I love Cammy Devlin to bits - especially the part of him that would slide tackle a brick wall for his team. But there comes a time when a player’s willingness to put their body on the line has to be taken out their hands.
Head injuries are the prime example. Devlin literally bled for his country after a nasty collision in Australia’s friendly defeat to Ecuador on Tuesday. I can’t believe he was allowed to carry on playing with a blood-soaked bandage round his head even if he was adamant he didn’t want to come off. The midfielder has since been diagnosed with concussion and will miss Hearts ’ trip to Kilmarnock this afternoon. That’s a blow for the Jambos. But on a far more serious note it was a blow to Devlin’s health.
If I was Hearts I'd be asking questions. They’ve now lost a player ahead of a huge game. But was there negligence on the part of his national team? It doesn’t look great bandaging him up and letting him play on. Listen, head knocks will happen. It’s about how those in charge react. We have a duty of care to look after players especially when you see the impact of what’s happened to generations before us simply from heading the ball. The fact it was a friendly match which Devlin took the knock and was allowed to play on makes it 100 times worse.
