Football and Covid 19

Richard Hillman

gimli2112 wrote: »

Have the PL come up with some options for what happens if it can't be completed or will they just wing it like before? I could live with current champions being crowned again, they have to win it back off us.

God no. Their fixture list is absolutely jam packed. If one team is out of action for just say 2 weeks, they are absolutely screwed. And that's before the possibility that it's a bad winter and it's very snowy.

It won't necessarily be about lockdown but games in hand having to be played all over the place.

c.p.w.g.w

Richard Hillman wrote: »

God no. Their fixture list is absolutely jam packed. If one team is out of action for just say 2 weeks, they are absolutely screwed. And that's before the possibility that it's a bad winter and it's very snowy.

It won't necessarily be about lockdown but games in hand having to be played all over the place.

Are the FA going to still hold the League Cup?

Non solum non ambulabit

Richard Hillman wrote: »

God no. Their fixture list is absolutely jam packed. If one team is out of action for just say 2 weeks, they are absolutely screwed. And that's before the possibility that it's a bad winter and it's very snowy.

It won't necessarily be about lockdown but games in hand having to be played all over the place.

Luckily if there are no crowds the snow won't be an issue and cancellations due to snow are nearly always to do with fans getting into the stadium safely. In Premier League pitches can be easily protected.

~Rebel~

Richard Hillman wrote: »

God no. Their fixture list is absolutely jam packed. If one team is out of action for just say 2 weeks, they are absolutely screwed. And that's before the possibility that it's a bad winter and it's very snowy.

It won't necessarily be about lockdown but games in hand having to be played all over the place.

They really haven't done enough up front to clear a bit of breathing room. Removing cup replays and EFL cup 2 legged semi's is something - but its not much.

Cutting cup comps altogether is tricky, but even if they did something a bit mad, like designating a random gameweek as being an FA Cup crossover week, where your result counts towards the league, but also for the FA Cup. Knocks out 50% of the division straight away, and then only do inter-division fixtures from that point onwards. Do that in the league cup too, and you've opened up a few weeks of space straight away. Draws give you 1 point as normal, but you then go straight to pens to determine who progresses in the cup.

Cookiemunster

Lads, the major leagues will be played without any issue. Why? because these leagues have access to and can afford regular testing outside of the national medical needs. The protocols are in place now and are proven to be successful.

Even just last week two Atletico Madrid players tested positive four days before their quarter final, yet the match still went ahead.

~Rebel~

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Lads, the major leagues will be played without any issue. Why? because these leagues have access to and can afford regular testing outside of the national medical needs. The protocols are in place now and are proven to be successful.

Even just last week two Atletico Madrid players tested positive four days before their quarter final, yet the match still went ahead.

The general rule that's been adopted is that up to 3 is ok, but 4 or more and the team goes into lockdown.

We don't know how it's going to go, and maybe it'll be alright. But it's something that moves quickly once it gets in. As an example, we can all remember times when our teams suddenly had 5 or 6 or 7 players down with the flu at once for instance, and this is several times more contagious than the flu, so it's good for leagues to have plenty of breathing room for these events when they'll occur. The PL haven't been great with that in comparison to other leagues, leaving themselves very tight.

wadacrack

https://twitter.com/slovak_football/status/1295798469777657856

inforfun

I can see those Nation league matches in 2 or 3 weeks all being cancelled.
A club team you can keep relatively safe and together but a national team has players flying in from all over the place. All places with different levels of restrictions and "covid numbers".

MD1990

https://twitter.com/TeleFootball/status/1296052149412147200

https://twitter.com/fitzmaidan/status/1296051811787431936

travelling on hoidays & European football is causing huge problems & will continue to do so.

pjohnson

Regarding leagues if a team is "lockdown" they should just forfeit the game to the non lockdown team. Rearranging fixtures be a nightmare.

PhilipsR

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Lads, the major leagues will be played without any issue. Why? because these leagues have access to and can afford regular testing outside of the national medical needs. The protocols are in place now and are proven to be successful.

Even just last week two Atletico Madrid players tested positive four days before their quarter final, yet the match still went ahead.

Gonna quote this for when the inevitable happens. The post is delusional.

Cookiemunster

PhilipsR wrote: »

Gonna quote this for when the inevitable happens. The post is delusional.

Why is it delusional? Please explain rather than just throwing a smart line out there.

The PL, for example, tests players every week (possibly even twice a week). We've already seen squads with positives tests continue to train and play once the affect players/staff are isolated.

The reason most leagues shut down last year was as a precaution as nobody knew anything about the virus. Now with access to regular testing outside of medical needs, protocols in place, and no crowds at matches, there's no reason to put the top leagues into hiatus for protracted periods.

Of course it's a different story for lower and amateur leagues, but that's why I said major leagues in my post.

Cookiemunster

pjohnson wrote: »

Regarding leagues if a team is "lockdown" they should just forfeit the game to the non lockdown team. Rearranging fixtures be a nightmare.

This is how UEFA are doing it for the CL/EL qualifiers. If you can't fulfill the fixture or move it to a safe neutral venue, you're out.

~Rebel~

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Why is it delusional? Please explain rather than just throwing a smart line out there.

The PL, for example, tests players every week (possibly even twice a week). We've already seen squads with positives tests continue to train and play once the affect players/staff are isolated.

The reason most leagues shut down last year was as a precaution as nobody knew anything about the virus. Now with access to regular testing outside of medical needs, protocols in place, and no crowds at matches, there's no reason to put the top leagues into hiatus for protracted periods.

Of course it's a different story for lower and amateur leagues, but that's why I said major leagues in my post.

Already said, but the league are leaving themselves with very little room to breath. We see flu's move through squads every season, and this is a lot more contagious than a flu. All the testing is of course great for keeping track of who has it, but it doesn't eliminate the chance of someone getting it. It's entirely conceivable than 4 players will get it at the same club at some point - which switches the team into lockdown instead of treating it like an injury for 3 or less.

One team locked down for 2 weeks probably affects 3 teams at least - themselves and at least the 2 other teams they'd have played. If that happens just a few times you have major fixture congestion.

They did really well over the return period, but as players start to do a little more in their personal lives, and the weather turns to something more virus friendly, and this thing drags on and on and on over a 9 month 38 game season (plus cups) instead of the easier to stomach 8 week "get it done" thing, there will be setbacks. And that's all before even getting into the likely spikes of infection rates we're going to see in the UK. I don't expect pestilence and destruction, but expecting smooth sailing seems equally myopic.

Cookiemunster

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Already said, but the league are leaving themselves with very little room to breath. We see flu's move through squads every season, and this is a lot more contagious than a flu. All the testing is of course great for keeping track of who has it, but it doesn't eliminate the chance of someone getting it. It's entirely conceivable than 4 players will get it at the same club at some point - which switches the team into lockdown instead of treating it like an injury for 3 or less.

One team locked down for 2 weeks probably affects 3 teams at least - themselves and at least the 2 other teams they'd have played. If that happens just a few times you have major fixture congestion.

They did really well over the return period, but as players start to do a little more in their personal lives, and the weather turns to something more virus friendly, and this thing drags on and on and on over a 9 month 38 game season (plus cups) instead of the easier to stomach 8 week "get it done" thing, there will be setbacks. I don't expect pestilence and destruction, but expecting smooth sailing seems equally myopic.

I was referring to the all the top leagues across Europe though, not just the PL. Most of the rest of them (especially France and Germany) have wiggle room. And I never said it would be plain sailing either, just that I fully expect all the the top leagues to be completed.

And the 4 player rule is a French thing. There's no information out there to say that other leagues will use the same rule.

There's also no reason to lock a team down for 14 days (I'm almost sure Marseille aren't gone into a 14 day lockdown), when you have access to testing on demand. The whole squad gets tested weekly and if a number of players/staff test positive, you isolate the positive cases and do another round of testing. England was pretty lucky that there were no positives when the league came back, but teams in other countries had positive cases and carried on.

MD1990

https://twitter.com/footballitalia/status/1296105270708445184

PhilipsR

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Why is it delusional? Please explain rather than just throwing a smart line out there.

The PL, for example, tests players every week (possibly even twice a week). We've already seen squads with positives tests continue to train and play once the affect players/staff are isolated.

The reason most leagues shut down last year was as a precaution as nobody knew anything about the virus. Now with access to regular testing outside of medical needs, protocols in place, and no crowds at matches, there's no reason to put the top leagues into hiatus for protracted periods.

Of course it's a different story for lower and amateur leagues, but that's why I said major leagues in my post.

Firstly, apologies I didn’t mean for that post to be as snipey as it was.

My thoughts are that The UK was practically in lockdown for a long stint of the PL being played. Transmission is up, there’s no precise rules on players movements or where they can go. I fail to see how in a 9 month spell, in a country with one of the worst case numbers still in Europe, how it doesn’t eventually infiltrate a team. Look at the young English players who all legged it off to Ibiza after the season (doubt they quarantined on return either).

Once a week testing isn’t enough if the test is done on Monday and someone catches it on the Tuesday. I just think there’s too many moving parts when the virus is spreading so much for it not to eventually derail one teams season for a few weeks.

The AFL and NRL down under seem to be doing well too but community transmission is a lot lower there. Sure look at MLB in the States and two teams having to pause their starts too. I’d be amazed if we don’t see one team end up with it rifling through the squad.

wadacrack

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/1296737230648676352

MD1990

https://twitter.com/fitzmaidan/status/1296741318107058176

Going to have to be a rethink about how many games are played travelling abroad in the next few months.

Plenty of International games will be off next month

PhilipsR

International games being played at all is absolutely bonkers. All the players needlessly travelling and at risk for pointless games, well in Europe anyways. Wait til some players pick it up off being on planes etc. Will be a mess.

wadacrack

PhilipsR wrote: »

International games being played at all is absolutely bonkers. All the players needlessly travelling and at risk for pointless games, well in Europe anyways. Wait til some players pick it up off being on planes etc. Will be a mess.

I think it alot of the FA's need the money. It seems a huge risk and I would be surprised if a few teams don't have a few issues. THE CL/EL have already had a few postponements. Ligue 1 in France not being handled very well compared to the Premier League and Bundesliga . Alot of the players I presume have children who will be returning to schools which could also make it more difficult

wadacrack

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/1301151663944798214

JP Liz V1

All UCL final players could need testing?

wadacrack

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

All UCL final players could need testing?

Happened on holiday, their was obviously testing at that time.Nervy time for clubs with teams on International duty

stooge

wadacrack wrote: »

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/1301151663944798214

did they contract it after the UCLF? because all three were shocking in that match

Agent Coulson

Laporte & Mahrez at City have tested positive.

Mitch Connor

Foden and Greenwood breaking quarentine restrictions, meeting some girls back at the England hotel after the Iceland game. Seems to have been pre-arranged too.

Neither player traveling with the England squad to Denmark today.

Can see some hefty punishments being handed out by the FA with regards to the England team.
Will be interesting to see how City and United handle it. Will the players be fined/suspended for breaching guidelines? I know players have done so on their own time and not been punished (Walker iir for example) but I think breaching football guidelines is a bigger problem than breaching national guidelines, or at least it is more something the club could/should get involved with punishing.

For the players to have breached the guidelines that were put in place to allow the game to go ahead... it will be more than just a telling off.

Mitch Connor

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how City and United handle it. Will the players be fined/suspended for breaching guidelines? I know players have done so on their own time and not been punished (Walker iir for example) but I think breaching football guidelines is a bigger problem than breaching national guidelines, or at least it is more something the club could/should get involved with punishing.

For the players to have breached the guidelines that were put in place to allow the game to go ahead... it will be more than just a telling off.

It's always far worse because they were on international duty.

It wasn't sneaking off while the club was in a break anyway. It's incredible really, I don't expect the clubs to sanction them, but they should be dropped from future international selection for a long time.

gmisk

Seemingly foden also has a girlfriend and a young baby at home....classy

wadacrack

https://twitter.com/GFFN/status/1303034393448067078

wadacrack

Not a bad number considering the number of players who travelled away on holiday

https://twitter.com/henrywinter/status/1303035125198979073

ongarite

A lot of French based players & players with connections to France testing positive.
Same with the French club rugby teams too.

Agent Coulson

How long now before a new dark arts begin with clubs/countries getting Covid positive young-ones to get on snapchat with horny young footballers and try in to there rooms hoping to spread it into the rest of the squad.

Joking kinda.


Also those two lads have probably ruined it for other footballers who has been sneaking in young-ones to their hotels rooms for the foreseeable future as clubs will probably add a bit of extra security now.

PhilipsR

Watching the new episodes of the Spurs Amazon doc shows the farce of some of the protocols in place for Covid.

The one I found funniest was having the changing rooms with lots of room but piling everyone into one bus to get to the ground...

Strikes me as inevitable before an outbreak in a squad hits the PL, especially as their cases continue to rise.

adaminho

https://twitter.com/Boro/status/1306506765731876864?s=19

Agent Coulson

The UK Government laying the ground work for a second full lockdown by the looks of it with more and more restrictions coming into place.


I wonder how that will effect football.

GavRedKing

Gundogan has tested positive also.

https://www.mancity.com/news/mens/ilkay-gundogan-covid-test-63736275

wadacrack

https://twitter.com/leytonorientfc/status/1308018859740483584

Drumpot

It’s hard to see fans getting back to grounds anytime soon in the UK.

Cookiemunster

Agent Coulson wrote: »

The UK Government laying the ground work for a second full lockdown by the looks of it with more and more restrictions coming into place.


I wonder how that will effect football.

I actually think that football (the top two tiers anyways) will continue even in a lockdown. The protocols in place now and the regular private testing means that it can continue in its own bubble. They'll be playing in empty stadiums for quite a while yet though.

Zebra3

Drumpot wrote: »

It’s hard to see fans getting back to grounds anytime soon in the UK.

There was fans at games on Saturday.

Agent Coulson

Michael Grove just announced that plans to let some fans back in from October 1st has now been cancelled.

gimli2112

Saw him being interviewed by Kay Burley earlier. She intimated his party was known as the Nazi party in certain circles and pondered what people would think of them if they cancelled Christmas.
Getting football back was important to quell the growing discontent. I think things could spiral out of control pretty quick and football will be the least of their worries.

Richard Hillman

I can't see most of the lower leagues teams surviving if they don't let fans back soon. They may have to void the season to allow the clubs put their players on furlough.

I was looking at our own Level System. Even at Level 1 we can only have 500 in a stadium. And we know the won't drop down from level 1 unless there is a vaccine. There ain't going to be a LOI season next year. WatchLOI ain't going to pay the bills. It will keep the bailiffs away but only for a while.

Unearthly

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Michael Grove just announced that plans to let some fans back in from October 1st has now been cancelled.

Hopefully this means all games live on UK tv. Getting used to so much football

Kiith

Still no announcement on if the Leyton Orient / Spurs game is going ahead either. Kick off in less than 9 hours. Good thing it's only a 25 minute drive between stadiums.

wadacrack

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I can't see most of the lower leagues teams surviving if they don't let fans back soon. They may have to void the season to allow the clubs put their players on furlough.

I was looking at our own Level System. Even at Level 1 we can only have 500 in a stadium. And we know the won't drop down from level 1 unless there is a vaccine. There ain't going to be a LOI season next year. WatchLOI ain't going to pay the bills. It will keep the bailiffs away but only for a while.

Rapid reliable testing at such events is probably the only way before and if an effective vaccine is available. Both probably years away at best. WatchLOI not likely to be their next season. It hasn't generated much revenue at all. All Island league plans could be accelerated , they might get lucky and get a good broadcast deal

Zebra3

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I can't see most of the lower leagues teams surviving if they don't let fans back soon. They may have to void the season to allow the clubs put their players on furlough.

I was looking at our own Level System. Even at Level 1 we can only have 500 in a stadium. And we know the won't drop down from level 1 unless there is a vaccine. There ain't going to be a LOI season next year. WatchLOI ain't going to pay the bills. It will keep the bailiffs away but only for a while.

Only way LoI will take place next season (as things stand) is if the government writes a cheque.

PhilipsR

Moyes and two players test positive for COVID before their game today but the game goes ahead as planned.

Will be interesting to see if more cases occur in the coming days.

MisterAnarchy

17 Leyton Orient players have tested positive !