CLUBS WILL HAVE TO BE FLEXIBLE, AS SOMEONE WARNED THEM IN MAY…
TOTTENHAM cannot play Aston Villa tomorrow, because of Covid. Fulham, however, are fit and free.
So with no crowds to complicate the logistics, and mindful of increasing fixture congestion, the Premier League have cancelled Villa and instead promoted the outstanding Tottenham-Fulham fixture. There are predictable moans from the clubs affected — Fulham’s game against Chelsea now moves from this Friday to Saturday — but these are exceptional times and it’s the smart move.
Yes, training schedules will need to be adjusted at short notice — as they had to be in the past, when a drawn cup game at the weekend produced an instant midweek replay — but in the circumstances, it’s an inconvenience not a crisis.
Do we want the season to finish or not? Yes, Fulham might have fielded a weaker XI at Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup last Saturday had they known they would be in action four days later.
Yet with Covid rife, to avoid chaos, clubs will simply have to be flexible.
Indeed, if only someone had thought of this earlier. ‘What would happen if, for instance, a club had togo into quarantine? Maybe more than one club. Might it not be better to look, not at a regimented schedule, but simply a list of games that had to be completed?
So if Aston Villa were in quarantine and unable to play, say, Ever ton—and Leicester were in quarantine and unable to play, say, Sheffield United, but Ever ton and Sheffield United had yet to play, then that match could be promoted and given the go-ahead .’