Coronavirus and the Scottish Championship

[Colkitto]

10 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Again, UNLESS the players are tested before games.

You would still need to change the guidelines on social distancing. Football is a contact sport. I personally still don't see how that could work if you're trying to contain a virus.

There is still a risk you could be in contact with someone carrying the virus as it takes 48 hours to get the results of the test. 

And I'm sure the test is only reliable for those already showing symptoms  ?  

[Rudolph Hucker]

^^^ Exactly this. There isn’t a test available, as far as I know, that gives any quicker verdict on whether people are a)  carrying the Coronavirus or b)  in the early stages of Covid-19.

Contact sport will not restart until the situation has changed dramatically from what it is now, and that won’t be this month, next month, maybe not this year.

[Sting777]

5 hours ago, Speroni*1 said:

but having 1 person for say 3 seats 

Wont work at Ibrox as they already do this in a lot of cases and their ground is packed most weeks!

Edited April 23, 2020 by Sting777

[SandyCromarty]

5 hours ago, Speroni*1 said:

Reduced attendance. Most grounds aren't near a sell-out, but having 1 person for say 3 seats or whatever it works out distance wise might be an initial way round this. We're still a long way off even this admittedly.

One problem in attending matches is entry through turnstiles where distancing from the ticket collector is impossible if it's still manual.

At Caley and probably at most other grounds, we have a bar code on our season card which the guy guns, if this is changed to remote automatic reading then that might work, however pay at turnstile would be out of the question.

Edited April 23, 2020 by SandyCromarty

[Sting777]

SPFL have decided to restarrt the season but behind closed doors !

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Sting777

[Skyline Drifter]

4 hours ago, Dele said:

Will this test show up the virus even in its infancy? 

I'm not sure it can ever guarantee to do so. 

Will it only test for Covid? Players having other contagious viruses, will they be stopped from playing? 

Bearing in mind any sort of symptom = 7 days locked in the house. 

I dont know, I'm not a doctor or scientist. Clearly such a test as would be required does not exist yet but we are talking 3 or 4 months away yet. Who knows what they might develop. I am just pointing out you dont need to observe social distancing IF you can medically confirm all participants are infection free at kick off.

38 minutes ago, Colkitto said:

You would still need to change the guidelines on social distancing. Football is a contact sport. I personally still don't see how that could work if you're trying to contain a virus.

There is still a risk you could be in contact with someone carrying the virus as it takes 48 hours to get the results of the test. 

And I'm sure the test is only reliable for those already showing symptoms  ?  

As above, clearly current testing is inadequate, it takes too long for a result. You would need something with a matchday turnaround along the lines of a home pregnancy kit. I have no idea if that will ever be possible. Govts around the world are throwing millions and billions at developing one though. We are talking about potential matches 4 months or more away. The virus didnt even exist in Europe 4 months ago. This is a fast moving, developing environment. They will get more efficient at testing. Other countries, notably Italy, have suggested football might resume if players can be tested.

[Derry Alli]

3 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Who knows what they might develop. I am just pointing out you dont need to observe social distancing IF you can medically confirm all participants are infection free at kick off.

Quite. 

Lets hope 3 or 4 months is an adequate time for a doctor or a scientist to develop a test that can confirm you are 100% virus free - and we can dole them out to Scottish Championship players to get games on. 

[Rudolph Hucker]

1 hour ago, Sting777 said:

SPFL have decided to restarrt the season but behind closed doors !

 

Think that Number 5 is Garry O'Connor in his spell at Morton

[Monkey Tennis]

6 hours ago, Speroni*1 said:

Reduced attendance. Most grounds aren't near a sell-out, but having 1 person for say 3 seats or whatever it works out distance wise might be an initial way round this. We're still a long way off even this admittedly.

Would even that do it?

I remember a daft tabloid piece suggesting the OF would have to cut their capacities in half to get games on, but to ensure a 2 metre free radius all round each individual, would surely only allow a far smaller proportion of seats to be filled than one in two, or three.

That's before all the logistics of getting in and out of the ground are considered.  I can't see crowds being permitted at all until social distancing requirements have ended.

[DiegoDiego]

Would even that do it?
I remember a daft tabloid piece suggesting the OF would have to cut their capacities in half to get games on, but to ensure a 2 metre free radius all round each individual, would surely only allow a far smaller proportion of seats to be filled than one in two, or three.
That's before all the logistics of getting in and out of the ground are considered.  I can't see crowds being permitted at all until social distancing requirements have ended.

If there's a one seat gap between everyone then it'd be one seat in four taken. A two seat gap it'd be one in sixteen.

[SandyCromarty]

Spare a thought in these difficult times for the starving seagulls in our towns and city centres and football stadiums the likes of Pitoddrie.

 

[Ad Lib]

If next season isn't going to get started until very late 2020 or early 2021, the bottom line is that the season in question will not be a "full" season.

Therefore, it seems likely that if Sky's contract with the SPFL assumes either of the following, that contract will have to be revisited or the SPFL will have to revisit the league structure in order to honour it:

• anything remotely resembling a full Premier League season of more than 30 games
• 4 Old Firm matches

Those worrying about whether reconstruction will affect

• the number of games top flight teams have to play
• the number of Old Firm games in the calendar

Therefore can't see the wood for the trees.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Ad Lib

[Skyline Drifter]

14 minutes ago, Ad Lib said:

If next season isn't going to get started until very late 2020 or early 2021, the bottom line is that the season in question will not be a "full" season.

Therefore, it seems likely that Sky's contract with the SPFL assumes either of the following, that contract will have to be revisited or the SPFL will have to revisit the league structure in order to honour it:

• anything remotely resembling a full Premier League season of more than 30 games
• 4 Old Firm matches

Those worrying about whether reconstruction will affect

• the number of games top flight teams have to play
• the number of Old Firm games in the calendar

Therefore can't see the wood for the trees.

Indeed. I've been saying for a week now it's completely pointless to be debating reconstruction until they know when we can actually play. Unless the shutdown wipes next season out completely and we are effectively planning for 21/22 then any reconstruction plan almost certainly has to have LESS games for everyone to get finished.

I don't know the exact terms of next year's Sky deal but presumably enough games will be played for them to cover the number of matches they've paid for. It may however not have four OF games and that in turn may mean some sort of penalty clause in value.

 

1 hour ago, DiegoDiego said:

1 hour ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Would even that do it?
I remember a daft tabloid piece suggesting the OF would have to cut their capacities in half to get games on, but to ensure a 2 metre free radius all round each individual, would surely only allow a far smaller proportion of seats to be filled than one in two, or three.
That's before all the logistics of getting in and out of the ground are considered.  I can't see crowds being permitted at all until social distancing requirements have ended.

If there's a one seat gap between everyone then it'd be one seat in four taken. A two seat gap it'd be one in sixteen.

Yeah, one seat in two isn't going to come close. It's more like one seat in 3 in a row and you then couldnt use the row behind either. Maybe even two rows behind. You would waste an awful lot of seats in all seater stadiums. I'd imagine crowds of something under an 8th of capacity would be possible, maybe even a sixteenth as suggested, although it wouldn't apply to members of the same household so adults and kids could sit together thereby wasting slightly less seats.  I would think we could more or less cope with our average crowds but large away supports would be an issue, I assume if some attendances were to be allowed away supports would be discouraged initially anyway.

As MT notes though, and I've said before, the main issue isn't having space for people once they are in, it's physically getting them in. Exits are less of a problem as they tend to see wide gates opened and people can just take their time leaving. Entrances would be a problem though, particularly for clubs who still largely accept cash on matchday.

I do think the practicalities of entry will be difficult within social distancing.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Skyline Drifter

[AUFC 1910]

Is anyone else fed up with the ‘gun to our heads’ TV deals and the whole ‘4 old firm games’ garbage.

[forameus]

14 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Indeed. I've been saying for a week now it's completely pointless to be debating reconstruction until they know when we can actually play.

I disagree on that, although I'm probably being too idealistic.  What this working group should be doing is looking for Options A through Z that cover every eventuality.  I want the Government to come out and say "right troops, football can come back on the 32nd of Julember" and the SPFL to flick to page 23 and find what they wanted to do in that eventuality.  

We absolutely cannot nail down a particular solution now, that I agree on, but they absolutely should be debating and looking into the feasibility of any number of solutions that cover all the bases.  If we wait until we know the date things start, it'll take the SPFL another few years to actually work out that we just wanted to do what we did before, thanks.

Edited to add, of course, I don't believe any of this will happen.

Edited April 23, 2020 by forameus

[Sergeant Wilson]

20 minutes ago, AUFC 1910 said:

Is anyone else fed up with the ‘gun to our heads’ TV deals and the whole ‘4 old firm games’ garbage.

Obviously not, because the many of the same people that complain about it then subscribe to SKY and watch Rangers and/or Celtic games. Successive tv deals and league structures have compounded it.

If there was no market for it SKY would be off, but it's now too late to change back in any case because clubs allowed a voting structure that lets Rangers and Celtic to dominate. It's a vicious circle you're not getting out of any time soon.

[Colkitto]

3 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I dont know, I'm not a doctor or scientist. Clearly such a test as would be required does not exist yet but we are talking 3 or 4 months away yet. Who knows what they might develop. I am just pointing out you dont need to observe social distancing IF you can medically confirm all participants are infection free at kick off.

As above, clearly current testing is inadequate, it takes too long for a result. You would need something with a matchday turnaround along the lines of a home pregnancy kit. I have no idea if that will ever be possible. Govts around the world are throwing millions and billions at developing one though. We are talking about potential matches 4 months or more away. The virus didnt even exist in Europe 4 months ago. This is a fast moving, developing environment. They will get more efficient at testing. Other countries, notably Italy, have suggested football might resume if players can be tested.

Who knows in the future months, but right now I'd say it's a complete non-starter. 

 

[Ivo den Bieman]

From the just-released Scottish Government startegy document:

"We are likely to require that gathering in groups, for example in pubs or at public events, is banned or restricted for some time to come. And good hand hygiene and cough hygiene must become fundamental habits. We cannot afford to have exceptions. Each one of us will have to adapt to this as the new normal, at least until we are sure that we can be more protected by a vaccine or treatment. If, after easing any restrictions, the evidence tells us we are unable to contain the transmission of the virus then we will have to re-impose them, possibly returning to lockdown with little notice. While we will do our best to avoid this, it is possible that such a cycle may happen more than once until we reach a point when we have in place an effective vaccine. "

Full document here (26 pages, .pdf)

It looks very likely that there won't be any more football this year, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if season 20/21 is a total write off, with football not resuming until 21/22.

[Rudolph Hucker]

2 hours ago, SandyCromarty said:

Spare a thought in these difficult times for the starving seagulls in our towns and city centres and football stadiums the likes of Pitoddrie.

 

NAW. 

[SandyCromarty]

46 minutes ago, Rudolph Hucker said:

NAW. 

There's alway's one who rises.