I think it's fairly obvious now that Pardew wasn't working on fitness properly. We could see that by the fact we were switching off in the dying moments of the first and second half so regularly.

The injuries are just the more tangible explanation of that poor practice.

Can't be fixed mid season, the lads need a proper preseason so tehy can be properly firing next season. Let's just hope it hasn't already cost us our prem status!

I think there are a few contributing factors:

We have one of the older squads in the league.

It seemed player fitness and conditioning has been declining since Pardew took over. Allardyce has tried to correct this somewhat but it's limited what he can do coming in halfway through the season.

Recruitment; Pardew brought in players that were notoriously injury prone or had barely played in the last couple of seasons; Flamini, Remy, Wickham was injury prone when we got him.

That's not to say we've not also been unlucky.