How an Everton medical is conducted"Personal terms have been agreed and the player is having his medical."
How many times did you switch your television on to Sky Sports News throughout January and hear Jim White or one of his fellow anchors usher that commonly-used, clichéd phrase in relation to a breaking news story?
Prior to any piece of transfer business, especially at the top level, the footballer in question will undergo a thorough physical assessment - their ‘medical’ - before switching from one club to another. It’s a comprehensive process and the outcome is not simply a case of pass or fail.
To establish what exactly is involved, from start to finish, we spoke at length to Matt Connery, an expert in his profession and the man responsible for heading up Everton’s multi-disciplinary medical team.
He joined the Club in 2001 and, in his current role as Head of Medical Services, oversees the team of doctors, physiotherapists, podiatrists and masseurs working to provide high performance service for the professional squad.
Highly qualified, Connery boasts an impressive resume. He began his career by studying for a degree in Exercise and Health, and then further supplemented his knowledge with a Masters in Rehabilitation Science, which enabled him to become a Chartered Physiotherapist.
Throughout his studies, he gained experience in football by spending time with Scottish clubs Clyde, Partick Thistle and Hamilton Academical, before later taking up his first full-time position with Port Vale. At Vale Park, he initially started out with the School of Excellence before advancing to their senior team.
Sixteen years ago, during the Walter Smith era, Connery was offered the opportunity to work for Everton - and he jumped at the chance to apply his skills in the Premier League and has since progressed to become one of the longest-serving members of staff at the Club.
A popular, much-respected figure at Finch Farm, Matt goes into great detail to explain the stage-by-stage process of a medical, the likes of which January acquisitions Ademola Lookman and Morgan Schneiderlin had to undergo before rubber-stamping their moves from Charlton Athletic and Manchester United respectively.
Research - Study - Compile a portfolio“The first thing we do is compile a dossier. Within that, the scouting department bring together comprehensive details about that player. It has a wide range of information; what club he currently plays for, his position, whether he’s left or right footed, his age and nationality. It will list his height and weight, playing style and background, such as whether he is a product of a certain academy.
“The first thing we do is compile a dossier. Within that, the scouting department bring together comprehensive details about that player. It has a wide range of information; what club he currently plays for, his position, whether he’s left or right footed, his age and nationality. It will list his height and weight, playing style and background, such as whether he is a product of a certain academy.
"There are physical stats, too. For example, if he was a midfielder it would have information on whether he will cover a lot of high-speed distance. It even states whether he has a presence on social media, which can give an insight into personality traits. It will also detail any historical injuries which are known of and provide a guide on his availability in terms of games played over the last few years. If there were gaps in that, we would want to find out why he has missed a certain number of weeks or months.
“As a medical department, we would familiarise ourselves with this dossier prior to meeting the player.”
Liase with medical counterparts“It depends where the player is coming from with regards to how much medical information we have previously obtained. If he’s joining from a Premier League side and we have been able to familiarise ourselves from seeing him play week in and week out, plus we know the club he is moving from, then quite often we can compile thorough medical notes.
“If the player is transferring from a club we know, I will have a conversation with their medical staff and they will assist by transferring his records. Generally, prior to me meeting him, I will have had a chance to look through these and see if there is anything of a concerning nature.
“However, if he’s coming from another part of the world, sometimes we haven’t got as many details and this isn’t possible.”
Thorough physical assessments“Once the player arrives, the Club doctor will start by doing his part of the assessment. This screening provides all of the player’s medical information. This will reveal previous and any current injuries, surgeries or illnesses. It will also go into details of his family medical history and investigate whether his parents, brothers or sisters have any conditions.The doctor will also check his vaccination record to see if he has had those for different diseases. Next, there is the physical observation; blood pressure, pulse and other checks.
“Following this, we would do orthopaedic tests. We would do that initially at Finch Farm and, at this stage, we would get hands-on with the player. If there is any part of his body where he has had injuries in the past, we might focus on that area in more detail.
“We would continue by doing blood screening and MRI scans. An MRI scan basically takes internal pictures of the body - it provides images of the different anatomical structures.
“We would generally scan lumbar spine, pelvis, hip, knees and ankles. Typically, in an outfield player, the majority of injuries are waist down, so we place more emphasis on that. If it was a goalkeeper, we might look at shoulders and other things.
“Following the MRI scan, the next thing is cardiac assessment. This takes place at the hospital and our potential new signing would be evaluated by the cardiologist, who puts him through an ECHO examination to see the structure of the heart, and an ECG to look at the electrical activity within the heart.”
Feedback and advice“From there, we pull all the information together. These days, most of the time it isn’t simply a case of pass or fail. Instead, it’s a risk assessment.
“It’s a little bit like buying a house when you will undertake a survey. You may find there’s some issues but you are still comfortable with that level of risk or exposure. It all depends on the situation.
“Most players have an injury history and it’s not often you get someone who comes in with a totally clean bill of health. So then you have to decide, in relation to the contract they are going to be given, what the risk assessment is. For example, if there are any degenerative type problems going on, you have not got the same concerns if it’s a 12-month deal compared to a five-year one.
“After considering all the information, we advise to the appropriate staff within the Club and they decide if it’s a risk the Club is comfortable with. But all these medicals are a team decision. It’s not one man who makes the call - we are all a team and everyone contributes heavily.”
Forging relationships“I’ve got great staff who I trust completely. However, when it comes to big medicals then obviously I need to cast my eye over certain things. In this day and age, I can look at a lot of the aforementioned information remotely and discuss the various findings with the team.
“There have been times where I’ve been on holiday in Spain and I have had to get involved in medicals. I remember one occasion when I was at a zoo with my family and whilst I was on the phone discussing a player’s potential transfer, I had to try to not get distracted by my four-year-old son who was trying his best to get his fingers bitten off by a local donkey!
“Whenever I’m on holiday I take my laptop so I can look at any scans and go through information. All the medical history now is digital, which means it is able to be sent across to me. I can do most of my work remotely, although I can’t get hands-on, but my staff are extremely competent.
“I’m fortunate that I really enjoy most aspects of my work. There’s not a day goes by when I don’t want to be here. Obviously there are harder days than others, like any profession. The Premier League is a demanding season but it’s an exciting time when we are bringing in new players that can potentially help get us where we want to be.
“It’s nice to meet and start working relationships with players from different cultures. It’s rewarding to see them perform and become a really positive asset for Everton.”
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