There’s simply no workable solution besides finishing the season once a vaccine is found or voiding it entirely. CL/EL places, relegation, promotion, there’s no way of finishing as is and make a lot of clubs massively upset. Reverting to last season will upset an equal amount of teams, but at least it won’t be arbitrary.
Could they void the PL due to the Coronavirus? | No | Resuming June 17th
- Thread starter Tarrou
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if they don't want to sign then they won't sign, but I doubt there are a lot who fall in that category who are integral to promotion and relegation battles
It's not ideal but compared to the risk to clubs if the season is not completing it seems fairly trivial
Not at all. We shouldn’t finish it like that because it is unfair. If we go down this route we need to replay every match already played using this approach first and take it from there. Tim Krul will surely be the highest paid footballer for about 2 months.
Actually the legal options would be much lesser than considering the current table as final. Like I said, teams wouldn't accept relegation and missing out on CL football especially when teams haven't faced similar quality of opposition.
The 3 teams that would be relegated take the legal route, so will Utd (if City's appeal goes through), SHU, Wolves, Arsenal and all other teams that are in races to qualify for Europe
What a surprise that John Aldridge has a completely Liverpool centric view:
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spo...iverpool-wont-ideal-scenario-premier-18198760
Yes, having to play Leicester, Southampton and Burnley (and Norwich) away is equal to having a home advantage for Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Man United and Newcastle.
It’s just another bad faith argument from someone who is more desperate for Liverpool to win the league than for the league to finish with any sort of integrity.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/spo...iverpool-wont-ideal-scenario-premier-18198760
Yes, having to play Leicester, Southampton and Burnley (and Norwich) away is equal to having a home advantage for Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Man United and Newcastle.
It’s just another bad faith argument from someone who is more desperate for Liverpool to win the league than for the league to finish with any sort of integrity.
Maybe not but that's what most will do
Ha ha ha ha ha !
What a disaster of a team and their structures!
Should tell them to pick one
OK, I might have been convinced that footy can come back because every other activity apart from pubs are trying to or feel justified in wanting to or whatever.
But A BCD neutral grounds no relegation resumption is beyond farcical. There may not be any Euro footy to qualify for anyway. Who is going to reinstate their sky subs to watch that?
But A BCD neutral grounds no relegation resumption is beyond farcical. There may not be any Euro footy to qualify for anyway. Who is going to reinstate their sky subs to watch that?
Haven't been following the developments since last weekend - is that really a thing or what?
So you'd have the top 2-8 or something playing for European places and all other games have literally no meaning at all anymore? Good luck getting people to watch Norwich-Bournemouth if relegation is scrapped.Premier League doctors raise concerns over resuming season.
A number of Premier League club doctors have raised a range of concerns with league bosses over plans to resume the season, BBC Sport has learned.
One issue that the senior medics have sought assurances over includes their own liability and insurance cover if players contract the virus.
The Premier League has also been asked to provide some clarity over medical protocols, testing and player welfare.
The Premier League is hopeful of a potential 8 June resumption.
The 20 club doctors have been holding their own discussions about Project Restart - the label given to plans to resume action - with a view to feeding their thoughts into the Premier League's leadership.
A Premier League source told the BBC that they viewed the move by the medics as a natural part of the process with clubs, and a means of reaching "the best possible set of protocols".
They also confirmed that the league was in talks with insurance companies over the issue of club and doctor liability, and that this would be brought up with government representatives this week.
The Premier League is represented on a cross-sport working group of medical experts and public health officials which will meet for the second time in a week on Wednesday.
The panel is devising the health and hygiene measures that players, managers and club staff will be asked to agree to before full training and then competition can resume, but only if the government deems it safe to do so.
The government is set to review its lockdown measures later this week, with the Premier League meeting to vote on the plans next Monday. A number of players and sports medics have already voiced their concerns about whether it is safe to return to action.
Eamonn Salmon, the chief executive of the Football Medicine and Performance Association (FMPA), has told BBC Sport that opinion among doctors and physios at English football clubs regarding resumption plans was varied.
Speaking last week, he said: "I guess the views of our members will be a kind of snapshot of society really.
"There are those who think it can be done, there are those that are doubtful and there are those that probably suggest it is an impossible task.
"We have to wait, this is a waiting game all the time, it is such a changing landscape and fluctuating on a day to day basis.
"This is just the start in some respects, whatever proposals are put there it is then open to debate and for comment and opinion to feed into that."
If training is resumed before social distancing rules are relaxed, BBC Sport understands players will be tested for coronavirus twice a week and would be screened for symptoms every day.
All tests would be carried out by health professionals at a drive-through NHS testing facility that each club would have access to. Training grounds will be optimised for social distancing and high hygiene levels.
In addition:
Cubs have been training in groups and the tests are being taken before a planned return to training as teams.
Measures including "the isolation of the affected person" have been taken, said the DFL.
Top-flight side Cologne have had no further Covid-19 infections after three people tested positive last week.
Bundesliga officials suggested resuming on 9 May but the government delayed the decision and a restart may now be on 16 or 23 May.
A number of Premier League club doctors have raised a range of concerns with league bosses over plans to resume the season, BBC Sport has learned.
One issue that the senior medics have sought assurances over includes their own liability and insurance cover if players contract the virus.
The Premier League has also been asked to provide some clarity over medical protocols, testing and player welfare.
The Premier League is hopeful of a potential 8 June resumption.
The 20 club doctors have been holding their own discussions about Project Restart - the label given to plans to resume action - with a view to feeding their thoughts into the Premier League's leadership.
A Premier League source told the BBC that they viewed the move by the medics as a natural part of the process with clubs, and a means of reaching "the best possible set of protocols".
They also confirmed that the league was in talks with insurance companies over the issue of club and doctor liability, and that this would be brought up with government representatives this week.
The Premier League is represented on a cross-sport working group of medical experts and public health officials which will meet for the second time in a week on Wednesday.
The panel is devising the health and hygiene measures that players, managers and club staff will be asked to agree to before full training and then competition can resume, but only if the government deems it safe to do so.
The government is set to review its lockdown measures later this week, with the Premier League meeting to vote on the plans next Monday. A number of players and sports medics have already voiced their concerns about whether it is safe to return to action.
Eamonn Salmon, the chief executive of the Football Medicine and Performance Association (FMPA), has told BBC Sport that opinion among doctors and physios at English football clubs regarding resumption plans was varied.
Speaking last week, he said: "I guess the views of our members will be a kind of snapshot of society really.
"There are those who think it can be done, there are those that are doubtful and there are those that probably suggest it is an impossible task.
"We have to wait, this is a waiting game all the time, it is such a changing landscape and fluctuating on a day to day basis.
"This is just the start in some respects, whatever proposals are put there it is then open to debate and for comment and opinion to feed into that."
If training is resumed before social distancing rules are relaxed, BBC Sport understands players will be tested for coronavirus twice a week and would be screened for symptoms every day.
All tests would be carried out by health professionals at a drive-through NHS testing facility that each club would have access to. Training grounds will be optimised for social distancing and high hygiene levels.
In addition:
- Players must arrive at training grounds in kit and wear masks at all times.
- They must not shower or eat on the premises. If clubs want to provide players with food, it must be delivered as a takeaway to players' cars.
- Only essential medical treatment would be allowed, with all medical staff in full PPE.
- All meetings and reviews must take place virtually and off-site.
Cubs have been training in groups and the tests are being taken before a planned return to training as teams.
Measures including "the isolation of the affected person" have been taken, said the DFL.
Top-flight side Cologne have had no further Covid-19 infections after three people tested positive last week.
Bundesliga officials suggested resuming on 9 May but the government delayed the decision and a restart may now be on 16 or 23 May.
Haven't been following the developments since last weekend - is that really a thing or what?
I would have zero interest in watching these games.
I can’t remember what fixtures Utd have left - but I doubt I’d be interested in watching Utd play anyone in the bottom half in a pointless game. I certainly won’t be paying to watch us play against a team that has no incentive to play.
utterly pointless.
really can’t believe the PL can be strong handed into this. This solution is worse than not seeing any football.
BCD - still too many safety risks and by all accounts players are not happy to play until it’s fully safe. Playing in masks? Ludicrous. What happens if someone contracts it? It’ll all halt again.
PPG - unfair on those teams that setup defensively to survive and maybe don’t score as many.
As they stand - unfair again because several teams are within distance of top 4, United included. Relegation, Villa are bottom 3 but a game in hand.
The only LOGICAL thing is to cancel this season,
and try to prepare for when football can restart as well as supporting the clubs who very much may go to the wall. There is too much focus on liverpool and winning the title when the focus should be on safety first and helping clubs survive.
Seems like you're trying to argue one point with separate things I've mentioned. Still not sure why you're talking about cancer again, I didnt suggest testing for cancer everyday lowers the risk. As a healthcare professional I have to say i'm slightly surprised at the comparison. If you have five cancer patients and five without cancer and they mingle all together, you testing or not testing them isn't going to change the fact the five without cancer will not be getting infected with cancer due to mixing with the five cancer patients because cancer doesn't work like that. If you have five corona patients and five without corona and they mingle together, if you test and find positives you would stop them for mingling and therefore lessen the chance of spread, whereas if you let them mingle without testing the five without corona could then be infected with corona.
The Bundesliga just tested all their players and they've found ten infected players. Those players will now stay away. Had they not tested these players and let them mix with the others, the likelihood of transmission would be greater, no? because there'd be infected players mingling with those not infected. I mean isn't this all just logic?
Even if testing isn't 100% accurate, if enough people who have it and are found positive and are kept away this will still contribute to a lesser overall spread even if you have false negatives, how can this make no difference at all? when you've got a load of tested positive people self isolating. Isn't this what every country in the world has been doing? Saying a single negative result is meaningless is like saying a single vote is meaningless.
Weirdly, none of this was actually relevant to my main point and that's because the PL are going to be using the best available equipment whereas somewhere like Mcdonalds wont. Mcdonald's can give their staff all the gloves and masks they want but if they're not testing them then working in that environment will carry a greater risk of transmission than a football pitch will. How long do you think Mcd's staff can work in tightly congested hot kitchen before sweating and needing to remove their mask? How many staff members will unknowingly touch their face, nose or mouth and then go on to touch the chip pan handle? the till? that weird machine that squirts mcflurry's. Now of course none of this would matter if there was nobody infected (and I know you said otherwise but I'm gonna go with my instinct and say a person who is NOT infected with a virus CANNOT infect another person with said virus, because they don't have it....) but how would they ever know anyway when they're not testing anyone? Well apart from taking their temperature.
Also do you think I'm making this up or something about the equipment
https://www.cambridgeindependent.co...-as-it-tests-staff-seven-days-a-week-9107468/
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news...by-cambridge-team-to-be-deployed-in-hospitals
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-of-securing-covid-19-testing-kits-for-return
You wonder how my plan works? It's not my plan , I'm a person on the internet, I just recycle crap I read online and then try and use logic and common sense to come to a final opinion, I have little say in what happens and my knowledge is basic at best, I do not have the overall blueprint for the PL's plans. But what I do know is those plans will have little or no effect on the governments capabilities to get the rest of the country in order and that was my actual point from the get go, now its spiralled into territory that it needn't.
I really have to question whether you're serious.
1) What your post suggests about MDs, supermarkets and matches is nothing short of waffle. The interactions are very different; more importantly, the expectation of interaction ARE different. MDs, supermarkets are expected to do everything possible to distance staff, FOOTBALL the expectation is that staff MUST minimise distance. To allow football needs a completely different set of rules.
2) Testing; Yes the PL is pushing clubs to get these machines. Having these machines and testing as proposed requires other equipment, manpower, and PPE for those extracting/testing the samples. That increases demand when there is short-supply. In other words, PL/football would affect the NHS directly and indirectly.
3) Money; You didn't want to go too deep. Where money goes is an important discussion. Resuming BCD wouldnt be for Joe public or the usual supply chain and additional services (Burgers served to supports etc). It is merely to pay players wages. This is very different than opening up most other businesses. whether or not MDs has huge revenue is irrelevant, they have a vast supply chain to decentralise that revenue rather than centralise. PL appears to be doing next to nothing to support the NHS.
What you don't seem to understand is that the plans are not only divergent from the rationale for other businesses, they DO have impact on the NHS, and more so if they cluster games at neutral locations (centralised NHS support at games, rather than distributed at home/away games). Those plans do the reverse of what you believe, they set a precedent for societal interactions.. If the PL can do it, so can we..
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Generally agree but don't get your comment on PPG.
It's points average, not goal difference or goals scored?
Setting up defensively shouldn't put them at any disadvantage on PPG, surely?
The problems with PPG is that it doesn't take into account any current form or having easier or harder games left than rivals.
It's time to abandon the season and start planning for a Sep return.
Honestly if it had been any other club top of the league, the season would be cancelled already. It’s like the entire focus is on trying to find a way for Liverpool to win the league and feck everything else
Is it not points per goal?
I could have picked it up entirely wrong
If I’m wrong then I agree with your points
Curtail the league, retain current sporting performance for Europe, no relegation, promotion or title.
UEFA can use the coefficient to settle places for CL and EL.
United to get CL spot through use of the coefficient on EL or city ban.
In terms of transfers; I wonder whether we're going to see cancelled contracts for those with 12 months left, players on a free. Particularly with football unlikely fully returned until 20/21.
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Project Restart is such a naff name.
It’s not though
I’m a Liverpool fan, and although I want us to win this seasons premier league, I can assure you I am way past being excited about being champions
yes ok I’d be happy but the “excitement” has gone for obvious reasons
but
a new season isn’t going to be starting anytime soon, we aren’t under a time restraint to start the new season
so why cancel this current season that is 75% of the way through to prepare for the new season which is going to be disrupted anyway???
that does not make sense, nor is it logical
finish this season when safe and suitable to do so, and then plan for the next season which is already massively disrupted. Our stadiums aren’t going to be crowed with fans for a long time yet
Not a chance. Liverpool is the least of the PL's worries, all they care about right now is £££.
It's point per game, not per goal scored. It would still be unfair given it doesn't take into account strength of opposition though.
It seems such a big risk to restart the league again. Yes there may be measures to put players and staff safe however; what about the non playing staff it takes to get a PL game ? The fans?
Also, they say the reason is because of TV rights and money however; they will make the remainder games free to view ? wont Sky and BT contest this?
Other big businesses have had to deal with losses, why shouldn't football?
Players across the PL should accept a pay cut, and if be it dont spend big on transfers.
I think United are in a good position at the moment where really if we were to spend, we could get away with signing a RW and bringing through youth.
This should be no. 1 priority for clubs in the next window, promote the youth and give them a chance.
Also, they say the reason is because of TV rights and money however; they will make the remainder games free to view ? wont Sky and BT contest this?
Other big businesses have had to deal with losses, why shouldn't football?
Players across the PL should accept a pay cut, and if be it dont spend big on transfers.
I think United are in a good position at the moment where really if we were to spend, we could get away with signing a RW and bringing through youth.
This should be no. 1 priority for clubs in the next window, promote the youth and give them a chance.
You could be talking, at the earliest 18 months before a vaccine so not sure it’ll be absolutely safe anytime soon.
Honestly, I think people need to forget about football for the foreseeable future instead of coming up with ludicrous suggestions
Don't know if it's been covered in the thread, but as we seem to have enough scousers in here, any truth to Liverpool fc wanting to cancel the women's league due to corona health and safety?
I don’t think many clubs will be spending too much this summer, I expect to see a few more free transfers, loans and maybe swaps but very few big money deals. Many of the clubs would be spending what they don’t have coming in.
So, potentially shorter matches, played behind closed doors at neutral grounds, with no relegation? That wouldn't so much be 'restarting' the league season as starting something entirely new...
I agree on that. However; I think the figures put out by the PL and other bodies about the money they risk to lose out on.
I read somewhere that United and Arsenal risk to lose out on most from gate receipts however; we've only got 4 home games.
I feel there is a case of over estimating these numbers to pressurise the govt to let football commence again.
Getting more ludicrous with every passing day.
What difference would that make to the risk of the disease spreading? Shorter game makes no sense whatseover.
Reuters are reporting that the German federal and state governments have agreed to restart the league on 15 May.
Definitely points per game.
On goals would be carnage!
My other boys Wycombe will finish 3rd in league one on pp game. On goals we'd be well off! Mid table possibly!
8 weeks later and the only solid decision these clowns have made is to agree that the project to restart the season will be named drum roll......
Project Restart.
No fans, neutral venues, shorter games, increased subs, maybe no relegation, possibly no euro qualification. What sport is this again?
They should have named it “Project flogging a dead horse and exploring every ludicrous avenue in an attempt to finish the season to avoid financial losses from not fulfilling contractual obligations when it’s obvious the season can’t and probably shouldn’t restart any time soon”.
Though granted that’s a bit wordy.
Project Restart.
No fans, neutral venues, shorter games, increased subs, maybe no relegation, possibly no euro qualification. What sport is this again?
They should have named it “Project flogging a dead horse and exploring every ludicrous avenue in an attempt to finish the season to avoid financial losses from not fulfilling contractual obligations when it’s obvious the season can’t and probably shouldn’t restart any time soon”.
Though granted that’s a bit wordy.
Hancock's interview on R4 Today this morning indicates that there is now political will behind bringing back Premier League football as a 'morale booster'. I won't repeat the well-worn practical objections here, but that could be the clincher. Oh, and horse racing, too.
But not sure this weird hybrid low/no stakes football proposal will have that effect...
Even if the season restarts the results are nonsensical. Lets take Brighton for example. They still have to play Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and us. That would probably get them relegated but they had a slim chance based on the fact they were all home games. Now thats taken away by neutral venues or venues without supporters then its not exactly a fair playing field is it? The same goes with all the other fixtures. Plus its like starting a new season with fitness levels etc. Some teams start faster than others.
Im not saying not to finish the season - just saying if/when the season restarts the results will guaranteed to be different to if the season was completed naturally.
Im not saying not to finish the season - just saying if/when the season restarts the results will guaranteed to be different to if the season was completed naturally.
Talkradio news suggesting they could shorten the length of a match. 10 mins each way? We could finish the season in a weekend. The world has gone bonkers.
No mention anywhere, will referees be willing to take part?
sure feck it - just get all sides to do peno shoot outs. No problem socially distancing there. Sorted