It seems to happen every year at every club. Sometimes its benign and there's no real effect; a few squad members who normally have limited game time that might effect the subs bench, but perhaps no real impact on the team. Or...

...its senior, important, vital cogs in the team machinery who are all struck down at the same time and the season goes from one of immense promise and potential to a tough season, possibly staring at disaster. An injury crisis can play hell with the best laid plans of everyone at the club!

So we need someone to blame done we - that's what it's about surely?!

Normally the medical department are the ones getting the brunt of the ire from all corners as some fans, coaches, executive and athletes seek the reason behind why the crisis is happening! But most of the time the medical department is just picking up the pieces from situations not of their making!

The performance and coaching departments are far more influence in how the athletes are prepared and maintained. Is the training appropriate, is the preparation work adequate to keep the squad resilient, is the periodisation of the season appropriate? The coordination of performance and coaching has a huge bearing on wether the crisis is, really, a crisis!

And of course the athletes must take their share of the responsibility - they need to work hard, rest well, eat correctly and ensure their recovery time is used appropriately - not too much extra curricular activities!!

So join us as we discuss how an injury crisis manifests and what we can do about it - if anything!!

Every season the fixture calendar is sprinkled with those large occasion games that are very much a different take on your run-of-the-mill league games - derby games, playoff matches, relegation six-pointers or giant-killing cup fixtures whet the appetitive of players, coaches, clubs and fans as the season proceeds.

Yet for the manager or head coach they provide a different challenge beyond the electricity and excitement of the fixture. Navigating your way through a specific fixture is laden with both opportunity and jeopardy! Win and you are a hero; lose and your standing on the terraces and boardroom can be severely - or even terminally - undermined!

Join us as we take you through the whistle stop tour of how a management team may choose to approach such games and how they strategise to come out with the best possible result from the fixtures.

In days of yore a Sheriff had a wide range of duties - mostly on behalf of a king or other powerful figure or landowner - that they oversaw to ensure that things were done as they were supposed to and peace and order was maintained.

The modern elite football club is a huge organisation where the front and back office staff (as well as the players) are operating in a wide variety of departments and roles that give the team the best chance of success. And where traditionally all of the football departments' management was with 'The Manager', contemporary football clubs have chosen to follow a new model, that of the Sporting or Technical Director!

This episode of the Breaking Lines Podcast explores the different types of Sporting or Technical Director roles and the backgrounds and types of people who have taken on this exciting new position. From ex-players and managers, recruiters and administrators, they job sees people from a kaleidoscope of previous roles and careers.

Done well they can really benefit the Head Coach (the more modern title for the old 'manager' titles!) and those working in football departments - so much so in fact that the role itself may soon have its very own transfers! With Dan Ashworth having an alleged £20m price tag on his head to move from Manchester United from Newcastle United, are we now at a pivot point in the world of football administration?