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Premier League could return in ‘matter of weeks’ behind closed doors under plans shown to Boris

mawspurs

Staff
Jun 29, 2003
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reportedly been briefed on plans for the Premier League to resume in a matter of weeks.

Source: TalkSPORT
 

IamSpurtacus

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2019
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There's just no chance

Players will need a two week pre-season - how will they get fit to cope with playing 2 games a week for a month after being inactive for two months?

To get done by June 30th, they'll have to start training in mid-may

Even now there aren't enough tests for health workers and their families - how on earth will the players and various support staff safely play, and know from one week to the next they haven't been infected, and aren't infecting others?

This is a pipedream
 
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Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
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Should be a brilliant spectacle with players social distancing and observing the 2m rule. Our back 4 should be in their element.
 

theShiznit

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2004
17,800
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All it takes is one player to contract it and it would all be off.

And if (god forbid) a player was to actually die, the Premiership would be in a world of hurt.

It can also cause long term damage to lung function so could harm future careers.

If it happens it seems a case of more money than sense...
 

Phantom

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2005
5,856
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As mentioned above, how this could be justified when the current situation is calling for all hands on deck from medical professionals, it just boggles the mind. Yeah you guys who have come out of retirement and don't have an appropriate level of PPE we are making it a priority to get on with football. This completely ignores the other support staff who will be required to be in close proximity to each other. Are we going to divert severely needed tests to test players, coaches, medical staff, security (even behind closed doors there will be some) etc before every game?

The decision to not call sporting events off is now looking like a very poor decision (see reports about Liverpool vs Madrid) given the current information we have. There is no way they should be starting the season again any time soon.
 
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spursfan77

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Aug 13, 2005
46,680
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All it takes is one player to contract it and it would all be off.

And if (god forbid) a player was to actually die, the Premiership would be in a world of hurt.

It can also cause long term damage to lung function so could harm future careers.


If it happens it seems a case of more money than sense...

I know footballers aren’t the sharpest but this is the main reason why I’d be surprised that they’ll be allowed to play. Especially by their agents, managers and parents who wouldn’t be too happy about it.
 

Stavrogin

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2004
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As mentioned above, how this could be justified when the current situation is calling for all hands on deck from medical professionals, it just boggles the mind. Yeah you guys who have come out of retirement and don't have an appropriate level of PPE we are making it a priority to get on with football. This completely ignores the other support staff who will be required to be in close proximity to each other. Are we going to divert severely needed tests to test players, coaches, medical staff, security (even behind closed doors there will be some) etc before every game?

The decision to not call sporting events off is now looking like a very poor decision (see reports about Liverpool vs Madrid) given the current information we have. There is no way they should be starting the season again any time soon.

I agree with your sentiments but I think you are underestimating how easy it might be to pull this off.

The players and coaches would all form their own isopods. They'd be tested. All the ancillary staff would observe very stringent distancing and cleaning regimes and numbers would be kept to mininium.

Assuming you were half-way competent (and the players aren't not sneaking off with prostitutes), it's really not that hard to execute this with minimal risk. Everything could be controlled, the only issue could be to do with ambulances and hospitals but as I understand it, there's a lot of chicanery with private hospitals and so forth.

Obviously the reason why this is possible is that they have, presumably, near unlimited resources. This crisis has exposed many of the iniquities in our society, but It probably won't change them.
 

IamSpurtacus

Well-Known Member
Jun 5, 2019
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The players and coaches would all form their own isopods.

Put yourself in their shoes - would you be willing to be a human experiment?

Twice a week you'll come into contact with 20+ people who themselves were in contact with 80+ different people (at a minimum) over the course of the prior two weeks (the two week incubation period, during which teams will play 4 games)

You'll be exposed to 40+ potential carriers every week for a month at least (two matches a week)

If they have to test each squad plus support staff to make sure they are negative, you'll have to do that with all 20 teams. The entire squad plus coaching / support staff (50+ total?) each day for 45 days.

That's (conservatively) c.45,000 tests to make sure players and staff supporting them, training together and playing twice a week, can complete the season "safely"

We can't even test health workers and their families. What will people think of such an extravagant use of resources?! It'll be a PR disaster for the PL, and a logistical nightmare

My tuppence? They need to show all reasonable effort was made to play the matches for contractural reasons - they have no intention of finishing the season

It's a non-starter

edit: The telegraph just put out an article - each match would need three hundred people (!) per match! (link included). To quote the article

"All the sports are acutely aware that testing players cannot, though, take priority over front-line staff who are dealing with the coronavirus crisis."
 
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spursfan77

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2005
46,680
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Put yourself in their shoes - would you be willing to be a human experiment?

Twice a week you'll come into contact with 20+ people who themselves were in contact with 80+ different people (at a minimum) over the course of the prior two weeks (the two week incubation period, during which teams will play 4 games)

You'll be exposed to 40+ potential carriers every week for a month at least (two matches a week)

If they have to test each squad plus support staff to make sure they are negative, you'll have to do that with all 20 teams. The entire squad plus coaching / support staff (50+ total?) each day for 45 days.

That's (conservatively) c.45,000 tests to make sure players and staff supporting them, training together and playing twice a week, can complete the season "safely"

We can't even test health workers and their families. What will people think of such an extravagant use of resources?! It'll be a PR disaster for the PL, and a logistical nightmare

My tuppence? They need to show all reasonable effort was made to play the matches for contractural reasons - they have no intention of finishing the season

It's a non-starter

Plus they’d have to be regularly tested before each game. It’s such a minefield.
 

Phantom

Well-Known Member
Jun 6, 2005
5,856
3,212
I agree with your sentiments but I think you are underestimating how easy it might be to pull this off.

The players and coaches would all form their own isopods. They'd be tested. All the ancillary staff would observe very stringent distancing and cleaning regimes and numbers would be kept to mininium.

Assuming you were half-way competent (and the players aren't not sneaking off with prostitutes), it's really not that hard to execute this with minimal risk. Everything could be controlled, the only issue could be to do with ambulances and hospitals but as I understand it, there's a lot of chicanery with private hospitals and so forth.

Obviously the reason why this is possible is that they have, presumably, near unlimited resources. This crisis has exposed many of the iniquities in our society, but It probably won't change them.

I don't believe it is as easy as you think, where are they going to form their isopods? How will they get to games? Coach? Plane? Where will they stay the night before away games? Where will their meals come from? Who administers their regular tests? Who will ensure everywhere they go and everything they come in to contact with is disinfected? How will they be kept entertained? Who will get their shopping for them? Are you really going to make them isolate from their families for a month or however long the season will take? If not who supervises and cares for the family members?

There are so many new infection vectors introduced by starting the season up again and so much to try and control that it becomes impossible to entirely eradicate the risks.

EDIT that also entirely ignores the fact that so many of the players in the PL are either too stupid, ignorant or just don't care about others enough to listen to the rules, see the numerous stories on players breaking quarantine, including a new one today from Everton on Kean.
 
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Stavrogin

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2004
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I don't believe it is as easy as you think, where are they going to form their isopods? How will they get to games? Coach? Plane? Where will they stay the night before away games? Where will their meals come from? Who administers their regular tests? Who will ensure everywhere they go and everything they come in to contact with is disinfected? How will they be kept entertained? Who will get their shopping for them? Are you really going to make them isolate from their families for a month or however long the season will take? If not who supervises and cares for the family members?

There are so many new infection vectors introduced by starting the season up again and so much to try and control that it becomes impossible to entirely eradicate the risks.

EDIT that also entirely ignores the fact that so many of the players in the PL are either too stupid, ignorant or just don't care about others enough to listen to the rules, see the numerous stories on players breaking quarantine, including a new one today from Everton on Kean.


Again, I'm not in favour of it, but I think you're still overstating the difficulty and the risks that I imagine the players will willingly take on.

You have to remember this would happen in a couple of months and probably be contingent the situation having improved: Hospital admissions being considerably lower, more frequent testing being done in the general population and having R<1.

You'd have time to monitor the players, becoming reasonably sure they were not infectious. Then bring them together in some controlled location, relatively close to where the matches would be played etc. etc. All these little elements are not in themselves particulalry challenging.

Everything you need to do this is already being done in many essential (and non essential businesses). I would say that we are putting ourselves into more dangerous situations and managing more risk with less resources on a daily basis. I just don't understand the logic of being hyper-cautious with footballers who are among the least vulnerable groups and have access to excellent care (presumably) and can be wrapped in antibacterial cotton wool.

And in terms of it being a PR blunder, i'm not so sure. It's very possible that the government will consider anything that re-establishes a kind of normality a success - even in a bread and circus' kind of way.

Once again, i'm not for it. Just pointing out that the situation will be changing month by month and if there was enough will and they could demonstrate the required competence, then putting on some football matches is not that difficult.
 

dontcallme

SC Supporter
Mar 18, 2005
33,988
81,938
I can't see it tbh. The logistics around playing behind closed doors is more complex than people think.

If corona does spread and the NHS are having to treat players for playing when the rest of us are on lockdown, how is that going to look?

I just think football isn't in its own bubble. Whatever they do has to be in line with what the rest of the country are doing.
 

Japhet

Well-Known Member
Aug 30, 2010
19,232
57,392
The release from the lockdown needs to be done in stages and the stages have to be monitored to ensure there isn't a sudden surge in cases. The process needs to be started on the most important areas of life, and football isn't one of those. Trying to put any sort of entertainment near the front of the queue is just bloody stupid and irresponsible.
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
Aug 20, 2003
9,188
11,151
I know this is a football forum but quite frankly football can go and eat itself.
If cricket and all other sports are postponing all games until further notice what makes football think it’s so much more special?
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
I know this is a football forum but quite frankly football can go and eat itself.
If cricket and all other sports are postponing all games until further notice what makes football think it’s so much more special?

$$$$$$$$$$
 

wakefieldyid

SC Supporter
Jun 13, 2006
1,560
1,591
There's just no chance

Players will need a two week pre-season - how will they get fit to cope with playing 2 games a week for a month after being inactive for two months?

To get done by June 30th, they'll have to start training in mid-may

Even now there aren't enough tests for health workers and their families - how on earth will the players and various support staff safely play, and know from one week to the next they haven't been infected, and aren't infecting others?

This is a pipedream
It's been repoorted this morning that most PL clubs will be back at the training grounds for (socially isolated) training by the end of this week.
 
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