Club Statement: Coronavirus

[number4.]

I think football will be off till this time next year by which time we can just pick up where we left off.

Any chance of a date?

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

Completed by August 3rd or its in the bin

 

[bcblue1878]

go on your own forum.

You haven’t taken my advice have you? If it’s who I think it is, he treats this like his own thread anyway! No one else’s opinion matters, and he (and currently one other!) are the only ones with opinions that are valid or matter!

 

[Goat]

Any chance of a date?

August 2021.

 

[Bungle]

yep - i rocked (pardon the pun) up here a few years ago, safe in knowledge that the coronavirus was coming and I would have some posts in in advance, knowing that id need to defend Liverpool against a 12 year old who cant offer any constructive points about why it should be voided.

In hindsight, I probably should have told someone about the Coronavirus back then

Just out of interest mate, why didn't you?

Scum.

 

[Bebeto]

You can play tennis with no fans as well. Hardly anyone watches some games on outside courts at certain tournaments.
Easy enough to social distance for players and line judges as well really.
Still need a doctor on hand though.

And if one person whatever player coach or just support personel test positive during the tournament, then it's off...so better cancelled beforehand as many people would still need to be involved to organise such tournament to the point that its highly likely that at least a few positive cases would happened which means not finishing the tournament. July is too early for sure...

 

[Yarrgh]

Any chance of a date?

No. I don't think you're his type.

 

[number4.]

Just out of interest mate, why didn't you?

Scum.

that reply says a lot more about you than anyone else bungle

 

[catcherintherye]

I don't think it's particularly complex to pause a season and resume it on the same basis, in whatever month the authorities deem it safe to do so.

This break has been forced upon us. It wasn't a choice for any club. Even if you void this current season, the possibility of picking up next season in August as normal is fairly remote, as things stand. It's even more unlikely that this new season would be able to successfully run without interruption and with crowds of fans to May without a 2nd peak of the virus hitting - and the prospect of voiding a 2nd season on the bounce.



Your argument about safely playing Football in July isn’t really just as World Cups and other international tournaments typically take place across this period, and have taken place with great performances, in a variety of blistering hot countries over the years. Professional Football is played, in some format or another, all year round.



Sure there is, there are plenty of leagues that run through the summer months already. The most-watched Football events, even the most watched sporting events, occur in summers. There is no evidence at all to suggest that broadcasters would want a concession for Premier League Football being played in July rather than August, that is fanciful.



The issue is less about repeating the current season, I don’t think that’s the main concern for most. The dire financial consequences are the main issue for most clubs and for the authorities it’s the hot potato (that they really don’t want) of choosing how teams are relegated / promoted / awarded for next season. Are 8th placed Spurs back in the Champions League for example?



You could well be right, but the 60+ national league clubs didn't arrive at that conclusion recently. It upset quite a lot of them.

How are you defending the position it’s not “complex” to restart a season, in a month that traditionally league football has never been played, following a length of break that we have never seen previously within a league season (and indeed between seasons)? How are you not deeming it complex that we may also have to re-organise football for years to come?

Your main position seems to be it has been out of footballs control (forced upon us as you say) which is true, but it in no way validates the first point. Just because it’s forced upon us, doesn’t make it any less complex or difficult.

The position that this has been forced upon us, is good evidence for anything you want it to be. It can just easily be used as an argument to cancel the season, and thus invalidate results.

I have given you the example of World Cup 2022, which has moved a single season (and caused less disruption than is being suggested to multiple seasons currently). That took months, if not years to negotiate, with a world body keen for it. There doesn’t seem to be any notion of UEFA being anywhere as much support/appetite for the wild plan to restart the same season months later. You are trying to organize an equivalent, and greater process into a matter of weeks, while we are dealing with a pandemic, and clubs barely being able to financially stay afloat.

If you can’t acknowledge this is extremely complex, I am not sure how to convince you. Teams signed up to a set of rules, which stated the competition would run from August to May. The integrity of a league necessitates that you stick to the rules, or if you are going to wildly change them, you gain consent of those sides involved. How pray tell are you going to convince Bournemouth that they should gamble their status on a season completed months later, when they could just as easily cancel, and preserve their status?


Re the World Cup, I covered the issue of World Cups by pointing out league football. There is a marked difference in intensity and number of games of a league competition to a cup competition. It’s also played (when in hot countries) in air conditioned stadiums for player safety. Who’s paying to make all the stadiums air conditioned as a result of this change? Playing high end league football would be dangerous. Again you will need to find a solution to this (and one that doesn’t involve other sports, leagues that aren’t top end, or cup competitions) as evidence for how we do this safely.

What major football leagues currently run through the summer? Yes there are major sporting competitions that currently exist in the summer schedule. This weakens your argument though. It means networks are less likely to want more action in areas of the schedule that they already have coverage.

You talk about their being “no evidence” of a desire for a concession. Look there’s absolutely no evidence broadcasters would pay what they currently do for a product that moved from August-May. There is overwhelming evidence this is what they want, as this is what they have negotiated. They may be happy to pay similar amounts for a competition in a different period, but there is no evidence to show that currently. It’s just a wing and a prayer.

As for the concessions, no there’s no direct evidence, But we keep being told that broadcasters are going to start wanting to desperately claw money back if the season has to be cancelled. If that’s the consequence of the logical default position taken, it would be a reasonable assumption that they are looking to claw money back and will use any opportunity (including a breach of contract in playing football out of the contracted period). It’s not realistic to assume there are all these consequences if we cancel the season, but no consequences if we start playing it out of the contracted period.

As for teams to be decided on who finishes where. It’s not an easy solution. However at present Spurs would finish in the CL. There is one big winner (Spurs) and one big loser (Leicester). The season was incomplete, and Spurs may well have finished in the top 4. We don’t know, so we have to go back to what we know, which is in a completed season Spurs qualified for Europe.

Well some clubs have raised concerns, lots of them haven’t. I suspect a lot of the concerns are based upon the fact the FA is providing mixed messages, in that they cannot finish but the pro game (level 4 upwards) seemingly can. If the FA took a strong decision and cancelled all leagues, I suspect those frustrations would greatly reduce. It is unfair that the whole football pyramid isn’t being treated fairly.

 

[catcherintherye]

All of the UEFA meeting updates suggest a Pan-European consensus to conclude the seasons in safety, even if that is behind closed doors. The Dutch FA have also posted on their website that the 3rd of August is a hard deadline to finish up. Two conclusions...

1) Decision to void in the near future seems unlikely
2) If 3rd August is correct, it is impossible to see the seasons getting concluded & voiding is inevitable

My issue with August 3rd, is when will the new season start? Does this include all EFL leagues (who will need another 10 days or so to complete the play offs). They probably need 2 weeks in total on top of that longer as some have 11 games to go. So a workable end for the PL if thats the case is early July. Unless we are proposing finishing the PL first and still having EFL games going on?

The 2nd issue, is when do they think the new season will start? How long are teams going to have to adjust to begin promoted/relegated in terms of a transfer window, during a very difficult period? Do they think we can go into a new season like 2 or 3 weeks later?

If it's much of a longer break than that, we will not finish the seasons in type for the Euros.

Seems a ludicrous deadline to me. I think they'd be better sticking to the soft deadline of June 30th. Either way, if we arrant ready to train again in May (mid May) this deadline will not be able to be met.

 

[jazzy]

Any PL clubs such as Spurs or Newcastle are morally bankrupt for taking advantage of the Governments employee furlough scheme , especially when continuing to pay players their ludicrous wages in full.

They are a stain on football and I pray that I will never see the day that Everton go down this route and I think might bring my interest in football to an end.

The thought of the taxpayer , at this time of crisis , bailing out clubs with huge assets and wealth is quite simply disgusting.

 

[Toast]

Any PL clubs such as Spurs or Newcastle are morally bankrupt for taking advantage of the Governments employee furlough scheme , especially when continuing to pay players their ludicrous wages in full.

They are a stain on football and I pray that I will never see the day that Everton go down this route and I think might bring my interest in football to an end.

The thought of the taxpayer , at this time of crisis , bailing out clubs with huge assets and wealth is quite simply disgusting.

Newcastle acting like bells wasn't a surprise.

Spurs acting like bells was for me.

 

[Dixieslaces]

How are you defending the position it’s not “complex” to restart a season, in a month that traditionally league football has never been played, following a length of break that we have never seen previously within a league season (and indeed between seasons)? How are you not deeming it complex that we may also have to re-organise football for years to come?

Your main position seems to be it has been out of footballs control (forced upon us as you say) which is true, but it in no way validates the first point. Just because it’s forced upon us, doesn’t make it any less complex or difficult.

The position that this has been forced upon us, is good evidence for anything you want it to be. It can just easily be used as an argument to cancel the season, and thus invalidate results.

I have given you the example of World Cup 2022, which has moved a single season (and caused less disruption than is being suggested to multiple seasons currently). That took months, if not years to negotiate, with a world body keen for it. There doesn’t seem to be any notion of UEFA being anywhere as much support/appetite for the wild plan to restart the same season months later. You are trying to organize an equivalent, and greater process into a matter of weeks, while we are dealing with a pandemic, and clubs barely being able to financially stay afloat.

If you can’t acknowledge this is extremely complex, I am not sure how to convince you. Teams signed up to a set of rules, which stated the competition would run from August to May. The integrity of a league necessitates that you stick to the rules, or if you are going to wildly change them, you gain consent of those sides involved. How pray tell are you going to convince Bournemouth that they should gamble their status on a season completed months later, when they could just as easily cancel, and preserve their status?


Re the World Cup, I covered the issue of World Cups by pointing out league football. There is a marked difference in intensity and number of games of a league competition to a cup competition. It’s also played (when in hot countries) in air conditioned stadiums for player safety. Who’s paying to make all the stadiums air conditioned as a result of this change? Playing high end league football would be dangerous. Again you will need to find a solution to this (and one that doesn’t involve other sports, leagues that aren’t top end, or cup competitions) as evidence for how we do this safely.

What major football leagues currently run through the summer? Yes there are major sporting competitions that currently exist in the summer schedule. This weakens your argument though. It means networks are less likely to want more action in areas of the schedule that they already have coverage.

You talk about their being “no evidence” of a desire for a concession. Look there’s absolutely no evidence broadcasters would pay what they currently do for a product that moved from August-May. There is overwhelming evidence this is what they want, as this is what they have negotiated. They may be happy to pay similar amounts for a competition in a different period, but there is no evidence to show that currently. It’s just a wing and a prayer.

As for the concessions, no there’s no direct evidence, But we keep being told that broadcasters are going to start wanting to desperately claw money back if the season has to be cancelled. If that’s the consequence of the logical default position taken, it would be a reasonable assumption that they are looking to claw money back and will use any opportunity (including a breach of contract in playing football out of the contracted period). It’s not realistic to assume there are all these consequences if we cancel the season, but no consequences if we start playing it out of the contracted period.

As for teams to be decided on who finishes where. It’s not an easy solution. However at present Spurs would finish in the CL. There is one big winner (Spurs) and one big loser (Leicester). The season was incomplete, and Spurs may well have finished in the top 4. We don’t know, so we have to go back to what we know, which is in a completed season Spurs qualified for Europe.

Well some clubs have raised concerns, lots of them haven’t. I suspect a lot of the concerns are based upon the fact the FA is providing mixed messages, in that they cannot finish but the pro game (level 4 upwards) seemingly can. If the FA took a strong decision and cancelled all leagues, I suspect those frustrations would greatly reduce. It is unfair that the whole football pyramid isn’t being treated fairly.

A well thought out and concise response that fella!

 

[Dixieslaces]

Newcastle acting like bells wasn't a surprise.

Spurs acting like bells was for me.

Daniel Levy, is a first class bell though!

 

[number4.]

How are you defending the position it’s not “complex” to restart a season, in a month that traditionally league football has never been played, following a length of break that we have never seen previously within a league season (and indeed between seasons)? How are you not deeming it complex that we may also have to re-organise football for years to come?

Your main position seems to be it has been out of footballs control (forced upon us as you say) which is true, but it in no way validates the first point. Just because it’s forced upon us, doesn’t make it any less complex or difficult.

The position that this has been forced upon us, is good evidence for anything you want it to be. It can just easily be used as an argument to cancel the season, and thus invalidate results.

I have given you the example of World Cup 2022, which has moved a single season (and caused less disruption than is being suggested to multiple seasons currently). That took months, if not years to negotiate, with a world body keen for it. There doesn’t seem to be any notion of UEFA being anywhere as much support/appetite for the wild plan to restart the same season months later. You are trying to organize an equivalent, and greater process into a matter of weeks, while we are dealing with a pandemic, and clubs barely being able to financially stay afloat.

If you can’t acknowledge this is extremely complex, I am not sure how to convince you. Teams signed up to a set of rules, which stated the competition would run from August to May. The integrity of a league necessitates that you stick to the rules, or if you are going to wildly change them, you gain consent of those sides involved. How pray tell are you going to convince Bournemouth that they should gamble their status on a season completed months later, when they could just as easily cancel, and preserve their status?


Re the World Cup, I covered the issue of World Cups by pointing out league football. There is a marked difference in intensity and number of games of a league competition to a cup competition. It’s also played (when in hot countries) in air conditioned stadiums for player safety. Who’s paying to make all the stadiums air conditioned as a result of this change? Playing high end league football would be dangerous. Again you will need to find a solution to this (and one that doesn’t involve other sports, leagues that aren’t top end, or cup competitions) as evidence for how we do this safely.

What major football leagues currently run through the summer? Yes there are major sporting competitions that currently exist in the summer schedule. This weakens your argument though. It means networks are less likely to want more action in areas of the schedule that they already have coverage.

You talk about their being “no evidence” of a desire for a concession. Look there’s absolutely no evidence broadcasters would pay what they currently do for a product that moved from August-May. There is overwhelming evidence this is what they want, as this is what they have negotiated. They may be happy to pay similar amounts for a competition in a different period, but there is no evidence to show that currently. It’s just a wing and a prayer.

As for the concessions, no there’s no direct evidence, But we keep being told that broadcasters are going to start wanting to desperately claw money back if the season has to be cancelled. If that’s the consequence of the logical default position taken, it would be a reasonable assumption that they are looking to claw money back and will use any opportunity (including a breach of contract in playing football out of the contracted period). It’s not realistic to assume there are all these consequences if we cancel the season, but no consequences if we start playing it out of the contracted period.

As for teams to be decided on who finishes where. It’s not an easy solution. However at present Spurs would finish in the CL. There is one big winner (Spurs) and one big loser (Leicester). The season was incomplete, and Spurs may well have finished in the top 4. We don’t know, so we have to go back to what we know, which is in a completed season Spurs qualified for Europe.

Well some clubs have raised concerns, lots of them haven’t. I suspect a lot of the concerns are based upon the fact the FA is providing mixed messages, in that they cannot finish but the pro game (level 4 upwards) seemingly can. If the FA took a strong decision and cancelled all leagues, I suspect those frustrations would greatly reduce. It is unfair that the whole football pyramid isn’t being treated fairly.

This is a brilliant post & I agree with the majority, but to pick up on one point....

"Teams signed up to a set of rules, which stated the competition would run from August to May. The integrity of a league necessitates that you stick to the rules, or if you are going to wildly change them, you gain consent of those sides involved. "

My issue with August 3rd, is when will the new season start? Does this include all EFL leagues (who will need another 10 days or so to complete the play offs). They probably need 2 weeks in total on top of that longer as some have 11 games to go. So a workable end for the PL if thats the case is early July. Unless we are proposing finishing the PL first and still having EFL games going on?

The 2nd issue, is when do they think the new season will start? How long are teams going to have to adjust to begin promoted/relegated in terms of a transfer window, during a very difficult period? Do they think we can go into a new season like 2 or 3 weeks later?

If it's much of a longer break than that, we will not finish the seasons in type for the Euros.

Seems a ludicrous deadline to me. I think they'd be better sticking to the soft deadline of June 30th. Either way, if we arrant ready to train again in May (mid May) this deadline will not be able to be met.

Yes, The dutch FA quoted this as the date & interestingly the majortiy of journalists I have seen have been quick to confirm that UEFA are saying this is not a deadline and it can go further.

Either way, assuming the PL stay in line with the FA, which is likely given the FA agreed to this today, it effectively rules out next season starting as scheduled as things stand (could change again tomorrow obviously). Either this season gets completed, there is a mini break and PL starts in early september or it simply isnt safe to return to football in August.

Given, there are already extra international fixtures next season to fit in & the best case probability of the 20/21 season starting in early Sept, there will need be significant changes to squash everything in before the Euros