Coronavirus: Football Discussion Thread

[Eds]

Glenn Murray just saying that if players have to wear masks then it can’t be safe to play but if the hierarchy say they have to play then so be it. Utter madness to contemplate restarting the season

 

[Blue Hefner]

That isn't what Spain and Italy are doing. Their coming out of lockdown is takeaways are allowed to open (in Italy) and children are allowed out of the house (in Spain). Their lockdowns were stricter than ours to begin with, so reporting that says theirs are being loosened amount to getting close to where we are now.

100%

The way it is being reported that Spain and Italy are coming out of lockdown is giving some people in the country that the U.K. won’t be for behind in lifting the restrictions we have - Spain and Italy’s lift gives them similar restrictions to what we have. They went harder, we have a semi-lockdown

The language and reporting and false comparisons are not helpful

 

[give it to gordon]

Glenn Murray just saying that if players have to wear masks then it can’t be safe to play but if the hierarchy say they have to play then so be it. Utter madness to contemplate restarting the season

As some else has said if players have to wear mask in a game the ref will to. How is the ref going to blow his whistle ?

 

[Marvin]

Mate, do you understand this "R NUMBER" that they keep banging on about and how, due to isolating, it has been reduced to a value below 1?

Well, getting people to "isolate" in groups as big as a football team along with all the extra fitness/medical staff/management team doesn't really fit into a scheme that maintains that, does it? You're right though, they won't be all crammed into tube/train carriages, they'll probably all be getting ferried around in a big coach which is just as confined as a train carriage and just as risky to their health.

I just don't see it as being worth the risk to rush back a contact sport just yet. It's way too soon IMO and the health consequences for the players don't stack up considering what's at stake from a purely sporting sense (I'm not getting into the financial consequences of the clubs as that'll not really be of much consequence to the players I'd imagine) - NO relegation so pretty much just settling the top European entry places. Why would they possibly risk their lives for it?

I fully understand what you're saying about everyone having to get back to work at some stage in order to save their individual businesses, along with stimulating the country's economy, and that when we all do eventually get back to it certain "distancing regulations/advice" will have to be bent/ignored to a certain extent, but not as much as a contact sport requires them to be, surely? Plus footballers are role models to millions of kids. Monkey see, monkey do, and all that. It'll be hard enough to get kids to socially distance when they go back to school as it stands now, but if they see their heroes playing football then they'll be playing football too, and kids have such short attention spans that they'll be all over each other when one of them scores. It'll be mayhem.

I'm not going to make predictions as it might just all blow over and this "disaster" may not be the "world changer" that some say it will be, but I certainly think that from a health perspective football needs to wait for quite a lot longer than it has before it even THINKS about returning.

But I don't own a football club that could possibly face extinction as a result of waiting, do I, so my opinion real counts for shit :)

The lockdowns are being lifted, and football is part of that.

The question of whether fans will have any interest in watching it on TV if there's no relegation is another one but I have no moral objection to football discussing returning when we're also discussing the return of schools, trains and work in general.

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

As some else has said if players have to wear mask in a game the ref will to. How is the ref going to blow his whistle ?

he's just going to cough, that'll stop them all sharpish.

 

[RadcliffeRick]

If there is no relegation can there be a champion? Seems messed up if you can stop relegation but allow a champion. Also should teams be prevented from playing players who were long term injured at the time of the season being stopped?

 

[waspish]

The lockdowns are being lifted, and football is part of that.

The question of whether fans will have any interest in watching it on TV if there's no relegation is another one but I have no moral objection to football discussing returning when we're also discussing the return of schools, trains and work in general.

I’ll watch it just to moan like fcuk about it being on.

 

[King KdB of Belgium]

With both the FA and the Premier League looking to start in June. They still want to do this when we don't even know what the next phase of the Governments lockdown will be. To me they should call the whole thing off. Let's declare this season null and void. This will be like playing football over all those who have died during this pandemic. It shows them no sign of respect.

If the Premier League can resume in June, while the 2mtrs distance is still in operation Then they can open all the grounds and let us watch the games. If it is alright for the players to play football then it should be alright for us to watch the football. Football like rugby is a contact sport and it is impossible to remain 2mtrs apart. I wonder if Richard Scudamore would be able to tell us how we can play football and yet remain 2mtrs apart at all times .

 

[TheBlueDune]

I wonder if Richard Scudamore would be able to tell us how we can play football and yet remain 2mtrs apart at all times .

There are some players who even if 2 metres apart will still be "tripped" in the area

 

[Marvin]

100%

The way it is being reported that Spain and Italy are coming out of lockdown is giving some people in the country that the U.K. won’t be for behind in lifting the restrictions we have - Spain and Italy’s lift gives them similar restrictions to what we have. They went harder, we have a semi-lockdown

The language and reporting and false comparisons are not helpful

There maybe an announcement on Wednesday as to whether the Bundesliga will return. Their players are already in training. Football Focus featured Rabbi Matondo at Schalke preparing for it.