SWINDON TOWN: Archibald-Henville faces six months out

6:00am Monday 7th January 2013 in Sport Exclusive By Sam Morshead

Swindon Town's Troy Archibald-Henville with boss Paolo Di canio Swindon Town's Troy Archibald-Henville with boss Paolo Di canio

TROY Archibald-Henville could be out of action for up to six months with knee cartilage damage.

The Advertiser revealed last week that the defender, signed for £200,000 from Exeter in the summer, had flown out to the Villa Stuart sports rehabilitation facility on the outskirts of Rome in preparation for exploratory surgery - and Swindon Town manager Paolo Di Canio confirmed on Saturday that the 24-year-old will go under the knife today.

Archibald-Henville is due to be treated by one of the world’s leading sports injury specialists, Professor Pier Paolo Mariani, who will look to establish how bad the damage is to the cartilage in the defender’s knee.

Di Canio revealed that the injury is not new and he said Archibald-Henville will face between six weeks and half a year on the sidelines.

“He’s going to have surgery probably on Monday to check exactly what problem he’s got,” said the Swindon boss.

“We discovered in the last three years he’s had three surgeries – one in the right knee and two in the left knees . He had the surgery at Bristol and the rehabilitation wasn’t really good.

“I don’t want to say who is at fault but it has deteriorated the cartilage quite a lot. It’s a problem that, from the tests he had in the summer, didn’t come out. Once he had a hard session it came out, he had a scan and there is a dark area.

“We asked (about) the previous surgeries because they should have a disc or the film because now it is legal. Those disappeared.

“The lad didn’t remember and then we tried to ask the Bristol hospital for some pictures. We sent them yesterday to Mariani and the lad is more than happy to have it checked on Monday in arthroscopy.

“Once Mariani has gone inside he will decide whether he is one month and a half like Jay (McEveley), a simple problem; a medium problem is two and a half months or even, we have to be honest, six months if he needs an implant of cartilage.

“I told the lad and he is more than happy. I told him ‘everything they are going to do, you are in the best hands’ because if you do it in England, with all respect, in a place where they don’t have a surgery for athletes - you can have a big problem for the future.

“Even if it takes six months at the worst, you’re going to have the best implant, the best situation and he knows in six months he can come back and he is young, not 35. He can have the rest of his career with more chances to play and train hard as an athlete.”

Comments(22)

bowralbob says...
6:18am Mon 7 Jan 13

I wonder if due diligence was done properly when we signed the lad?
Now it is a case of wait and see how the operation goes.

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louiscassius says...
6:43am Mon 7 Jan 13

Looks like someone dropped a bo11ox didnt they......

Oh well, all we can do is hope that is minor and the lad comes back bigger, stronger than ever!!

Exeter - They knew there was an issue, but kept that well hidden.....bl**dy Bar stewards..........Go
od business for them though i suppose.....

Louis :-((

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Ollie Reed's Parky dance! says...
6:50am Mon 7 Jan 13

Oh great, one of the top earners out till August but he may come back like a new player with PDC pre season?

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Rod Bourne says...
7:14am Mon 7 Jan 13

why are we calling the lad "the lad"?

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DarrenSTFCRomain says...
7:16am Mon 7 Jan 13

louiscassius wrote:
Looks like someone dropped a bo11ox didnt they...... Oh well, all we can do is hope that is minor and the lad comes back bigger, stronger than ever!! Exeter - They knew there was an issue, but kept that well hidden.....bl**dy Bar stewards..........Go od business for them though i suppose..... Louis :-((
I wonder how it never come up on the medical records...
SOMETHING NOT RIGHT HERE

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old town robin says...
8:28am Mon 7 Jan 13

There could be some repercussions here if it can be proved Exeter were ecconomic with the true extent of the damage to the knee.

With 3 ops already we weretaking a huge risk, I'm really surprised this was not brought up at the tribunial of the gamble we undertook.

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Robinonfire says...
8:45am Mon 7 Jan 13

Must keep Flint

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the wizard says...
9:01am Mon 7 Jan 13

I don't think we have heard all of it yet, surely the player must have had some sort of medical here where he was asked questions about previous injuries etc, so did he keep schtum as well ?

As goes Exeter, I expect all they saw was money for somebody they may not be able to afford to keep fit.

I'm with Robinonfire, we must keep Flint now.

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oncearedalwaysared says...
9:06am Mon 7 Jan 13

If stories are true it seems Flint is on his way out too. A big gamble but I presume PDC is thinking he hac always use McCormack as a third centre back with Jay fitting back in at left back. If that frees up the cash for Hollands, Martin and Bostock then it is probably the right decision, unless Mr Black loosens the purse strings, which he clearly isn't going to do.

PDC must still see something in Bostock in training otherwise why would he want to hang on to him so badly when he is only on the periphery of the team. I assume it's as a straight back up for Simon Ferry who surely can't go all season without a rest, injury or suspension?

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Psychedelic Syd says...
9:29am Mon 7 Jan 13

This seems highly suspicious - how can 3 operations just disappear off the record and not be mentioned or known about at the time of transfer? What difference would this knowledge have made to the tribunal fee? I think we need to consult a lawyer and quickly. We need our money back.

Onceared, I hope Flint is not on his way out, he is a good player and has youth on his side which Ward, however well he looks after himself, does not. Macca does not have the stature for centre back at this level. Bostock is sheer class and a must keep in my eyes.

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Wilesy says...
10:19am Mon 7 Jan 13

With Troy out keeping Flint is surely more essential than any of the loans?

We have adequate cover in midfield and up front but not at centre back, Macca not a League 1 centre back in my eyes, and although I suppose he could fill in, Risser is off to Aldershot.

Would be madness to move Flint on with this news, madness.

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mallorca says...
11:15am Mon 7 Jan 13

first hope player recovers asap.
Also surely Exeter did know of his medical problems before he came to us???also the player himself also knew what was going on.So why was it not disclosed at the transfer date???
The tribunial and Exeter were quick enough to demand the money so now we are lumbered with a player with long time injury on decent wages.
as posts have said we aint heard the last of this one.I just feel Exeter and the Player knew what was going on and it was not disclosed really smells

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madterrier says...
11:54am Mon 7 Jan 13

Three operations in three years, and now a fourth probably needed??!!

This guy is crocked, which in turn has crocked the club's finances. I wouldn't expect that we are going to see much of him in a Swindon shirt, if ever again.

Incredible that none of this was picked up. So who might have known information about his operations, that should have figured in the medical and the tribunal?

1. Exeter
2. TA-H himself
3. Swindon
4. The clinic in Bristol that did the operations
5. The Football League tribunal

I don't think we can level accusations at the Football League. They can only go on the basis of the information that is presented to them.

But if the FL asks for medical records in setting a fee (do they?), and if we were competent enough to investigate or ask for a medical history or do any due diligence (maybe that's a big ask), then the only people who can be 'guilty' are Exeter and Archibald-Henville.

Let's hope that it's not Swindon's fault, and that both we and the FL did ask for full medical records, which were fudged, and that there is a line of litigation against Exeter that is now open to us.

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Oi Den! says...
11:59am Mon 7 Jan 13

Wilesy wrote:
With Troy out keeping Flint is surely more essential than any of the loans?

We have adequate cover in midfield and up front but not at centre back, Macca not a League 1 centre back in my eyes, and although I suppose he could fill in, Risser is off to Aldershot.

Would be madness to move Flint on with this news, madness.
Important to keep Hollands. I think he's been the key to our recent successes, bringing a controlled combative element into the midfield, which has given Ferry more freedom.
.
Agree about Flint though. Ward and Devera are the right partnership for the moment but Flint is the future. Also he now has a haircut that will surely meet with PDC's approval!
Absolutely must keep him.

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madterrier says...
12:01pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Which means another issue for Pate to field questions on and duck and weave over the answers!

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Oi Den! says...
12:09pm Mon 7 Jan 13

terrier, I would hope that the onus is on the selling club to disclose all relevant information to the tribunal, not on the tribunal or the buying club to ask for it. Seems to me that either Exeter have played silly b*ggers or we took a gamble on a player with a dodgy knee. Maybe it will not turn out to be a very bad condition and we'll eventually be able to recover some of the fee paid by selling him.

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Oi Den! says...
12:17pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Scaremongering headline again. Strange how between 6 weeks and 6 months becomes "faces 6 months out"!

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Davidsyrett says...
1:03pm Mon 7 Jan 13

I don't think TAH problems will make any difference to whether Flinty is sold, if the price is right he will go. PdC has to look short term if the main aim is to be promotion, new players or securing loan signings will out weigh cover for CB.

We can always loan in a CB if Big Joe or Wardy gets injured.

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Old-Stager, Hilperton says...
1:51pm Mon 7 Jan 13

It would be a huge mistake to sell Aden Flint anyway !

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London Red says...
2:00pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Exactly David - PdC pretty much said that!
.
He clearly said he may sell Flint as he has more important place to fill now - i.e Hollands and Martin
.
Yes Ward or Devera may get injured - but they may not - neither have been so far - has Devera actually ever been injured while at us?
.
Why send back 2 players who are closer to the first team than Flint just in case something happens elsewhere?
.
Jay is back in a week so that frees up Macca to slot in if one was to get injured
.
Ideally we can keep all 3 - but for me Hollands and Martin to at least the summer is more important than Flint

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thegaffer says...
3:56pm Mon 7 Jan 13

This may not be all doom and gloom. Ward is in the twilight of his career and possibly, with TAH getting world class treatment,hopefully he will regain full fitness in due time. He is young and I think a great prospect for the future ( PC must think the same to pay descent money for him) So maybe by next season TAH will get the opportunity to fulfil the promise we had when he was signed.

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Wilesy says...
6:26pm Mon 7 Jan 13

London Red wrote:
Exactly David - PdC pretty much said that!
.
He clearly said he may sell Flint as he has more important place to fill now - i.e Hollands and Martin
.
Yes Ward or Devera may get injured - but they may not - neither have been so far - has Devera actually ever been injured while at us?
.
Why send back 2 players who are closer to the first team than Flint just in case something happens elsewhere?
.
Jay is back in a week so that frees up Macca to slot in if one was to get injured
.
Ideally we can keep all 3 - but for me Hollands and Martin to at least the summer is more important than Flint
For me Hollands, Martin, and Flint to at least the summer is more important than Navarro.

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