Football needs to catch up with the world on concussion, according to former Everton player Pat Nevin.
Leeds player Robin Koch was the latest player to suffer a head injury, return to play and subsequently be removed from the game following continued issues.
In his side's 4-2 loss to Manchester United, Koch sustained a cut near an eye but swiftly returned to the pitch with his head heavily bandaged, before 15-minutes later signalling that he could not continue.
His return to play has been criticised by the IFAB who said it was going against the FA's guidelines of 'if in doubt, sit it out', which has been adopted by the Premier League.
Leeds claim otherwise stating:
“Robin Koch passed all the on-field concussion screening tests that are currently part of the Premier League protocols,” it read. “The player was told that, if he developed any symptoms, he should sit down on the field of play and would be substituted immediately, which is what Robin did.”
“The medical staff at Leeds have always been in favour of temporary substitutions for head injuries as it would allow a period for symptoms to potentially develop,”
“Robin will now follow the concussion protocols before returning to play.” On Sunday Marcelo Bielsa, the Leeds manager, said Koch was withdrawn purely because of blood loss from the cut."
Whether they had followed the guidelines or not is irregardless to Nevin, who told Off The Ball, that the sport as a whole is not going far enough to deal with the issue.
"It drives me nuts when football drags its heels on these things.", Nevin said on The Football Show.
"Dreadful things have happened from concussion, longer term, we know that. However, something dreadful might happen on the field of player because that's not been taken care of."
"It's got to change 100%."
Concussion substitutions have been introduced in recent years to help combat the issue, but while Nevin agrees with some of the protocols, the 'If in doubt, sit it out' guidelines from the FA don't go far enough in his eyes.
"I hate that one, I absolutely hate it. You tell me when there's not doubt?! Because I don't know."
"If someone taps your head, there's doubt. You just don't know. Unless you can go and have a look at a monitor and check it."
"They should be taking them off and going to check what sort of knock it is."
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