Coronavirus and Football

Season can be completed in three weeks just ditch the play offs ffs

Elias wrote:

Season can be completed in three weeks just ditch the play offs ffs

Since approximately half of League 2 is in with a shout at the play-offs, that would be unfair. Why would those teams want to play at all if there is nothing to play for?

...and then there's the small point of moving the 'goalposts' 3/4 of the way through the season and changing the fundamental concept of the whole competition?

Tgwu wrote:

League One and League Two clubs join forces to urge EFL to introduce salary caps for next season to stop them from going bust

A core group of League One and League Two clubs have told the Football League that introducing salary caps next season is necessary to stop many of them going out of business.
Aside from official meetings with the EFL this month, Sportsmail can reveal that 34 of the 47 clubs in the bottom two divisions have also been discussing a way out of the coronavirus crisis in a series of remote video discussions chaired by Mansfield owner John Radford.
In a letter sent by Radford to EFL chairman Rick Parry, the clubs have made it clear they want the current season completed by the end of July at the latest but do not intend to pay extra wages to players whose current contracts expire at the end of June. They will expect them to play on.
To take such a step would be a seismic event in English football and may bring many clubs into direct conflict with those who play for them.
Radford and his fellow chairmen accept that there may yet have to be some flexibility in terms of when the current season finishes.
'It is accepted that setting a deadline when so much is uncertain may not be possible,' the letter states.
However there would appear to be less appetite for wriggle room on the issues of players and their wages.
The clubs state: 'These points are clear. We would hope the EFL can ensure that those are taken forward in their negotiations as necessary.'

we will be fecked if that comes in

Why?

Grovehill wrote:

Why?

Because if we end up staying in league two for next season alot of our squads wages are league one and we would have to move the likes of mayor on.

The chief scientist says a vacine is a year away and without it we are fooked, so a football ground with fans is a non starter, i think football below the premier league is finished as we have known it.

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

The chief scientist says a vacine is a year away and without it we are fooked, so a football ground with fans is a non starter, i think football below the premier league is finished as we have known it.

surely this useless WHO would be working night and day to find the vaccine quicker than that time frame as the world as we know it will be bankrupt to high heaven.

Failing that, why isnt there a national call from the government to make ppe gear including masks that we are now being told to wear in the uk more so we dont have to rely so much on overseas imports

Tory and capitalist ideology dictates that we must buy the cheapest using the free market even, rather especially, if it costs more in the long run due to unemployment, loss of taxes, etc, etc.

We will just repeat the same mistakes over and over again in a grotesque Conservative ground hog day.

Has the last 12 years not taught this already?

"why isnt there a national call from the government to make ppe gear including masks"

Only Communist countries insist on making their own shit, is that what you want Angers? Communism?

seadog wrote:

Tory and capitalist ideology dictates that we must buy the cheapest using the free market even, rather especially, if it costs more in the long run due to unemployment, loss of taxes, etc, etc.

We will just repeat the same mistakes over and over again in a grotesque Conservative ground hog day.

Has the last 12 years not taught this already?

"why isnt there a national call from the government to make ppe gear including masks"

Only Communist countries insist on making their own shit, is that what you want Angers? Communism?

I hate all UK politics and politicians. I hate capitalism because it is based on the grounds that all that matters is wealth and the generation of wealth. Capitalism is an economic system in which money and material gain is put above the good of the people. Individuals seek to maximise profit in a capitalist model-even if that means acting in an immoral way. In capitalism untimatly the worker becomes a slave and is worked as hard as possible for as little as possible for the short term financial gain of the individual that sits above the worker in the heirachy. The good of the worker is rarely considered , just the profitability of the company-the worker is seen as just a disposable resource. Capitalism is a product of a failed system based on a lack of consience. It allows the greedy to absolve their guilt and give into their selfish beliefs to pursue profit and pleasure at the expense of others.

Now on the other hand.....Communism and socialism is a product of another failed system based on jealousy and the lack of ideal itself. It plays on the minds of the jealous who, instead of striving for the ideal self and wishing to improve themselves , wish to pull down others in order to make themselves feel better.

Both capitalism and communism amount to nothing more then economic systems that are used by people who want to feck up the west in order to enslave and corrupt western mankind -one promotes materialism, the other promotes false equality. The worst thing about it all is that capitalism v comunism is that it is presented as a straightfoward choice between two absolutes leaving the individual forced into choosing the lesser of 2 evils.

I am no communist, but I am afraid in this country if you dare to criticise a posh Tory then thrown in your face is "what is the alternative? A communist state, how much worse would it be if Corbyn was in charge?"

We are fecked, these posh, greedy cnuts will rule forever kept in power by Sun readers.

seadog wrote:

I am no communist, but I am afraid in this country if you dare to criticise a posh Tory then thrown in your face is "what is the alternative? A communist state, how much worse would it be if Corbyn was in charge?"

We are fecked, these posh, greedy cnuts will rule forever kept in power by Sun readers.

No arguement there Seadog its the most incompetant government in living memory by some distance
Returning to football it seems that however runs the leagues appear to take absolutely no notice of what the Government are saying (well fair enough !) however Whitty yesterday alongside Dopey Dom at the 5pm press conference clearly inferred social distancing will continue for all of 2020
What is it that these football chiefs cant grasp here. There will be no football this year

Angry wrote:

Grovehill wrote:

Why?

Because if we end up staying in league two for next season alot of our squads wages are league one and we would have to move the likes of mayor on.

Where would the players on wages over the allowed limit move to?

And why shouldn't they accept a 12 month pay cut?

Are you saying that some players have only come here for the money?

Do Professional footballers need a reality check?

In twelve months time they be playing in stadia where 90% or more of the crowd will be poorer due to Covid 19, why should they be any different?

Those Who Want The Season To End Have Their Own Agenda"

Artell says some club owners trying to be opportunist over players wages

Crewe Alexandra boss David Artell remains optimistic that the 2019/20 season will still be completed. The Alex boss says that regardless of our current league position in League Two, he would still want the remaining games to be completed to protect the integrity of the competition.

The Alex boss believes that those owners wishing to end the season now are only looking to protect their own interests and ‘are working towards their own agendas’.

Senior club officials are set to hold conference calls with the EFL today to discuss the planning for the season to be completed and Artell hopes that those owners wishing to end the season at this point remains very much in the minority.
Artell told the club’s official website: “The general consensus is that we want the season to finish but there are one or two who are opposed to that. They are in the minority I must say and I would think they are being opportunist and have their own agenda behind that stance.

“Gordon Taylor has asked for players to take a 25% pay cut and I understand that but there are some chairman who want 50% and others looking to use the coronavirus to get out of paying them at all!

“That doesn’t sit morally right with me at all. It is morally wrong and their contracts should be honoured. They have to be.

“What I don’t want is for those who are banging that particular drum continue to bang on long and loud enough that their voices begin to get heard. From us at the top down to Stevenage at the bottom, the majority of us want the season to finish and the integrity of the competition to be upheld.

“If that means playing behind closed doors and the EFL and clubs streaming games for the supporters then so be it. We have to be inventive in these unprecedented times. I read that the Derby Chief Executive suggesting that the on-line betting companies could get involved and stream the games there. It is that type of thing we have to consider and nothing should be off the table.”

Swindon Town FC players have been furloughed (but will still get full pay)

Swindon Town staff and players have all been placed on furlough but will still receive 100 per cent of their pay, manager Richie Wellens revealed in a radio interview this morning.

Speaking to talkSport, he said: "We have furloughed all our staff and all our players but we are paying their wages, 100 per cent.

"So the club will be topping them up, which was a great credit to the CEO and the chairman Lee Power.

"It just shows that we run our club accordingly.

"I can’t comment on other clubs but it’s very early for me, I don’t feel comfortable with clubs coming out saying they’re going to go bust so quickly, especially with the government help and the advanced payments from the EFL."

The Town boss added that the EFL had made advanced payments to all clubs and that the plan was to be back in training on May 16.

He said: "I spoke with my chief executive, Anderson, and he said that every single club in the EFL has received a certain amount of advanced payments from the EFL through to a certain time

"The decision was that May 16, everyone is back in training.

"It’s quite clever from the EFL, they’ve bought themselves some time, they’ve forwarded the money to the clubs so why would they need to make a rash decision?

"We don’t know what’s going to happen, it might be short term or it might be long term so it just gives them time to get contingency plans in place if we aren’t available to train on May 16."

Crewe Chairman talking about integrity and morality is hypocrasy of the highest order.

Pity he isn't so keen to talk about his Club's failure to act on sexual abuse of children

Seems a bit odd that PL and EFL clubs seem to openly talking about dates for training to recommence.

Have they been tipped off about when the lockdown might be eased?

Grovehill wrote:

Seems a bit odd that PL and EFL clubs seem to openly talking about dates for training to recommence.

Have they been tipped off about when the lockdown might be eased?

Big business has decided to ignore scientific advice and we are already making plans to go back to work.

Premier League matches could be free-to-air once season restarts

The Premier League is considering making some behind-closed-doors fixtures available free-to-air when the season restarts, the culture secretary has said.

Oliver Dowden has said he had been having "productive talks" with governing bodies from across British sport on restarting following the coronavirus shutdown.

He said the resumption hinged on passing the government's five tests as well as meeting social distancing guidelines.

Dowden said it was also important to send out a message that was "consistent" with that being given to the public.

Discussing how sports would be broadcast if held behind closed doors, as is expected to be the case initially, he told the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee: "I have said to the Premier League it wouldn't send the best signal if they were one of the first major sports to resume behind closed doors and the public at large couldn't have access to it."

He acknowledged that sports were "reliant on the revenue they derive" from broadcasting deals.

But he said that there were ways sport could have "elements of protecting revenue from broadcasting but also looking at ways of increasing access".

The Premier League was "considering" the issue, he said.

Uefa has confirmed national leagues will not be banned from European competition if they cancel their seasons and must decide for themselves how to determine final placings “based on sporting merit”.

The emergency rules were announced after a meeting of Uefa’s executive committee and mark a stark shift in approach from European football’s governing body. The top line remains a “strong recommendation” to finish the season, and even suggests a preference for adopting a different format, such as a play-off, before cancelling. But as the coronavirus crisis deepens there is an acceptance that national competitions – with Scotland and the Netherlands foremost among them – are facing extraordinary circumstances.

Uefa has laid out two primary conditions under which it would accept the abandonment of a league. The first would involve being instructed to do so by a government, which is the case in the Netherlands; the second is “insurmountable economic problems”. Uefa’s announcement cites a request from Scottish football authorities for clarity on the rules. The Scottish Premiership is now expected to bring its season to an end.

In a statement Uefa said: “The ideal scenario, should the pandemic situation permit it, is to have the currently suspended domestic competitions completed ... in their original format. Should this outcome not be possible, it would be preferable that suspended domestic competitions would restart with a different format in a manner which would still facilitate clubs to qualify on sporting merit.”

The statement goes on, however: “While using best efforts to complete the domestic competitions, national associations and/or leagues might have legitimate reasons to prematurely terminate their domestic competitions.”

Uefa then requests that, if terminated leagues are to submit clubs to European competition in the 2021-22 season, they do so “based on sporting merit”, determining final placings “on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory principles”. While leaving open some flexibility, the recommendation would seem to encourage a solution where an incomplete league table is organised on a points-per-game basis.

Uefa says it reserves the right to refuse nations or clubs to compete in the Champions League and Europa League if these criteria have not been met. It stipulates a further reason for termination that may be acceptable; namely if it has been done on “the basis of any other legitimate public health reasons”.

This final clause will be interpreted by some as leaving open the possibility for even the biggest leagues to stop their seasons should the pandemic not allow a safe resumption of competition.

Uefa also announced it would be advancing €70m (£61.2m) from its “national team competition revenues” to clubs which released players for the European qualifiers and the Nations League. It was also confirmed that the men’s European Championship will retain the name Euro 2020 despite having been rescheduled for the following year.

EFL - adequate testing arrangements must be in place before football season resumes
The English Football League has warned that football cannot resume before adequate testing arrangements are in place for coronavirus, and that cannot come at the expense of front-line workers.

Responding to news that the Premier League has stepped up planning for a return behind closed doors as early as June, the EFL, which includes League Two featuring Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City, said its own position remains unchanged as it looks to find a way to resume play as soon as possible.

In a statement, the EFL said: “Clearly, before any return to football can take place, suitable testing arrangements for participants must be in place and this is core to our current planning, as is ensuring there is absolutely no negative impact on the country’s front-line workers, the emergency services, league and club staff members.”

In response to Punchey's missive........The Nordic countries seem to be successful enough.

They don't tolerate corruption and for the last 70 plus years have managed to work with regulated free market capitalism, to provide welfare states and opportunities for everyone, that are the envy of the world. And yes, entrepreneurs can make a lot of money............but are obliged to pay their taxes, which are high.

Free , quality healthcare, education and social care. Trade unions that work for their members/sectors but are not allowed to hold the country / businesses to ransom. The government steps in. Those not happy with the deal are retrained for other skills.

Call it what you like,it works, irrespective of whether the government is left or right of centre.

It has even been suggested that Corbyn would be a mainstream social democrat in their systems.

People and the planet before unregulated capitalism or communist dictatorships.

Taking full advantages of the lock down at home Park 

They are doing the summer maintenance and reseeding earlier this year. Harper Park is finished, main pitch today and tomorrow hoping the heavy rain forecast for tomorrow holds off . According to the workmen the grass should be through in 5 days.. They was still there at 7 last night.


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Grovehill wrote:

Angry wrote:

Grovehill wrote:

Why?

Because if we end up staying in league two for next season alot of our squads wages are league one and we would have to move the likes of mayor on.

Where would the players on wages over the allowed limit move to?

And why shouldn't they accept a 12 month pay cut?

Are you saying that some players have only come here for the money?

Do Professional footballers need a reality check?

In twelve months time they be playing in stadia where 90% or more of the crowd will be poorer due to Covid 19, why should they be any different?

who the feck is going to take a pay cut of up to a year????