I was looking at the Blackpool squad list and found a name I recognised, Daniel Nardiello. After some searching I discovered an article on the former Liverpool player Michael which, despite being old, I found quite interesting (and quite damming of our medical team). Apologises if it has already been posted
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/aug/10/michael-nardiello-manchester-united-torquay-united?commentpage=1
The Guardian said:Sitting in a sparse but cosy cafe at Torquay train station, and having already spoken extensively about how his career as a professional footballer came to a juddering halt, the one-time Manchester United and Liverpool youth team player Michael Nardiello reveals what he misses most about playing. "I used to be in Championship Manager and get calls from my mates saying they'd signed me for their team or that I'd just scored for them in some match or other," he says from behind a milky coffee. "I'm not in it anymore, probably because I haven't been a pro for such a long time. I miss those calls."
A smirk spreads across Nardiello's face and it's obvious that he's talking partly in jest. But the comment is nonetheless compelling. For those unaware, Championship Manager is a popular computer game from the early 1990s that proved so addictive it near paralysed a generation of adolescent boys. Nardiello was among them but, unlike the majority of his peers, he became a player in the game itself after, in real life, signing for Manchester United and then Liverpool. For him, it truly was the stuff of fantasy.
But that fantasy soon became something closer to a nightmare. Nardiello went from Old Trafford wunderkind to Hawthorns reject, after being released by West Bromwich Albion last July at the age of 19. He has not kicked a ball in competitive anger since and joins the 600 or so professionals who are currently out of work.
That it has come to this is sure to jolt followers of youth football. Nardiello was predicted by many to be the next big thing when he signed for United from his hometown club Torquay United at the age of 14.In his first season at Old Trafford, he scored 18 goals in 23 starts for the Under-15 side. The following season he got eight in 15 starts for the Under-16s and was subsequently offered a two-year extension to his deal but turned it down after detecting his chances of making it into the United first team squad were close to zero. He instead joined Liverpool, one of 36 clubs who had expressed an interest in the then 16-year-old, for £200,000, a considerable sum for a player of his age.
Nardiello continued to shine on Merseyside scoring six goals in nine starts in his debut season (2005-06) for the Under-17s, including four in their triumphant Youth Cup run of that year. He also featured for the reserves and trained with the first team at Melwood. While this was all going on, he also scored six goals in 12 appearances for the England Under-16 and Under-17 sides, lining up alongside players of the calibre of Theo Walcott, Daniel Sturridge and James Tomkins.
But while that trio are now Premier League players, Nardiello is back living with his parents in Torquay. The frustration is tangible. "From holding my own alongside the likes of Theo Walcott I'm now out of football altogether," he says ruefully.
Nardiello's decline is not as obvious as it may seem. This is not the story of a young man who got too much too quickly and allowed complacency and waywardness to ruin him. Instead, the 20-year-old has been the victim of a somewhat rare injury that went undetected for years and began wrecking the raw talents that made him stand out in the first place.
"I had a severe case of osteitis pubis, which is a condition that affects the pelvis," explains Nardiello. "Normally the pain it causes is due to inflammation of the two joint-bones there but in my case the bones were not aligned properly. This has caused me huge discomfort and gradually made it more difficult for me to accelerate past players, which was what I was good at as a kid."
According to Nardiello, the suffering took grip during his later months at Liverpool – "I lost a yard of pace and didn't know why" – and worsened considerably after they released him, because of his declining form, to West Bromwich in July 2006. "Bryan Robson was the manager at the time and he got me involved with the first team straight away," he said. "I was desperate to prove myself after what happened at Liverpool but the pain returned and I was again slowing down and not really sure why. I got dropped to the youth side but did OK there and scored 24 goals in 28 games."
Things only got worse for Nardiello the following season when the pain spread to his back. He underwent a double hernia operation in November 2007 and it was only when that failed to work that West Brom diagnosed the cause to be osteitis pubis. "But they only treated the inflammation, they didn't pick up on the bad alignment," said Nardiello. "I never got fit enough to play any longer than a couple of games in a row."
Having been released by West Bromwich and with the help of the Professional Footballers' Association, Nardiello then got further medical help at the Lilleshall Sports Injury Rehab Centre. But, again, a long-term solution was not found. By the turn of this year, a crossroads had been reached. "I seriously considered calling it a day and getting a job," said Nardiello. "Giving up football would have been soul- destroying but there seemed no way back. I also had to think about money. I was dipping into my savings, which I'd put aside for a deposit on a first house, and relying on my parents to give me somewhere to stay. That couldn't last forever."
Salvation, though, was found in the nick of time after Nardiello discovered the world renowned physiotherapist Alison Rose, who is credited with helping Kelly Holmes get in shape prior to her double gold-medal triumph at the Athens Olympics. Nardiello went to see Rose at her clinic in Leeds this spring and describes it as "one of the most important moments of my life".
"Alison detected the alignment problem straight away," he said. "One of the bones was so far back from where it should have been that she thought it was missing."
"It was the worst case of osteitis pubis I have ever seen," concurred Rose. "Normally in cases of bad pelvic alignment, the bones are no more than half a centimetre out of place. In Michael's case, it was close to half an inch."
Nardiello and Rose have since worked tirelessly to get him back in shape. There have been six trips to Leeds alongside a self-help programme that includes core-strength work, running and yoga. "I'm probably now only a couple of months away from being as fit and strong as I've ever been," Nardiello said. "There is next to no pain and I can feel that raw pace coming back. What Alison has done for me has been amazing. She has rescued my career."
It is a career Nardiello hopes will be reignited during the coming season. Torquay and Plymouth have already promised him a trial once he is 100% fit but the man once the subject of a front-page headline on the Devon-based Herald Express that read 'Bay boy signs for United' has his sights set higher.
"Torquay and Plymouth's offers are great and I'll consider taking one up, but I genuinely feel I can do the business further up the divisions," he said. "A lot of clubs won't even look at me yet because I haven't played for such a long time but hopefully I can eventually prove my talents. Physically I'm nearly there and the hunger to succeed is greater than ever."
His Italian heritage means Nardiello is not averse to playing abroad but his desire is to remain in this country. His name alone should alert some interest – Daniel Nardiello, Michael's cousin, also played for United and is now at Blackpool, while his father Gerry used to play for Shrewsbury and his uncle John Arthur for Coventry.
"Football is in my blood," said Nardiello. "I'm not owed a career and at times I haven't helped myself – it was perhaps a mistake to leave United when I did – but this is what I'm meant to do and, hopefully, do well. I've hit rock bottom but will do my best to get to the top."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/aug/10/michael-nardiello-manchester-united-torquay-united?commentpage=1
