Premier League officially postponed until 17th of June

[stormfly]

The responsible thing to do would be cancel all cup competitions next season, domestic and European. Then just restart the season in August as planned and bolt the end of this season on to the beginning of next.

Zero chance of that happening though, ask Jessie J why!

I was thinking the same, the only problem of finishing this season from a Spurs point of view (and anyone else bar Liverpool and the bottom 5) is what’s the motivation to finish the season once there is no Europe to fight for? It all becomes a bit pointless.

 

[Shadydan]

Have had a snippet of info from the same contact who continues to tell me that flat horse racing will be back on the 18th May.

He has heard the PL could be back on the 8th June and it is possible that all matches will be played at St George's Park. Around 3 games a day with all players staying there for around 6 weeks.

Passing on in good faith.

Ah...

 

[Hotspur88]

Ah...

Deleted info, can't be bothered with the sarcasm. A&C knows my contact within THFC which is genuine and I have had info before. My contact on what I posted and the racing is very reliable.

 

[Stavrogin]

It's not like a business like any other.. It involves thousands of people sitting next to each other in close proximity, it's uniquely different to most businesses out there.

A business yes, but it's not remotely similar to your average business in that we're talking about dealing with thousands and thousands of people.

But they're not trying to do anything dangerous - at least I assume they'd want to play the matches in a safe, sterile empty environment.

I don't agree that it's really worth the bother but theoretically it can be done safely and will surely only occur if players and staff are willing and if it creates no additional pressure on essential services - so why the puritanical opposition to these plans? Navy Spur is right. It is very weird.

Surely you've already made peace with the moral bankruptcy of modern football. This kind of news merits only a shrug. Who cares if they have a squalid little advertising drenched competition to end a season?

 

[Mr Pink]

But they're not trying to do anything dangerous - at least I assume they'd want to play the matches in a safe, sterile empty environment.

I don't agree that it's really worth the bother but theoretically it can be done safely and will surely only occur if players and staff are willing and if it creates no additional pressure on essential services - so why the puritanical opposition to these plans? Navy Spur is right. It is very weird.

Surely you've already made peace with the moral bankruptcy of modern football. This kind of news merits only a shrug. Who cares if they have a squalid little advertising drenched competition to end a season?

So the cheif medical advisor at Fifa is advising no football should be played until September.. And you're saying it can be done completely safely...do me a favour.

And that's before we enter the realms of integrity being smashed for six.

 

[Dashy]

If money talks and they do finish the season behind closed doors it'll be interesting how they adhere to social distancing. Every player will have to be at least two metres away from each other. Maximum 2 players in a wall. Games can only be an hour long. The subs will have to keep walking around the stadium as sitting down outside your house is frowned upon.
You can't re use the magic sponge. Coughing is a straight red.
Keepers have to change their gloves every time they touch the ball.

Personally I think any attempt to continue the season is dangerous in the current situation. How can anyone even consider it when the UK death toll from coronavirus still isn't coming down. When schools and the majority of shops and businesses are closed. When the nation is still under lockdown. When there isn't any vaccine.

 

[bubble07]

Apparently PL will insist all players abroad return to UK next Tuesday. Sonny will have to wait

 

[tototoner]

Why would Liverpool not be given the title?

Because its so funny seeing their fans lose their shit

 

[bubble07]

It does make sense to have all games at st George's park. Have to admit that seems to be safest idea on the condition all players, refs, backroom staff are in the same place for the duration

 

[Hotspur88]

It does make sense to have all games at st George's park. Have to admit that seems to be safest idea on the condition all players, refs, backroom staff are in the same place for the duration

I posted some info in here earlier in the night. Had a funny rating from someone and then a sarcastic comment from another so I took it down as I can't be bothered with the comeback for genuine info. The info I had was from a great source and mentioned 3 games a day being played with the players saying there for around 6 weeks.

 

[spursfan77]

It does make sense to have all games at st George's park. Have to admit that seems to be safest idea on the condition all players, refs, backroom staff are in the same place for the duration

Seems like the only option too. But how big is the place? It can’t be big enough to house 300/400 people.

 

[Yid-ol]

Seems like the only option too. But how big is the place? It can’t be big enough to house 300/400 people.

It will be well above 300/400 each team will need to take probably their full squad and some youths incase of injuries or suspension or just to rotate. So probably about 500 with just players.... Then you need staff for each club, refs and so on!

 

[spursfan77]

The Athletic also reporting in their Daily email that players aren’t happy about being dictated to about restarting.

 

[Shadydan]

I posted some info in here earlier in the night. Had a funny rating from someone and then a sarcastic comment from another so I took it down as I can't be bothered with the comeback for genuine info. The info I had was from a great source and mentioned 3 games a day being played with the players saying there for around 6 weeks.

Christ, chill out.

 

[Maxtremist]

It does make sense to have all games at st George's park. Have to admit that seems to be safest idea on the condition all players, refs, backroom staff are in the same place for the duration

To some degree yes, it's the safest idea. I know the NBA have talked about something like that for them. Issue is still though if someone there catches the virus. That'll fuck up the whole thing cause then everyone will have to self isolate which almost makes bringing it back in the first place pointless.

There's then the practical issues like the mental health of the players, 6 weeks in one complex (likely without their friends or family) will be insanely taxing on them and one many may not want to do. Then of course the physical issues of if anyone gets injured and how much pressure that'll put on our already taxed NHS.

I get that money talks and people want the season to continue and BCD is likely the best way to go, especially in one neutral location, but the reality of it still doesn't sound like it'll work/ be worth it/ we'll be ready for it.

Doing it in one location is the safest option if they do it.... but a safer option is just not doing it at all and working on getting a full 2020/21 season as fifa are starting to say we should plan for.

 

[Timbo Tottenham]

The Athletic also reporting in their Daily email that players aren’t happy about being dictated to about restarting.

Just read the whole article, if anyone knows how to post the whole thing, then please do as it’s well worth a read.

 

[spursfan77]

I'll stick it behind a spoiler as it is quite long. I havent read it yet but it looks comprehensive. It sounds like they're desperate for it to start. I wouldn't be surprised if they try.

Spoiler

As football in Holland and France came to a halt over the past week, the Premier League, the Football League and the British government are striving to restore the sport “as soon as possible”. The culture secretary Oliver Dowden said this week that he has personally held talks with the Premier League and a further meeting of top-flight clubs is scheduled for Friday to further nail down a timetable and methodology for football to restart.
Indeed, behind the scenes, Premier League clubs were made aware over ten days ago that the government favoured a rapid return to football as part of a package that could boost public spirits amid a time of global pandemic and economic downturn.
In boardrooms fearing the repercussions of missing out on crucial broadcast payments, the favourable treatment from the government has been well-received. Conversations over imminent pay cuts and deferrals have been reduced to background noise as executives plot a path to stage matches behind-closed-doors, most probably featuring several neutral locations.
Both the Premier League and the government insist that any return will adhere to guidelines set out by Public Health England. Several Championship clubs have earmarked a return to team training on May 16 to begin a three-week pre-season ahead of resuming the campaign. A possible restart for the Premier League has been earmarked for June 9. However, behind the scenes, players, coaches and backroom staff are divided over the possibility of a return. The Athletic can reveal:

• Although many players are said to be “raring to go”, several top-flight players have registered concerns over the possibility of quarantining away from family for several months, particularly in the case of players whose wives are pregnant or who have elderly and vulnerable relatives that require their support.
• Backroom staff members at several clubs — including one side that stands to lose a lot should the season be voided — have confided fears that “money-driven men in suits” may take decisions that put “economic health” before the “mental and physical health” of players and staff who will be expected to attend training and games.
• Premier League doctors are at odds over what advice to give players regarding returning to training.
• At least two Premier League clubs have briefed players to return to competitive team training by May 18, with a view to resuming top-flight action on June 4 and concluding the season on August 2. Elsewhere, however, the communication breakdown is underlined by a different account from a Premier League club, where a player warned he had not received any information at all about a return to training. He has convinced himself lockdown will be extended and is not thinking for a moment about the resumption of top-flight football.

Jobi McAnuff is 38-years-old and playing in League Two at Leyton Orient but in his 20-year senior career, he has featured across the top four divisions of English football. He harbours, therefore, a unique sense of perspective as he deliberates over the scheduled return for football. Due to the likely cost of testing, there remain question marks over the feasibility of a return to Football League action but for the players, McAnuff explains, considerations go beyond the financial.
McAnuff tells The Athletic: “I really find it difficult when I look at people saying ‘football will be back in a few weeks’… I just find it incomprehensible that we could even be talking about that at the moment. Sometimes people forget that (footballers) are normal in the sense that we’ve all got families, some of us have vulnerable adults. I am delivering food parcels to my parents. We’ve got wives and some have very young children, and obviously being around to support them is very important.
“A lot of people talk about the physical aspect and the damage that it could cause at that level but I do also think that there’s a big mental consideration to be looked at as well. And I think getting in players who don’t want (to return), or are not comfortable, is going to be counter-productive because there is no way you can go out onto a pitch when you’re worrying about other issues. I certainly think it’s going to be very important that you get the players on board up and down the country at various clubs. This is not a blanket decision. This is not what’s right for one is right for another. You can’t tell somebody specifically that he has to do X or Y when it comes to the health of him or his family. I don’t think you can cross that line.”
Behind the scenes, there is concern in football that the government appears to be pressurising the Premier League to organise a return to lift national morale. It particularly jars, in some quarters, as members of Boris Johnson’s cabinet were only a couple of weeks ago calling on leading players to take wage deductions. Now, however, it appears the government would like the same footballers to provide some light entertainment for the nation. Yet as the general public are told to keep their distance, plans are being formulated for the return of contact sport.
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters emailed the 20 clubs this week, giving indications that the government are keen to get football back and that it will be discussed at a meeting on Friday, which clubs are describing as ‘make or break’. Some clubs believe there will be a discussion about free-to-air football and scheduling to have more than one game per day. A club’s director told The Athletic: There is a mad push for it. But we have had emails from supporters, ‘We think it’s a disgrace the Premier League is getting this kind of support.’ For me the Premier League and government need to come out and say why they want players back and tested.”
The testing process itself will be complex and Premier League medical experts currently expect that the screening process will be comprised of the antigen testing that demonstrates whether or not a person has the disease, rather than to demonstrate immunity. Yet it is further complicated as there have been cases whereby individuals are asymptomatic for several days and as such, anyone in contact with players would need to be tested twice per week, while the results of tests are not instant.
One idea is to create quarantined training bases and hotels that would keep players isolated in their teams and away from their families. Yet clubs and players are warning that the participants simply do not want this. One Premier League player insisted to The Athletic he would not agree to remain in a strict sterile camp as his wife needs his support with their four children, particularly at a time where grandparents or outside help is not feasible due to social distancing guidelines. Another player, however, said he would be concerned to head into training every day and then return home, where he lives with his in-laws, who are in an at-risk category. The Premier League player, who explained he knows staff working around the clock to save lives in hospitals, concluded: “If it is so extreme that you need to lock players away, surely we need to consider why on earth we are playing football.”
The concerns are registering with clubs. A source high up at one club added: “We have one player whose wife is on the list of people who can’t come into contact with others. She got a letter in week one [advising her] to isolate. She’s the mother of his two kids. What do you do? That is the human part. You might say, ‘You’re paid a lot of money get on with it.’ But it’s not worth more than life, is it? There will be push back from the PFA and the LMA. At the minute all these talks are to do with money, and a little bit about the public being happy football is back on the telly.”
A wife of a Premier League player added: “Clearly there are concerns about health. Everyone has some sort of fear about that. It would be good for morale but at the same time it has to be safe. Hotels wouldn’t work, no one wants to be locked up any more than they have done already. That would be a major mental health risk.”
McAnuff continues: “The biggest issue is the time. If you’d asked me three weeks ago, ‘Do you think we’ll get (the season) finished?’ I would 100 per cent have said, ‘Yeah, it needs to happen.’ I’m a big advocate of getting it finished. But it has to be done at a time that is safe. Now if that time is going to take too long — I don’t think we really knew what we were dealing with three or four weeks ago — then there are going to have to be sacrifices made. The vast majority of footballers would want to finish the league. But I just think we’re getting to a point now where, for me, there are more important matters.”
While the Premier League insists it will only act on the advice of health guidelines, several individuals working within clubs fear that key decisions are being taken by people with little expertise in pandemics or risk management. One backroom staff member at a Premier League club echoes the fear: “We are going to get forced back into it. But what if players don’t want to? What if they live with vulnerable people? It’s so badly thought out and so many clubs run by dinosaurs. You have safety issues being made by people with no expertise in issues like this. A manager is to manage 25 players, not to worry about this stuff. The Premier League is too weak to do anything and is made up of 20 chief executives who can’t ignore the fact that money is needed from football coming back. It’s scary.”
Then there is the question of whether football should be putting itself ahead of other parts of society. Ambulances are needed at football matches. Acrrington’s Joe Maguire is concerned. “I can understand why the Premier League and EFL are trying to make plans for a return but I think trying to restart at the beginning of June is ridiculously optimistic,” he says. “The NHS, care workers and other key workers are under incredible strain at the moment so for us to be thinking of a return so soon, which could potentially add to that strain is very short sighted. Anything that could add to the shortfall of PPE or put a strain on services should be avoided.
“I do worry that if we return too soon, the repercussions could be fatal. If a player picks up the virus from a team-mate who is asymptomatic during training and then that player takes it home to his family and they become seriously ill, there would be severe consequences.”
There is, it should be said, no unanimous agreement on this issue. Several agents and players contacted by The Athletic replied with more straightforward answers, suggesting they cannot wait to compete once more and are buoyed by the hope of football’s return. One agent who represents younger players in the Premier League and Football League estimated that 80 per cent will feel this way but 20 per cent will harbour concerns.
“The players are going stir crazy in isolation,” he quipped. “Their partners want them out of the house.”
Interestingly, many players are keen to restart as they have either deferred or agreed wage cuts during the period of isolation. Other players are desperate to return as their contracts are heavily incentivised. In some cases, a contract often reported to be worth £60,000-per-week, could in fact be worth less than £40,000-per-week without relevant appearance and loyalty bonuses that can be included in deals. “If you want your money, fucking play,” one agent concludes.
Among some quarters, the response is even more laid back. A Championship footballer, for example, confided in friends that he is more than happy to return to playing but is said to be annoyed that the pandemic has ruined his summer holiday. Opportunism has risen to the fore. Amid the news that the French season is cancelled and English football may resume, agents have sought to flog players on behalf of overseas clubs fearing for their finances.
One Premier League director says: “It goes something like this … ‘Are you interested in Fred Blogs from this French club? We can get him out for €15m because his club are broke and they need money now.’ The agent then goes to The French club and says ‘I think I can get you €10m for Fred Blogs and if I can get you more than that, I will keep 50% of anything over €10m, OK?”. Blah blah blah…”
For other players, the conversation is less about their own health or public health but instead the hollow feeling of playing football behind-closed-doors.
“The only thing our players are moaning about when I speak to them,” says a Premier League sporting director. ‘They complain: ‘What is the point of it without fans?’ Deep down they are all kids who love football, they’ll miss that roar when your team scores.”
The same man anticipates the most fearsome battle still to be played out among clubs will be over the likelihood of games played at neutral location. “That will cause a stink from players,” he says. “The Premier League have dropped a hint to us. That is a game changer. The integrity will be totally gone.”
Yet there are more brutal financial discussions circulating in the WhatsApp groups of professional players. Some admit they are reluctant to play football in July if their contracts are due to expire this summer because one bad injury could cast doubt on their future employment.
McAnuff worries for the Football League players who will scramble for new deals. He says: “This summer will be the hardest of them all. You’re talking record numbers that will not be offered renewals. Every single player at football clubs will be affected. If it’s a renewal, that decision might be made for you because your club doesn’t have the finances. There’s already been talk about clubs lower down taking on smaller squads, so instead of having 24 or 25 pros, they might have 20 and make it up with kids. So it’s a very uncertain time out there at the moment.”
Though there are plenty of positives too, as Maguire explains: “Accrington Stanley have been superb throughout. Andy Holt (the owner) and John Coleman (the manager) have never pressurised us in to doing anything. They’ve looked after all the staff and players and I’ve felt a great unity within the club throughout this.”

 

[spursfan77]

and again as its over 20,000 words in total.

Spoiler

In many dressing rooms, there is, above all, faith that the club’s medical professionals will take the right decision to protect participants. As workforces go, there is quiet confidence that footballers should be safer than most, as the vast majority who have suffered gravely from coronavirus have been elderly or experienced underlying health conditions. The direct risk to players, therefore, is considered to be low.
Yet there have been exceptions and alarm bells are ringing for some. On Tuesday, one agent in Spain, for example, sent one of our writers a link to a Washington Post article that reported alleged links between coronavirus diagnoses and strokes among younger people in their 30s and 40s. The agent wanted to know whether football could truly say it is not imposing added risk on his client. On Wednesday, research by Italian immunologists based in Berlin, Rome and Vienna suggested that in the course of strenuous exercise, athletes are more likely to inhale virus particles and direct them to the lower parts of the lung. Jonas Baer-Hoffman, the secretary general of the global players’ union FIFPro warned that “very high protection standards are required” for football to return. It is true, also, that clubs must factor in backroom staff and in-house employees when assessing risk factors.
In the Premier League, virtual meetings are now taking place between the 20 club doctors in the top-flight. However, it is believed there have been disagreements over forming a consensus for health guidelines on training. Clubs will be irked by any suggestion that the integrity of their medical experts may be compromised and everyone within the game and the government insists all decisions will be aligned with advice from Public Health England. Yet several senior figures within clubs have spoken to The Athletic over their unease that doctors — employed by the clubs — may feel pressurised by their paymasters as executives may be financially aided by the season being played on, or indeed being cancelled.
“It’s so dangerous,” says one training ground source at a Premier League club. “What’s changed in five weeks? It wasn’t safe to train then so why now? There’s no cure, no vaccine. If one person gets it and dies we will be on the wrong side of history. It’s going to take someone to die for people to realise.”
Mark Leather, a former physio at Liverpool, is aware of the pressures clubs can place on medical staff to speed up a player’s return from injury. Yet in this case, he is confident clubs will act responsibly. He says: “Everyone is acutely aware of how bad it is. There is no magic cure for it. But I think that the issues of a player being frightened or reluctant, that’s like anything. If you’ve had a difficult plane journey and that causes a fear of flying, that is an issue. You can’t force a person. Think of Dennis Bergkamp. So I think clubs will be respectful of somebody who says I don’t really want to play at this moment. It is not a sign of weakness, it’s just everybody is different.
“I honestly think if you tested everybody at the club and anybody positive is isolated, the rest I don’t think will be too concerned, if there’s proof, documents, test results, ratified by independent people. It’s safe. I do not think there will be many who have an issue with that. Players are very informed about health now, much more than they were in the bad old days. They search information themselves. They will trust the club. It is not in the club’s interest to put a game on and risk a PR disaster and a public health issue.”
A current Premier League player, still to be informed of any clear schedule by his club, says: “We’re still waiting for news on when we’ll be called back in — we’ve not heard much, to be honest — but we’re all assuming that, if we are to train together ‘as normal’, we’ll be getting tested regularly to ensure as much as we can that the virus doesn’t suddenly spike down at the training ground. I know people are saying it takes a while to get test results, though, so quite how that will work I’m not sure. What happens if one player falls ill? Does that mean we all have to go back into isolation for a fortnight to stop any spread? That would put us back to square one again, wouldn’t it?
“I suppose the only way to look at it at the moment is we will be guided by the medics and the authorities as to whether any of this is possible, and then make a judgement call on it all. We’re all talking to each other, the players, so it is bound to be discussed. Am I comfortable with the thought of going back in to train? Only if the club doctor and medical staff feel it is safe. You have to go with the experts and, if they have confidence in the testing procedures, I would trust them. But, realistically, I can’t see it happening any time soon. As in training ‘normally’.”
Above all, the consensus appears to be that players would like greater clarity and communication. Throughout this process, players have been frustrated by the approach taken by their overlords. An “us” and “them” mentality has evolved, particularly with the dreadfully-received Premier League suggestion that top-flight players should consider a thirty per cent pay cut across the board. The seeds of distrust were sown at several clubs and not every player is inclined to go out on a financial or physical limb to protect the economic security of those owners and executives they feel have been unsupportive since the pandemic emerged.
Several players have complained that they are still to receive any information at all from Premier League clubs on a possible return to training. One is so convinced the nationwide lockdown will be extended so he says he isn’t even thinking about football.
Yet developments are anticipated in the coming days. One Premier League club was told on Tuesday that it should report to training on Monday, May 18, with a view to resuming action on June 4 and ending the campaign by August 2. Time is now of the essence as players who have returned abroad to spend time with family must return this week in order to self-isolate for fourteen days before training. This plan will be debated on Friday.
A Premier League player concludes: “The past couple of weeks has been the worst time because we’re waiting for news, we’re in limbo. You just want a plan. Even if that’s them turning around and saying everything is cancelled until September. But we’re getting nothing. Money will override everything. You’re talking about a league where Huddersfield made more than PSG last season. The one thing we all want is fans. It just won’t be the same, but that’s another compromise we’re going to have to make.”

 

[thekneaf]

Apparently PL will insist all players abroad return to UK next Tuesday. Sonny will have to wait

Anyone coming in from abroad will have to self isolate for 14 days as per new rules

 

[spursfan77]

I think they will try and play it. I really doubt a ball will be kicked though because there will be a backlash from the public, players, healthcare professionals and sections of the media. Also, I think cases will crop up. But it is whether those are made public or hidden which will be the biggest factor.