redmatchday interview
ROB MILSOM
If there is any consolation for Andrew Considine and Chris Clark, currently consigned to the long term injured list at Pittodrie, it comes in the form of players like Rob Milsom, back on the pitch and making an impact f or the Dons after a year he’d probably like to forget, a year where one injury setback after another has kept him sidelined as his teammates have weathered their various ups and downs.
As fans, we often talk about how frustrating it is only being able to watch the players without being able to get in the thick of the action, but given that we all come in a variety of sizes and shapes – not all of them footballer shape if we are honest with ourselves – we know that such a prospect is so remote as to be impossible. But imagine being a player, in the prime of health and fitness, a core member of the squad and then being required to sit and watch for a year while going through the agonising work of rehabilitation, and being able to do nothing to help. Now that’s frustrating. But don’t take my word for it. Let’s ask Rob Milsom for his views instead.
“It has been a very difficult time for me with the injuries, a complete nightmare to be honest because it happened three times and that is very hard to handle. When you get the original injury, you have your operation and you think that is the problem sorted. You then have a road to recovery mapped out, so you have a timescale in your mind, and that was four months when I had the original injury last season. I reached that four months and then in the second training session back, the same thing happened again. Then you get another timescale and you have to adjust to that.
“I went away and worked over the summer, worked really hard to get fit for pre-season. I came back fit for the start of the season, but I was still getting little niggles here and there, and it took another operation to get those fixed, so that was another four month spell. Thankfully the problem is now sorted and I can put the last year behind me, but it was a very difficult time.
“It was just a minor knee problem that I had, one that many footballers have and I guess that’s what made it even more frustrating because I ended up having complications with it. They found a cyst in the knee which was irritating the joint. It was not a major problem, but every time I played, the cyst was affecting the knee joint. It was not that painful but after training and matches, my knee would swell up. When you have swelling within your knee it is not a good sign! Luckily in the end they got to the root of it, got rid of the cyst beside the joint and now I feel fine.
“I went down to London for the operation. I saw a specialist I have seen before when I had problems with my other knee, and I had confidence in him because he fixed that when I was down at Fulham. I made the decision to go down and see him and he did the first two operations and a guy in Glasgow did the third one.
“When you are out, it is mentally hard more than anything. That was my third twelve month injury and there is nothing harder than trying to get through those twelve months when all you want to do is play football.
“It makes for a long day. You are the first ones in in the morning and the last ones to leave the dressing room at night. You do not want to see other players getting injured, but it does help having teammates to help you and probably Andy and Chris will find that in the next few months, they’ll help each other through. When you are injured on your own, it can be tough to go in the gym and really push yourself to get fit, but if you don’t, you feel bad when you go home and you have not done the things that have been asked of you. It is so important for your state of mind to go in and work hard and give it 100%, just as you would if you were preparing for a game. When you have other players to work with, it is mentally easier because you can encourage each other and motivate each other. I think it is the same in any walk of life. It makes life easier when you are working with people.
“Then on a Saturday, it does not get any easier, having to sit in the stand and watch the games! It’s ok watching games that I was not involved in, like sitting watching Champions League games during the week or Premiership games on a Sunday. But when you are watching Aberdeen games knowing that you should be a part of it, it was very difficult. But then again I cannot stay away from it, so it is catch 22. I want to be at the games because I like watching football, but it gets very frustrating when you cannot play.
“Saying all that about how hard it was, even through the darkest days, I never wanted to give up. I have one career and I want to achieve as much as possible during that career and do the best I can. I never had any thoughts of giving up during any of the periods out that I have had. You never get to the point where you want to give in. It is a matter of getting yourself into the club every day and getting yourself up for working hard and concentrate on trying to get fit.
“It is a massive relief that I can now just concentrate on my football because the last year, that injury was always lingering over me. I could play and I might have felt absolutely fine but then you would wake up in the morning and your knee would be full of fluid. It was a constant worry thinking, “When is it going to swell up again?” Mentally it kills you because you know it is not right and you are going to have to go and get something else done. Now I can just get on and play and it is like a weight going off your shoulders”.
With Rob’s return and that of the likes of Isaac Osbourne, and with others such as Ryan Jack nearing fitness again, Craig Brown has gone on record to say it’s like bringing in a host of new signings, a feeling that Rob shares.
“It does feel a bit like that. I do not normally get too nervous before games but with my first match against Hibs, I had a feeling I was going to start and I woke up that Sunday morning really quite nervous. It was because I have not played for so long and everyone has doubts about you and about your fitness. I was so up for the game as I wanted to prove to people that I can still play. I have to prove myself all over again. I have to prove myself to my teammates, many of whom I have not played with before. I have to prove myself to the manager and the coaches and I have to prove to myself that I can still play at a high level.
“The only disappointment is that since I have come back into the team, we have had a difficult time. All the players were massively disappointed to lose to Hibs in the cup. For a club like Aberdeen, we all know how important it is to stay in the cup competitions and how much it means to the fans. We know how much they want us to get to a final and make it a successful season. It is not just the fans though who feel that disappointment. The players, the management, the staff are just as disappointed. It was hard to take but all we can do now though is move on.
“Getting over a defeat like that is not easy. The first couple of days after the game, you have to try and get it out of your head as you have another game coming up. If you still have that defeat at the back of your mind, you are not going to be fully prepared for the next game, so as footballers, you have to put it behind you and still try and have a positive frame of mind. All we can do is concentrate on the league and try and finish as high as we can. As we only have the league to play for we have to look towards getting a European spot. It is a must for this club now.
“I’ve felt in recent weeks, especially the two games against Hibs and the one against St Mirren last Saturday, that we were the better team, but it is not always the team that plays the best that gets the result. We have to keep approaching games in a positive frame of mind and hopefully our luck will change. There is still a lot to play for in the league, starting tonight. We still have a lot of home games coming up so hopefully the fans will keep turning up and will keep supporting us. I can understand the frustrations of the fans but we need them to stick by us. If we all stick together this can still be a successful season, if we can get back in Europe and with 12 games left there is no reason why we cannot do that”.
A Londoner by birth, Rob might well be a long way from home, but like so many of our imports, he now considers the Granite City to be home from home.
“I have been in Aberdeen for two years now and I feel very much at home here. I think I settled in quickly when I first moved up here. The first couple of weeks were a bit funny, new surroundings, new people but after that I felt fine. Although people say Aberdeen is isolated, I can get back to London very quickly. The airport is only fifteen minutes from my flat, it is only an hour and fifteen minute flight and then Gatwick airport is only fifteen minutes from my home in London. So all in all it is no more that a three hour journey. Sometimes the boys who are going back to Glasgow are not getting home any quicker.
“My family are a big part of my life. We have been through quite a lot together so it is important I can get to see them as often as I can. They also try and get up to Aberdeen to watch a game when they can. It does make it a lot easier and more enjoyable for them when I am playing a game, because it gives them something to watch! Not saying that they don’t enjoy my company and seeing me anyway, but especially my mum wants to watch me play football as she has been at my games since I was a young lad. She still takes a big interest in watching my games.
“The winter break was nice because I was able to go home and Fulham were good enough to let me train with them which was very important. I had only been back training for a week here and then the boys were going away for a break for seven, eight, nine days. I did not want to let my fitness drop, so luckily I am still quite close to the guys at Fulham especially Billy McKinlay. I spoke to him to ask if it was possible for me to go and train with the development squad for a week which was not a problem so I went and spent a week back in London. I trained with Jack Grimmer every day. He is doing really well. I think he got onto the bench for their FA Cup tie.
“It was good to see Billy again, he’s a great coach and he is the one person who has had the most influence on my career. I could not say a bad word about him to be honest. I played with him for a year in the reserves at Fulham and then from the age of 17 to 23, he was my coach. He was excellent, both him and Ray Lewington – who is now the assistant manager of the England.
“I still speak to him regularly and he is always available at the other end of a phone if I need to speak with someone. He is always full of advice for me. He will tell me what I am doing wrong and what I am doing right. I have taken some massive rollockings from him in the past, but he was also there to give you a pat on the back as well.
“When I went back, quite a lot had changed at Fulham. Quite a lot of the boys had left and they had changed quite a bit about their style of play, their training. Although they have not been doing that well recently, they are never a team that is likely to go down which is quite an achievement as they are not the biggest of clubs and are not the biggest of spenders. I know that it is a very well run club. They are very careful with which players they buy and how they sell. I read the other day that they are not in any debt which is a miracle these days. They are a really good club”.
For Rob, it’s now full steam ahead, trying to make up for time lost over the last year as he points out. “Although I have had a difficult time with injury since I have been at the club, when I have been playing I have loved it. It is a good place to come and play football. Everyone has their up and their downs, but all in all it is a very good club and I have enjoyed myself here.
“I have been really impressed with the young boys here and the players this club produces. They produce one or two every season and that is even with some of them moving on to other clubs such as Jack. I have been really impressed with the talent that they have got up here. The young players here are as good as the players many Premiership clubs are producing through their Academies. There is plenty for this club to look forward to in the future”.
