourinho said after the match.

It means Chelsea will are set to start third-choice goalkeeper Hilario in the Champions League clash against Barcelona on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.

Hilario, who is 31 next week, joined the Premiership champions on a free transfer from Portuguese top-flight club CD Nacional and has yet to make his debut

What was the challenge like?

Hope hes gets better soon.

Necronomicon

I didn't see the incident, but it was a knee to the head. Chelsea issued a statement saying that the surgery was a success, but didn't say how long he'd be out for.
And to have it happen to your substitute goalkeeper as well, that's just horrible luck.

wba88

it didnt look too bad an injury (in the long run) but did look like it hurt. wasnt expecting surgery though. Cudicini had a mid air collision with sum1 and looked painfull but when he hit the ground he was ko-ed. Than john Terry went in goal at first he didnt know if he was allowed to pick up the ball or not

godtabh

Mourinho said Cech could've died! Mind that could be Mourinho and one of his statements

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

godtabh

ziggy67 wrote:

Given that Cech has a depressed skull fracture then he could well have died! :rolleyes:

I'm not a doctor so I wouldnt know if a depressed skull fracture could kill you. but what I was trying to saw was that while it probably was serious it may not have been life threating but it was made out to be

ctrl-alt-delete

ziggy67 wrote:

Given that Cech has a depressed skull fracture then he could well have died! :rolleyes:

Yeah but the way mourinho has said it it comes across as him feeling it was a deliberate attempt. It was a total accident in my opinion that could happen on any pitch anywhere.

For chelsea to come out and back his comments seems ridiculous to me, I suppose its unfortunate as they play barcelona this week with 2 world class keepers missing. It seems they are considering lodging a complaint to the F.A. about both incidents. (cech and cudicini)

Coppell apologised on behalf of his team and thats where the matter should end, all that is needed with an accident like that is an apology.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Chucky the tree

ctrl-alt-delete wrote:

Yeah but the way mourinho has said it it comes across as him feeling it was a deliberate attempt. It was a total accident in my opinion that could happen on any pitch anywhere.

For chelsea to come out and back his comments seems ridiculous to me, I suppose its unfortunate as they play barcelona this week with 2 world class keepers missing. It seems they are considering lodging a complaint to the F.A. about both incidents. (cech and cudicini)

Coppell apologised on behalf of his team and thats where the matter should end, all that is needed with an accident like that is an apology.

What excactly did Jose say?

Roddy23

Lads just posted this in another thread, didn't see this one. But here is the challenge -

http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=5913b7d9e4693825277556e824e84d08

Think its been taken wrongly by Mourinho,it was a ball Hunt had to go for IMO.

kinaldo

Chucky the tree wrote:

What excactly did Jose say?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=385367&cc=5739

Nothing wrong with Mourinho's comments imo. He didn't say it was intentional, just stupid.

Draupnir

He did say it was intentional on the MOTD interview, another retarded comment from Mourinho, if Hunt had wanted to do Cech, there is no way he could intentional knee him in the head the way he did.

Stupid comment from Mourinho, complete accident, anyone who says otherwise has an agenda.

Memnoch

Draupnir wrote:

He did say it was intentional on the MOTD interview, another retarded comment from Mourinho, if Hunt had wanted to do Cech, there is no way he could intentional knee him in the head the way he did.

Stupid comment from Mourinho, complete accident, anyone who says otherwise has an agenda.

that's nice, how you conveniently label anyone disagreeing with you as automatically having an agenda.. by the same token i say

anyone who says it's a complete accident has an agenda.

Darando

ctrl-alt-delete wrote:

It seems they are considering lodging a complaint to the F.A. about both incidents. (cech and cudicini)

Actually if you read what he said about the two incidents, he said that Cudicini was a total accident and that the player had eye only for the goal, total accident. So 2nd incident was nothing serious in his eyes.

More importantly why did Mike Riley ask for Cech to move off the pitch after the incident - surely you dont move anyone after a head injury! what a clown - not as if they could restart without a keeper.

MrJoeSoap

Draupnir wrote:

He did say it was intentional on the MOTD interview, another retarded comment from Mourinho, if Hunt had wanted to do Cech, there is no way he could intentional knee him in the head the way he did.

Stupid comment from Mourinho, complete accident, anyone who says otherwise has an agenda.

Totally agree. What possible motivation does Steven Hunt have to go and knee Petr Cech in the face so early in the game?

RasTa

Typical Jose....
http://home.skysports.com/broadband.asp?showclip=yes

godtabh

To me it did seem like a throw away comment. I hadnt seen what happened when I heard what Jose said. When I first heard it it sounded like he implied the challenge was on purpose.

I think what Jose said was blowing things out off all propotions. I think what happened to Shay Given was more serious than what happened to Cech. The Doctor at the time said Given could've died.

But as I said I dont know how serious the injury is.

MrJoeSoap

kearnsr wrote:

The Doctor at the time said Given could've died.

:eek: Link?

Don't remember hearing that! He said it was similar to the injuries sustained in a car crash I think...

Ping Chow Chi

Draupnir wrote:

He did say it was intentional on the MOTD interview, another retarded comment from Mourinho, if Hunt had wanted to do Cech, there is no way he could intentional knee him in the head the way he did.

Stupid comment from Mourinho, complete accident, anyone who says otherwise has an agenda.

I have to say it looked like hunt left his knee in, probably just to scare or glance him, but it did look like he either ment it, or that it was very clumsly.

godtabh

MrJoeSoap wrote:

:eek: Link?

Don't remember hearing that! He said it was similar to the injuries sustained in a car crash I think...

It was in the Indo at the time and I dont have it now. The Doctor said the injuries are similar to what car crash victims suffer and if the injury went untreated the "fluid" or what ever it was coming out of his stomach could've killed him if it was treated.

Draupnir

Memnoch wrote:

that's nice, how you conveniently label anyone disagreeing with you as automatically having an agenda.. by the same token i say

anyone who says it's a complete accident has an agenda.

Give me a break here, if you watch the incident, Hunt is at full pace running in a straight line for the ball, Cech slides out in front of him and Hunt's right ankle appears to go from under him in the challenge.

There is not malice or intent in that early stage of a game and it would be of no advantage.

I've seen it at least 15 times now and there was no way Hunt meant to achieve what happened, it was completely accidental and its that simple.

As I say, anyone who disagrees and says that Hunt intended to slip, lose his balance and then somehow place his knee over both Cechs arms and directly onto one part of his head, has an agenda, most likely, they have an interest in Chelsea.

Slightly differently, doesnt this give Chelsea a lovely excuse for getting buried on Wednesday!

Darando

Draupnir wrote:

Slightly differently, doesnt this give Chelsea a lovely excuse for getting buried on Wednesday!

Was waiting for the first mention of this - you should get a job with The Sun. Predictable.

Chucky the tree

Draupnir wrote:

.

As I say, anyone who disagrees and says that Hunt intended to slip, lose his balance and then somehow place his knee over both Cechs arms and directly onto one part of his head, has an agenda, most likely, they have an interest in Chelsea.

Or people who say it was an accident have an agenda, most likely, they have a interest in having a go at chelsea.


But sure, you never have get complete gob****es on this forum having a dig at chelsea whenever they get a slight chance.


Definitly not...

Draupnir

I dont want to have a go at Chelsea, my team is top of the league, I dont need to have a go at Chelsea, either way, I wouldnt have any interest in doing so. Worthy champions the last couple of years and have some of the worlds best players, I'm glad to get to see them play to be honest.

I do take offence to Mourinho constantly insulting peoples intelligence by not admitting his own players misdemenours but comes out in the public media to attack another teams player who accidently hurt one of his team, going for a legitimate ball which was there to be one.

The player slips and connects with Cech. Anyone can see it is accidental and I'm sure the player will have told Coppell who will have gone to the Chelsea dressing room to pass on the apologies etc. after the game.

Mourinho is too quick to make his own team the victim but never once admits their liability in any situation.

In this case, Hunt is completely innocent because its not something anyone could do intentionally, if there was to be intent, studs first is about the only way he could have done it.

Draupnir

Darando wrote:

Was waiting for the first mention of this - you should get a job with The Sun. Predictable.

The Sun, like I did in that post, do have a penchant for stating the obvious. Should Chelsea get stuffed on Wednesday, which is certainly not a foregone conclusion, they will have a lovely excuse in the fact that their only keepers without comedy names are both injured.

However, I feel there is a togetherness in that Chelsea side which will probably mean that this could spur them on to beat Barca midweek. The celebrations after the final whistle yesterday showed a determination and solidarity which can be huge factors in winning big games when the teams are this evenly matched.

Chucky the tree

Draupnir wrote:

I do take offence to Mourinho constantly insulting peoples intelligence by not admitting his own players misdemenours but comes out in the public media to attack another teams player who accidently hurt one of his team, going for a legitimate ball which was there to be one.


Mourinho is too quick to make his own team the victim but never once admits their liability in any situation.
.

Haha, classic.

Must be great for you, having a manager who never do that kind of thing...

Draupnir

Alex Ferguson normally does admit to the liability of United players, he doesnt often insult the intelligence of the fan by making obvious situations out to be something they are not.

Of course, this thread isnt about that so lets move on shall we?

The good news is, Cech has had some surgery which was successful, I wouldnt imagine he will be out for more than a month with a bit of luck.

Darando

Draupnir wrote:

Alex Ferguson normally does admit to the liability of United players, he doesnt often insult the intelligence of the fan by making obvious situations out to be something they are not.

Give me a break, top managers NEVER admit the liability of their players - one aspect of a good manager is the ebility to take the flak for a player when they are wrong. Fergie/Wenger/Mourinho are all the same in that aspect.

Necronomicon

I just saw the incident. I really can't see it as anything other than an accident.

wheres me jumpa

Necromomicon wrote:

I just saw the incident. I really can't see it as anything other than an accident.

Agreed.

evilhomer

Draupnir wrote:

Alex Ferguson normally does admit to the liability of United players, he doesnt often insult the intelligence of the fan by making obvious situations out to be something they are not.

"Eh, It was the Grey Jerseys, we couldn't see each other out there!"

Does that not insult everyones intelligence?

Total accident I agree too.

I hope Cech and Cudichini get better soon.
I'm sure Hilario will do an adequate job in goal with Pigdely on the bench.

I hope Cech is ok after that. I wonder will it make him think twice in the future about throwing himself into saves like that? I hope not. Super Keeper.

I'm not sure any team could cope with what happened to Chelsea today, I mean have you ever seen two goalkeepers go off in the same match injured for one team?

MrJoeSoap

evilhomer wrote:

I'm sure Hilario will do an adequate job in goal with Pigdely on the bench.

Has he been recalled? Thought it was Yves Ma Kalambay (any FM heads amongst us will know him, no doubt!) who was going to be on the bench.

evilhomer

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Has he been recalled? Thought it was Yves Ma Kalambay (any FM heads amongst us will know him, no doubt!) who was going to be on the bench.

Sorry forgot he was on loan, yeah it will be the other guy unless the long term outlook for both keepers is bleek.

thebaz

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Totally agree. What possible motivation does Steven Hunt have to go and knee Petr Cech in the face so early in the game?

Totally disagree , most nasty challenges to keepers happen early in games , i.e. intimadate -- Hunt is an unknown so maybe he was trying to make a name for himself , by an over the top challenge on the best goalkeeper in the world -- i dont think he was trying to hospitalise or kill Cech -- but it bordered on violent , and was unbelievably clumsy.

Xavi6

thebaz wrote:

Totally disagree , most nasty challenges to keepers happen early in games , i.e. intimadate -- Hunt is an unknown so maybe he was trying to make a name for himself , by an over the top challenge on the best goalkeeper in the world -- i dont think he was trying to hospitalise or kill Cech -- but it bordered on violent , and was unbelievably clumsy.

:eek: What a ridiculous comment. Hunt was trying to further his career by seriously injuring a top goalkeeper early in a game? Get real. As for being a no namer, I've known all about him since his Brentford days.

MrJoeSoap

thebaz wrote:

Hunt is an unknown

Really? I've known him (and his brother) for a while. He has the most bizarre hybrid accent I've heard in a long time.

so maybe he was trying to make a name for himself , by an over the top challenge on the best goalkeeper in the world -- i dont think he was trying to hospitalise or kill Cech -- but it bordered on violent , and was unbelievably clumsy.

So which was it? Malicious or clumsy?

Guy:Incognito

ziggy67 wrote:

Given that Cech has a depressed skull fracture then he could well have died! :rolleyes:

Yeah but that was right after the game, I doubt mourinho knew a whole lot abut wat was ging on at tha stage. He was being a tool and was pretty much calling both Reading players scumbags for was were both accidental challenges, the 2nd one moreso as the guy was running in looking at the ball and hadnt a clue who was where.

Chucky the tree

He said the 2nd was accidental and had no problem with it didnt he?

MrJoeSoap

Chucky the tree wrote:

He said the 2nd was accidental and had no problem with it didnt he?

I think he said it deserved a yellow card. Didn't see it so I'm only going on this quote.

On the other hand, the Portuguese boss said he understood the collision between Ibrahima Sonko and Cudicini was nothing more than a bad fall.

"The second is a violent fall. For me it is a fall for a yellow card. The way Carlo hits the ground was unlucky," Mourinho said.

http://worldcup.filbalad.com/english/News.asp?NewsID=28228

iregk

In fairness I think where Jose may be coming from is the look of the first challange. How many times over the course of a season have we seen a keeper slide out like Cech did, the striker sees whats happening and jumps over the keeper? Happens about 4 times an average game! This one was no different. Cech had the ball well before Hunt yet the former didn't jump he collapsed and landed on Cechs head! - Thats possibly where Jose was comming from.

Seemed strange when I was watching it but looking at replays I do believe it to be a total accident. The 2nd one most certainly was. Player going for a goal, keeper going for a punch and they hit. Happens all the time it was the landing that done Carlo in. Nothing anyone could do about that one!

Draupnir

Chucky the tree wrote:

He said the 2nd was accidental and had no problem with it didnt he?

He said something on match of the day like, "it wasnt dirty but it was violent"

iregk

Yes Draupnir and before he said it was a complete accident. Nothing dirty but violent. Whats wrong with that comment. A violent tackle can also be a good tackle! There is a difference...

SCULLY

Chucky the tree wrote:

Or people who say it was an accident have an agenda, most likely, they have a interest in having a go at chelsea.


But sure, you never have get complete gob****es on this forum having a dig at chelsea whenever they get a slight chance.


Definitly not...

Good post - once I saw this thread title I knew the usual suspects would wade in with having a pop at chelsea, regardless of the original story.

As per the incident itself - I don't think that anyone really thinks that Hunt went out to seriously injure Chec but in a lot of games you will see an early tough challange on the keeper to 'soften' them up. Will be interesting to see what action (if any) the FA will take.

Draupnir wrote:

Alex Ferguson normally does admit to the liability of United players, he doesnt often insult the intelligence of the fan by making obvious situations out to be something they are not

Of course he dosen't

sofireland

Heard on the radio that he's looking at least a couple of months out.

To me it was clumbsy, but a freak accident at the same time, i don't think hunt went out to nobble Cech, like thatcher did with mendes!

Nalz

SCULLY wrote:

... once I saw this thread title I knew the usual suspects would wade in with having a pop at chelsea, regardless of the original story.

I think alot of the comments made here have relevance to the title of the thread. His manager coming out (time after time) with OTT comments, oozing with arragance and authority yet again for all the world to see. He' s like one of those Emperors out of those annoying old fashioned Roman films, he really takes the digestive biscuit. The one thing I'll say about him is that no matter how annoying he is, he shifts the majority of the media attention on to himself and therefore there is slightly less on his players. I'll give him that, but by God all these OTT comments and sagas that unfold because of him really is annoying!

I hope Peter Cech recovers fully, but I honestly dont think Hunt meant anything by the tackle. It was an accident.

By the way, what is the condition of Cudicini?

redspider

I had a look at the incident several times, and I think like many of the posters here that it is clear that there was no malice in the challenge from Hunt. If you look at the direction of his body and his legs he wasnt trying to get Cech. Its true he didnt skip over him as he could have done that but it was a fair challenge to try and get a ball spill.

This incident was an unfortuate clash of knee and head. Probably 99 times out of 100 with the same type of challenge Cech would have surfaced bruised but okay. Sometimes innocuous enough challenges however can have far more serious injuries and this one is a case in point. Cech is a good goalie and a fair one and no-one likes to see good players out injured.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho revealed after the victory that he feared for Cech's life following the collision.

He also believes Hunt's challenge is similar to Ben Thatcher's infamous clash with Pedro Mendes, for which the Manchester City defender received a lengthy ban.

There is no way this challenge equates to anything violent or malicious. The FA wont be banning him, thats for sure. I realise that Moan-inho must stand up for his players and is unhappy to have two goalies out, but calling for this is ludicrous and is childish and in fact takes away from the seriousness of the incident.

Maybe in time goalies will get protective headgear as they have done in other sports, ala boxers that spar. Maybe this is what Moan-ino should be concentrating on.

Redspider

sofireland

He was released from Hospital, he had concussion.

He may be in the frame to play wednesday

wardie

From the sporting life :

Now Cech has been warned a return to action too soon after an operation on his fractured skull could prove fatal.

The stark warning comes from Peter Hamlyn, consultant neuro-surgeon and director for centre of sports and exercise medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, writing in the Daily Telegraph.

Hamlyn wrote: "If Petr Cech returns too soon from his head injury, the result could be fatal.

"He risks what is known as 'second impact syndrome'. This happens when a second blow causes swelling to the brain before it has recovered fully from an earlier injury. It is a situation that could prove fatal, even if the first blow is deemed not to be serious.

"With that in mind, I would think Cech is likely to be out for at least six months.

"That is about the length of time it takes for stout bone healing to take place. If the brain underlying the fracture has been greatly injured, his time out may be even longer.

"Luckily for him, skull fractures are not normally associated with severe injuries to the brain, which means we can anticipate Cech making a full recovery."

BKtje

I'm glad to hear that he should make a full recovery.

I havent over analysed the challenge on him but it seemed likc a clumsy accident to me.

looder

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Really? I've known him (and his brother) for a while. He has the most bizarre hybrid accent I've heard in a long time.

QUOTE]
its a mix between a south tipp/waterford and bad english accent.
honestly don't think hunty tried to injure cech.
about his brother, is it just me or does he have an unbelievable knack of scoring against the old firm.

thebaz

Xavi6 wrote:

:eek: What a ridiculous comment. Hunt was trying to further his career by seriously injuring a top goalkeeper early in a game? Get real. As for being a no namer, I've known all about him since his Brentford days.

I implied he was trying to make a name by intimadation and being over keen ,bordering on stupid -- if you played competitive football youd know this is a common occurance at all levels - wow , i didn't know he reached the dizzy heights of Brentford - no wonder i never heard of him before !