Footballers and CoronaVirus

[Antepli Ejderha]

Was Barton really tweeting anti vaxx stuff?

[Gas In Name Only]

Bristol Rovers have called off today's fixture at Orient whilst the team bus was on the M4 (and we know this because my mate passed the coach on his own way up to the game).

A fourth postponement in three weeks due to being unable to field a team. The manager was on record this week as saying he only had one defender available, the club were tweeting that the game was definitely on yesterday. What changed AFTER THE COACH SET OFF? As SOTS says above, the EFL have removed matchday testing so what was it?

Frankly, given that various positives from mid December will have been long out of Covid jail and the fact that we have a number of injuries as well, I'm calling shenanigans.

Gives the manager more time to read up on anti-vaxx nonsense that he was retweeting the other day anyway

[Sean of the Shed]

The EFL have decided to remove the need to test on matchdays to reduce the chances of games getting postponed at short notice.
Great that they've managed to persuade the virus to check the fixture list before deciding who to infect.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59830127

[Third rate Leszno]

Three Liverpool players (rumoured to be Alisson, Keita and Firmino) have returned positive Covid tests.

[Sean of the Shed]

Southampton v Newcastle on Sunday is now off because of Covid-19 and injuries.

[Satchmo Distel]

If an FA Cup 3rd round game is COVIDed off, does it automatically get played 10-11 days afterwards (assuming enough players are available by then)? It feels a bit like 1978-79 when rounds piled on top of each other due to snow, but the difference these days is European commitments and the police needing 10 days notice (assuming that still applies)

[Satchmo Distel]

Man City played Brentford last night. In the 90 minutes, Pep Guardiola made no substitutions.

Edit: Against Leicester on Boxing Day, he made one sub!

I think if you have total control of possession, your players get less tired, so Guardiola is arguing for something (5 subs) that he doesn't currently need. However, a big club will want to store up potential advantages for future use even if not currently utilizing them.

[nmrfox]

Leicester v Norwich now called off

[Antepli Ejderha]

Swansea Fulham is now off, was meant to be on 3rd January.

[Simon G]

You're not allowed to point that out for some reason Snake.

It's missing the point or something.

[Snake Plissken]

Pep Guardiola, 24th Dec 2021: ""The problem is the fixtures, the calendar, 365 days a year, the international teams with huge competitions and a lot of games... The players have two to three weeks holiday in the summer, then the season (starts) again - it's too much. Today managers talked with the Premier League and broadcasters and decided what is the best for everyone. The welfare of players should be the most important... This is the only country to not accept five substitutions, just three. Why? We want to protect the players, so bring five substitutions. It's much better for the amount of games, but the Premier League and clubs decided 'no'."



Man City played Brentford last night. In the 90 minutes, Pep Guardiola made no substitutions.

Edit: Against Leicester on Boxing Day, he made one sub!

[Jimski]

Assuming he's not vulnerable, I'd have the same thoughts as you and, if I could get a daypass from the wife, I'd be taking my son.

Alas, that simply isn't going to happen for me.

Away matches are trickier too, in that one doesn't have the same ability to pick seats away from the bulk of people.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Well there were people on here keen to defend the position so I asked some questions that occurred to me.

I don't have a firm position, but am grateful to people for sharing theirs and their reasoning.

[Simon G]

Assuming he's not vulnerable, I'd have the same thoughts as you and, if I could get a daypass from the wife, I'd be taking my son.

Alas, that simply isn't going to happen for me.

[Jimski]

After playing on Boxing Day, having to call off our game against Franchise because of COVID in our squad, it appears our game with Oxford will be on this week, 6 days after the Plymouth game.

Does anyone understand how this works? Nope - me neither.

I'll be pleased if it's on, but I also (a while back) promised my son we'd go to that one, so I have to figure out whether it's worth the risk with an estimated 1 in 30 people in England having the big O at the moment.

Given he'll be going back to school a few days later, the relative risk is actually pretty minimal, I guess. We won't be able to avoid it then anyway. And we can wear N95s for the entire match.

[Patrick Thistle]

Direct that question at Wimbledon - it was they who brought five subs up again, and player welfare in their situation was why they were advocating for it.

Well there were people on here keen to defend the position so I asked some questions that occurred to me.

[Simon G]

After playing on Boxing Day, having to call off our game against Franchise because of COVID in our squad, it appears our game with Oxford will be on this week, 6 days after the Plymouth game.

Does anyone understand how this works? Nope - me neither.

[Janik]

Well as has been pointed out every workplace improvement is painted that it's being done to altruistically change the lot of the workers. But in this case the comment was made that small clubs will need the extra subs when the fixture congestion catches up with them. Hence why I asked my question about how that doesn't add to the inequality.

Direct that question at Wimbledon - it was they who brought five subs up again, and player welfare in their situation was why they were advocating for it.

[jwdd27]

Mikel Arteta has tested positive again. The last time this happened (12/3/2020) was when the PL belatedly decided that they really should take a break.
On page 4 of this thread. Also on page 4, I was impressed to read myself suggesting that the PL should finish the season in the space vacated by a postponed Euro 2020, which is just what happened.

[Satchmo Distel]

We are at Blackpool this evening and they have COVID issues which put them on the margins of being able to field a team. They have just posted that they have given squad numbers to a couple of youngsters and recalled another player from loan so it looks like they are making every effort to get the game on. If that's what's happening then well done to them.

Blackpool were unlucky not to get something from the game according to the BBC report.

[Fussbudget]

What about five subs and a salary cap? There you go, problem solved.

[Patrick Thistle]

Well as has been pointed out every workplace improvement is painted that it's being done to altruistically change the lot of the workers. But in this case the comment was made that small clubs will need the extra subs when the fixture congestion catches up with them. Hence why I asked my question about how that doesn't add to the inequality.

[Sean of the Shed]

Fair points. But is that going to help clubs with smaller squads compared to clubs with bigger squads? It seems like it might help but would help other squads unequally.

Again, this can't be a factor in that decision. It's not about which club benefits the most, it's about trying to make sure that players can gey through a tightly packed season without completely burning them out or leaving them susceptible to serious injury. Which club they play for and the likely outcome for that is irrelevant, rich clubs will still finish where rich clubs finish and shit clubs will find their likely place too. The only thing that should matter is the welfare of employees. I can't think of any other situation where the people on this board would be advocating employees of a business working harder to make up a shortfall.

[Patrick Thistle]

You can’t see that because it is not about that. It’s about player welfare, the increased risk of injuries from people playing tired. Which matters to a club with a small squad and a more fixed first XI who are going to be asked to play twice a week for weeks on end.

Fair points. But is that going to help clubs with smaller squads compared to clubs with bigger squads? It seems like it might help but would help other squads unequally.

[Capybara]

We are at Blackpool this evening and they have COVID issues which put them on the margins of being able to field a team. They have just posted that they have given squad numbers to a couple of youngsters and recalled another player from loan so it looks like they are making every effort to get the game on. If that's what's happening then well done to them.