Birtles: Modern players do not know what being tired is

PEOPLE can argue that modern football is faster; that it is more intense and physically demanding.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

There isn't really any way of finding out now.

You could argue that the pitches were heavier in my day, that the playing conditions in the winter were less conducive to flowing football.

Either way, one thing continues to amaze me.

When, exactly, did players suddenly get to the point where they need a 'rest'?

When did managers decide that players required a break from the action, to recharge their batteries?

I am sorry, but that is utter nonsense.

Fair play, then, to Paul McKenna, the Forest skipper, who this week pledged that he was ready to pull on a red shirt in every game between now and the end of the season.

Billy Davies feels that his inspirational captain is jaded and in need of a rest.

And he has already given Paul Anderson, Robert Earnshaw and Dexter Blackstock a spell on the sidelines due to fatigue in recent weeks.

Now, I am sorry, but I just can't get my head around that.

No disrespect to Billy, because he has done an outstanding job and, given the results Forest have picked up, you can hardly question his tactical decisions.

But I just can't honestly believe that a player can require a rest.

I have a lot of respect for McKenna for his attitude.

He has played in every Championship game so far this season and he has pledged that he will play in every remaining fixture, team selection and injury permitting.

It is just a shame that all professionals do not share his commitment.

Now, I don't mean that as a dig specifically as the rest of the Forest squad.

But there does seem to have been a significant change in attitudes within the game.

In my day, McKenna's attitude was the norm. You wanted to play in every single game.

If Cloughie had told me he was giving me a rest, I'd have been bewildered.

Not that he would have done, however – under Clough, we used to squeeze in friendlies in the middle of the season that he would expect us to be as committed in as we would be in a cup final.

Yes, you got tired; you certainly felt fatigued. But you got on with it.

When you were winning matches, Cloughie would give you two or sometimes even three games off after the game, just to make sure your body recovered.

No ice baths, no fancy masseurs, no sports scientists. Just plain, old fashioned rest between games. Or, if I am honest, probably a few good nights down the pub when we would properly get stuck into a few beers.

The lifestyle we led was hardly perfect.

But that is kind of my point. Even through that unique 80s football diet of beer and bad food, I was able to function, to get through 60 or even 70 games in a season, when we were in our pomp.

John Robertson played every game of the title winning season in 1978 and he used to smoke, as well as enjoy the odd pint of beer.

Matches and a few training sessions were enough to keep us ticking over.

On top of that, I would go for runs on my own to keep my fitness levels up and, every Thursday afternoon, I would play squash for a couple of hours.

Can you imagine trying to explain that to a manager now?

You'd get quite a long rest from the side now, if they found out, that is for sure.

A lot of clubs will not even allow players to go for a round of golf in the few days preceding a game, in case it tires them out.

That is just ridiculous.

But, hopefully McKenna will repeat the efforts of Robertson, by playing in every match this season.

And, with a bit of luck, just maybe the campaign could have a similar outcome, with Forest earning a place back in the top flight.