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Camara has class to make major impact – Blackwell
KEVIN BLACKWELL has had to play the mind games and resist throwing players into his Sheffield United side during their injury crisis.
Blades fans will have wondered why Henri Camara had only being given three outings off the bench after the way he added zest into the attack on his first start against Peterborough.
Camara now seems sets for more than just a cameo role after the Senegal international notched the winner against Posh.
Blackwell took time to explain the position regarding the 32-year-old former Wigan Athletic forward, who has signed a short-term deal until the end of the season and who would not look out of place at a higher level on this display.
"Camara has not started for five-and-a-half months but today he was unplayable and he and Ched Evans were a good partnership," said Blackwell.
"Agents can sometimes cause problems and I wonder if they were pricing him out of the market. But you look at the quality he has brought in training and he has still got it. He is quick, he is sharp and has not an ounce of extra weight on him. His finish was first class – he read the situation and finished well and he can be a big player. It's been about him coming here and getting fit and that's taken time.
"It would have been all too easy to throw him in not fit and then he would have made no impact and would have had a real struggle. I was aware of that so we have weaned him in, giving him 20 minutes here and there and then got him training through the week for four or five weeks because he had not done anything for three months.
"He gives us that something different, his awareness, his runs, his anticipation are things that we have really struggled to find.
"I knew he was good and that he would play better with better players. When you are not fit, your mind writes cheques that your body can't cash and that's when you start getting injured.
"Camara is a fine-tuned athlete, you can't just throw him in. Psychologically, if players come in and they can't quite do it then it takes a long time to repair the damage. The players feel low, they don't take chances, they don't take risks. Why? Because the crowd will start turning, so you have to be careful not to rush players back even when you are in desperate trouble.
"I don't expect supporters to understand the psychological aspect of sport but it is a major factor and Arsene Wenger (Arsenal manager) is a major advocate of it – knowing when to bring players back and when to make changes. A player with confidence will climb a mountain for you. A player without confidence won't even get off the plane to climb that mountain. Without confidence you will not takes risks and in the last third you need players to take risks, have a gamble ."
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
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