Coronavirus and the Scottish Championship

[Shotts56]

4 hours ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Anyone who would willingly pay £10+ to sit in their house and watch a Scottish Championship game on a shitty stream on Boxing Day needs professional help IMO.

Guilty as charged.  Would obviously much rather be at the game, but if I can't go, then watching my team on a stream is still much preferable to some insufferable English Championship game on Sky.

[embow]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59747689

This appears to be currently the reality of things, with more than likely more to come. 

The UK doesn't look too clever in the graph compared to elsewhere.

Edited December 22, 2021 by embow

[vikingTON]

10 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

That was a UEFA decision to extend that for every league across Europe and delay the start of the 2020/21 Champions League and Europa League. It's not a decision the SFA or SPFL can make unilaterally.

They'd obviously be able to request it or lobby other FAs about it, but given that no other league has stopped for covid I'd imagine they'd be laughed out of the room.

No other league has stopped for Covid yet. It's December.

As much as I despise the Scottish Government's measures yesterday, they are neither the only country doing so, nor is there reason to expect that this will be the extent of measures taken over the winter. So quite why we're assuming that only Scotland will be in a position where moving a handful of fucking play-off games would be beneficial to resolve a fixture pileup is beyond me. 

We have no idea what the continental picture will look like by spring. What we do know is that the magical barrier imposed by UEFA is no such thing. It is a bridge that can be crossed when/if it is necessary to do so. 

[Cardle is Magic]

1 minute ago, Shotts56 said:

Guilty as charged.  Would obviously much rather be at the game, but if I can't go, then watching my team on a stream is still much preferable to some insufferable English Championship game on Sky.

I'm pretty obsessed with football but you know you can watch TV shows/movies etc? Even the most cliched sitcom is a more palatable thought that watching the Pars draw with Inverness in front of nobody.

[vikingTON]

7 minutes ago, Finlay21 said:

Euro Nation league games as early as 4th June , cant see them extending league 

Erm yes, because the raft of international call-ups for Arbroath and Airdrie players will ruin the integrity of a handful of play-off games. Won't somebody think of the Nations League? 

[die hard doonhamer]

17 minutes ago, virginton said:

Erm yes, because the raft of international call-ups for Arbroath and Airdrie players will ruin the integrity of a handful of play-off games. Won't somebody think of the Nations League? 

I know you are a troll, but this is pretty straightforward.

 

UEFA won’t move their deadline because of the nations league games.

The premiership then can’t overrun because of the UEFA deadline. 

Premiership clubs will then not allow the playoffs to be delayed, meaning that extending the season further down the pyramid is not an option. 
 

[Skyline Drifter]

27 minutes ago, die hard doonhamer said:

I know you are a troll, but this is pretty straightforward.

 

UEFA won’t move their deadline because of the nations league games.

The premiership then can’t overrun because of the UEFA deadline. 

Premiership clubs will then not allow the playoffs to be delayed, meaning that extending the season further down the pyramid is not an option. 
 

He knows this. It's just what he does.

Edited to add: Of course, extending the season further down the league IS an option it's just one that would have to be undertaken incorporating scrapping the promotion playoffs. I don't see anyone willingly agreeing to that.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Skyline Drifter

[SandyCromarty]

48 minutes ago, Shotts56 said:

Guilty as charged.  Would obviously much rather be at the game, but if I can't go, then watching my team on a stream is still much preferable to some insufferable English Championship game on Sky.

Or STV as so often happens with the English team games.

[SandyCromarty]

5 hours ago, Granny Danger said:

Sorry but that’s just far too sensible and rational.

Have you still got yer Ration Book as a keepsake?

[Skyline Drifter]

1 hour ago, virginton said:

The argument that entertainment will be provided by a gubbins stream of a closed-door game is devoid of any convincing evidence. Last time I checked this was a Scottish football forum in which such preferences may be debated, whether you like it or not either.

And not a single person, certainly not me, has suggested you may not debate it and feel as you do. You stating it doesn't make it a fact though.

5 hours ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Anyone who would willingly pay £10+ to sit in their house and watch a Scottish Championship game on a shitty stream on Boxing Day needs professional help IMO.

Depends what you mean by "willingly". I'd never choose to watch a stream if I can get to the actual game. If I can't get to the game I'll watch a stream rather than not watch though. And mostly they are fine. I believe ours is excellent though I've only actually seen it once. I couldn't get to Dunfermline a fortnight ago due to domestic circumstances, I watched the stream. Notwithstanding your commentator's inability to tell which player was which it was perfectly watchable too. I've seen a few of our away games on streams, including our previous win at Morton which was also decent enough. I'm not certain I'd shell out for those Pixellot streams (although I did for Cove which wasn't great but it was serviceable) but generally the streams in the Championship are pretty decent and reliable. If I don't go to Morton on Boxing Day then I'll happily pay to stream it.

[die hard doonhamer]

15 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

He knows this. It's just what he does.

Edited to add: Of course, extending the season further down the league IS an option it's just one that would have to be undertaken incorporating scrapping the promotion playoffs. I don't see anyone willingly agreeing to that.

Well, yes. I missed a step in not pointing out that with every promotion playoff deadline insisted upon, that league will then refuse to push out their relegation playoff, and so the issue moves down a level until you get to one with no playoffs (is there even one? I think they exist all the way down to tier 7/8). 

[Rob1885]

Clubs voted in favour of carrying on, let's play ball.

[Monkey Tennis]

33 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

And not a single person, certainly not me, has suggested you may not debate it and feel as you do. You stating it doesn't make it a fact though.

Depends what you mean by "willingly". I'd never choose to watch a stream if I can get to the actual game. If I can't get to the game I'll watch a stream rather than not watch though. And mostly they are fine. I believe ours is excellent though I've only actually seen it once. I couldn't get to Dunfermline a fortnight ago due to domestic circumstances, I watched the stream. Notwithstanding your commentator's inability to tell which player was which it was perfectly watchable too. I've seen a few of our away games on streams, including our previous win at Morton which was also decent enough. I'm not certain I'd shell out for those Pixellot streams (although I did for Cove which wasn't great but it was serviceable) but generally the streams in the Championship are pretty decent and reliable. If I don't go to Morton on Boxing Day then I'll happily pay to stream it.

Having no crowds makes the spectacle less appealing to stream as well.  

[rb123!]

It's an absolute laughing stock that this omicron variant is so dangerous that the scottish government is able to wait 5 days from announcing the restrictions until they come in to effect which means that there's 3 premiership games tonight which can have as many fans at them as they like.

Then you have that clown swinney on the radio today supporters shouldn't be going to these games tonight, what an utter fuckwit government we have. 

And no i'm not a tory and no i'm not an SNP, the clowns are all as bad as each other and that's been showing well and truly with this pandemic. 

[Skyline Drifter]

3 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Having no crowds makes the spectacle less appealing to stream as well.  

It absolutely does. But is it devoid of all entertainment and worse than nothing? That's for each individual to decide. I'd rather watch a closed door stream than not watch at all. VT would rather not watch at all. It's clearly down to individual preference.

As much as it's a pain in the backside to organise, at least a crowd of 500 will give some kind of atmosphere.

[Skyline Drifter]

5 minutes ago, rb123! said:

It's an absolute laughing stock that this omicron variant is so dangerous that the scottish government is able to wait 5 days from announcing the restrictions until they come in to effect which means that there's 3 premiership games tonight which can have as many fans at them as they like.

Then you have that clown swinney on the radio today supporters shouldn't be going to these games tonight, what an utter fuckwit government we have. 

And no i'm not a tory and no i'm not an SNP, the clowns are all as bad as each other and that's been showing well and truly with this pandemic. 

Well that's a wider debate about "notice". I agree with you but it's the same laughing stock we've had for a year with countries going on and off Red Lists with 3 or 4 days notice. I've never understood that. If these countries are too dangerous for free travel then they are too dangerous for free travel. They aren't ok just now but will be too dangerous in a few days. All that happens is people rush to get in or out before the deadline.

Same with this crowds at football nonsense. If omicron is now such a threat that we need to close grounds (and I offer no view as to whether it is or not, I'm not qualified to say) then it's a threat right now, not from Sunday. They know it's political suicide to change rules before Xmas though so they are crossing their fingers and hoping for the best over the next few days.

[DiegoDiego]

Same with this crowds at football nonsense. If omicron is now such a threat that we need to close grounds (and I offer no view as to whether it is or not, I'm not qualified to say) then it's a threat right now, not from Sunday. They know it's political suicide to change rules before Xmas though so they are crossing their fingers and hoping for the best over the next few days.

The Devil's Advocate here is that every public health measure has an economic cost and both need to be taken into account. Giving a few days notice before new restrictions allows businesses time to plan accordingly, advise their customers, and honour any existing agreements which would normally be too late to cancel (e.g. tens of thousands of pies going to waste).

[Cardle is Magic]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

And not a single person, certainly not me, has suggested you may not debate it and feel as you do. You stating it doesn't make it a fact though.

Depends what you mean by "willingly". I'd never choose to watch a stream if I can get to the actual game. If I can't get to the game I'll watch a stream rather than not watch though. And mostly they are fine. I believe ours is excellent though I've only actually seen it once. I couldn't get to Dunfermline a fortnight ago due to domestic circumstances, I watched the stream. Notwithstanding your commentator's inability to tell which player was which it was perfectly watchable too. I've seen a few of our away games on streams, including our previous win at Morton which was also decent enough. I'm not certain I'd shell out for those Pixellot streams (although I did for Cove which wasn't great but it was serviceable) but generally the streams in the Championship are pretty decent and reliable. If I don't go to Morton on Boxing Day then I'll happily pay to stream it.

Paying to watch a stream of a game in front of several thousand people is still shite but is miles better than a stream of a game with no fucker there.

The video quality, commentary etc has no bearing on it for me at all either. If I can’t get to the game myself I’ll just follow updates on LiveScore.

[Skyline Drifter]

13 minutes ago, Cardle is Magic said:

Paying to watch a stream of a game in front of several thousand people is still shite but is miles better than a stream of a game with no fucker there.

The video quality, commentary etc has no bearing on it for me at all either. If I can’t get to the game myself I’ll just follow updates on LiveScore.

That's fine, it's up to you. It doesn't make people who would rather watch the stream than watch a re-run of a Xmas movie or the latest episode of Eastenders "in need of professional help" though.

[Raithie]

2 hours ago, Shotts56 said:

Guilty as charged.  Would obviously much rather be at the game, but if I can't go, then watching my team on a stream is still much preferable to some insufferable English Championship game on Sky.

Ditto, if I can't get to a game I quite enjoy having option to watch via stream in the house with a few sherberts and will be doing just that on boxing day.