An untenable situation
Plus: a Christmas quiz question!
There is every chance that the outcome of today’s Premier League meeting renders this week’s abridged newsletter immediately out of date, but here we go anyway!
An untenable situation
Most people probably agree that the Premier League cannot continue as it is.
Burnley have had two games called off in succession at very short notice, leaving travelling fans incredibly frustrated at a waste of their time, as well as their cash.
A lack of clarity over the league’s rules regarding postponements would be a start.
It is not made clear at all to fans why some teams are having their requests to have a game postponed accepted, while others are being told to just get on with it and play.
From Burnley’s side, the club apparently has no positive Covid tests at the moment, which is remarkable, although captain Ben Mee contracted the virus a few weeks back.
Burnley prepared to face Watford and Aston Villa last week - indeed, the players were apparently eating their pre-game meal on Saturday when news of the postponement finally arrived - only for the matches to be called off with less than three hours notice.
One of the things that I find particularly egregious about the current situation is that Villa’s injuries were cited in the league’s statement about the weekend game being off.
I’m sorry: what? Injuries have absolutely nothing to do with it. Every club has injuries.
Watford have one of the worst injury lists in the league, which presumably played a part in the decision not to play in midweek, even though a lot of Hornets supporters will have taken time off work to travel up for the match. A December Wednesday night in Burnley with no football to watch was the reward for their loyalty this week.
I do have some sympathy with the Premier League, but it is not as if Covid is new. The league has had almost two years now to figure out a plan for this exact situation. At the moment, it feels very much as if the league is making up the rules as they go.
Some teams like Leeds are being punished for having a high rate of vaccinationed players. Again, there is no clarity at all over who has been jabbed and who has not.
That might be an issue of privacy and some people will have legitimate reasons for not wanting the vaccine, rather than due to a conspiracy, but there is surely a grey area if a player who has refused to be vaccinnated is putting team-mates and their families at risk. It is easy to see how this could cause some tension in a dressing room.
Leeds have had a terrible time with injuries and it is fair to assume that, if they had Covid in their camp too, they would be able to have games postponed as clubs like Watford have. But Leeds players are mostly if not all fully jabbed - meaning they are less likely to get the virus - and they are having to name 15-year-olds on the bench.
It isn’t straightforward to decide what to do next, but a “circuit breaker” appears to be the preferred solution. That would mean the season is paused for a short time in the hope that this results in the Covid situation improving soon, so play is able to resume.
The problem with this idea is obvious: Covid isn’t going anywhere. While most Premier League footballers are now double-vaccinnated - jab rates among players are actually comparable to young males in the country as a whole - the Omicron variant is running rampant and it remains unclear exactly what impact that jabs will have on it.
Next season already looks like a mess due to FIFA’s genius idea of playing a World Cup in the middle of it, so the pressure is on the Premier League to complete 2021-22.
Any delay now would result in the schedule for next season being affected as well, putting more pressure on players who face a gruelling time of it over the next year.
Player welfare, of course, is rarely a priority, just as travelling supporters are forgotten.
Pausing the season will make it hard to make the right call over a resumption. An initial pause in play of two weeks could easily turn into a month or two, especially given the reports the government is considering a national circuit breaker as well.
Football could then resume in January with matches being played behind closed doors again. Nobody wants to see that, with the sterility of those games giving them the feel of a training session rather than competitive action in The Best League In The World.
We must also be wary of people like Eddie Howe, who clearly has a vested interest in his team not playing until the transfer window has opened, calling for a break. It feels very much like last year, when some teams were calling for the season to be “null and void” because they were facing relegation, or missing out on European qualification.
If there is a circuit breaker, the league then has to make clear where the line is drawn for games being off. It might be the case that players who catch Covid who are not vaccinnated should not be taken into account regarding potential postponements.
I don’t have the answers and I don’t envy those who have to make this tough decision.
But the current situation is clearly untenable. Something has to change. Right now.
Podcasts and quiz question
No football to talk about but we have a Christmas special podcast for you with George having a chat with fundraising superstars Freddie and Hughie. Check it out below.
I’m on this week’s EPL Round Table podcast talking about no football etc.
We also have a special Christmas quiz question from Dave for you to mull over…
When did Burnley last play a match on Christmas Day and who was it against?
Tune into the preview show for the Everton game when it comes out for the answer.
That’s it for this week. All being well, we will be allowed to play that game on Boxing Day and I’ll have a normal newsletter for you next Monday. Enjoy your Christmas!