Administrator Stan 18,366 Posted December 23, 2021 Administrator Share Posted December 23, 2021 1 minute ago, Rick said: Can all the teams not just refuse? Surely the Premier League have to give into the clubs if they go on strike. Out come the points deductions 'for failing to fulfil a fixture' or some shite like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,644 Posted December 23, 2021 Subscriber Share Posted December 23, 2021 4 minutes ago, Cicero said: Explains why our game against Wolves went ahead. Still doesn't explain why United had all their games postponed when it was reported only a small amount of players contracted the virus. It sounds like if Simms and Branthwaite hadn't played against Chelsea because of our injury crisis, the Burnley game would have been called off because we wouldn't have had 14 "first team" players available without them making... one appearance this season. Also counted as available is Calvert-Lewin who hasnt played since the start of September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,366 Posted December 23, 2021 Administrator Share Posted December 23, 2021 4 minutes ago, RondónEFC said: It sounds like if Simms and Branthwaite hadn't played against Chelsea because of our injury crisis, the Burnley game would have been called off because we wouldn't have had 14 "first team" players available without them making... one appearance this season. Also counted as available is Calvert-Lewin who hasnt played since the start of September. It's a shite criterion of a rule to be honest. Fully agree with the reasons you state in that the larger squads (read, richer & bigger clubs) don't suffer because they've been able to pack out their teams with better players, whilst the smaller squads do suffer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,644 Posted December 23, 2021 Subscriber Share Posted December 23, 2021 Say we give debuts to three 16 year olds against Burnley because of this situation. Then Doucoure, Digne and Gordon catch Covid before the next game. We will be forced to play that one too because the three 16 year old debutants from the Burnley game will be classed as "first team" players by the Premier League. That's where we are with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Artful Dodger 1,831 Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Rumours is it’s all getting cancelled on 28th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcanuck 175 Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Cicero said: Explains why our game against Wolves went ahead. Still doesn't explain why United had all their games postponed when it was reported only a small amount of players contracted the virus. It's been reported that United only had 9 players available for Brentford and 7 for Brighton. Not sure if these figures included youth players or not. Also the Training Ground had been shut down so there was no place to prepare for these games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Gonzo 8,177 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 7 hours ago, RondónEFC said: Say we give debuts to three 16 year olds against Burnley because of this situation. Then Doucoure, Digne and Gordon catch Covid before the next game. We will be forced to play that one too because the three 16 year old debutants from the Burnley game will be classed as "first team" players by the Premier League. That's where we are with this. Mental how lacking in common sense it seems to be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas 3,825 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 12 hours ago, LFCMike said: Just as well, otherwise we'd have to pull three or four forward from the under 11's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Artful Dodger 1,831 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Everton’s request for their game to be cancelled denied hmmm I wonder why Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Honey 3,767 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 No covid in our squad. If you can't get near the opposition you won't catch anything. That's where the rest of you are going wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadLinesman 5,938 Posted December 24, 2021 Author Share Posted December 24, 2021 1 hour ago, The Artful Dodger said: Everton’s request for their game to be cancelled denied hmmm I wonder why Because they have enough players to field a team under the rules and haven’t provided evidence to the contrary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Artful Dodger 1,831 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 1 minute ago, DeadLinesman said: Because they have enough players to field a team under the rules and haven’t provided evidence to the contrary? The arbitrary number of players required is ridiculous. Everton should make stuff up like every other club does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadLinesman 5,938 Posted December 24, 2021 Author Share Posted December 24, 2021 Just now, The Artful Dodger said: The arbitrary number of players required is ridiculous. Everton should make stuff up like every other club does. Absolutely they should. No denying that. Victim of circumstance though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil 1,179 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Going to get silly this, Watford have played 15 games whilst others will be on 19. You'd assume they are going to be in the relegation battle. How is it fair to expect them to play a large amount of games in a short period to catch up. The league needs to see sense get clubs to take a two week break and basically have their own mini lockdown. These guys are getting paid incredible wages so I don't think it's too much to ask to get rid of the problem within the clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Honey 3,767 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 3 minutes ago, Devil said: Going to get silly this, Watford have played 15 games whilst others will be on 19. You'd assume they are going to be in the relegation battle. How is it fair to expect them to play a large amount of games in a short period to catch up. The league needs to see sense get clubs to take a two week break and basically have their own mini lockdown. These guys are getting paid incredible wages so I don't think it's too much to ask to get rid of the problem within the clubs. They'll get to play all those games after the transfer window opens. We'd love to have such an advantage ourselves. Perhaps we should have sent Jeff Hendrick on a bar crawl to try and bring the virus back to the squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Artful Dodger 1,831 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 9 minutes ago, Devil said: Going to get silly this, Watford have played 15 games whilst others will be on 19. You'd assume they are going to be in the relegation battle. How is it fair to expect them to play a large amount of games in a short period to catch up. The league needs to see sense get clubs to take a two week break and basically have their own mini lockdown. These guys are getting paid incredible wages so I don't think it's too much to ask to get rid of the problem within the clubs. It's going to create 'scoreboard pressure', like in cricket. Teams will be so far behind because they've not played a certain amount of games, mentally it can create an extra hurdle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil 1,179 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Just now, Honey Honey said: They'll get to play all those games after the transfer window opens. We'd love to have such an advantage ourselves. Perhaps we should have sent Jeff Hendrick on a bar crawl to try and bring the virus back to the squad. That's a valid point to be fair, that being said I still feel a break is required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Honey 3,767 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 6 minutes ago, Devil said: That's a valid point to be fair, that being said I still feel a break is required. Round 18 should have been cancelled. 4 games played out of 10 is pathetic and impacts the competitiveness of the league. Tottenham 3 games behind Arsenal for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander 166 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 43 minutes ago, Honey Honey said: Round 18 should have been cancelled. 4 games played out of 10 is pathetic and impacts the competitiveness of the league. Tottenham 3 games behind Arsenal for example. Some might say survival of the fittest squad. I do wonder about club shenanigans too, have some tried to use this as key payers are not available rather than COV-ID? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,644 Posted December 24, 2021 Subscriber Share Posted December 24, 2021 Now it's postponed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,366 Posted December 24, 2021 Administrator Share Posted December 24, 2021 5 minutes ago, RondónEFC said: Now it's postponed. At least we won't have to wonder why any more. Must have had enough cases to fulfil the postponement criteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subscriber RandoEFC+ 7,644 Posted December 24, 2021 Subscriber Share Posted December 24, 2021 As to the rest of the conversation, I don't know what's the right or wrong thing to do, there is no simple answer, but in lower leagues, even League One or Two, teams frequently end up with 3-4 games in hand. It's a load of shite making out that 'scoreboard pressure' is some sort of unacceptable competition-breaker. Sport happens at the behest of circumstance. I don't really get this obsession with what's fair and unfair in this context. Stuff happens all the time in sport which dishes up good and bad luck for different teams, you can't control that even before you introduce a freak pandemic to the conversation. Luck is part and parcel of football. The problem right now is that if you cancel a set of fixtures because about 6 clubs have Covid outbreaks, what happens later in the year when one or two different teams are having their Covid outbreaks and the League doesn't deem it a big enough problem to suspend a set of fixtures? Whatever decision they make, it's going to arbitrarily favour one set of teams or another with fixture congestion further down the line. I do think the best thing they can do is try to stick to the schedule that was published before the season started as best as possible. The biggest problem I have with this episode is the lack of communication from the Premier League and the FA. It should be made very clear what the criteria is for having a game postponed because at the moment it comes across to the casual observer as if they're just making it up on a case by case basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Artful Dodger 1,831 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 It makes clear sense to have a break whilst so many people are unable to play. It’s unfair on the players/clubs but most importantly it’s unfair on fans who are having games cancelled on the day or just simply can’t travel because of illness/bad transport/or just general worry. Will clubs refund them? Will they fuck. Pause for a month. This looks like it might have calmed down by then (going by South Africa). At the moment certain clubs are being penalised for ploughing on regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honey Honey 3,767 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Personally think there should be some sort of ban on Burnley and Watford playing any new signings in the 4 games in hand they'll have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Palace Fan 3,400 Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 We've had a covid outbreak. I imagine if there's any more tomorrow or Sunday morning the game will be called off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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