Minefield looms if season faces lengthy extension
JOHN Coleman believes the League One season will need to be extended. The Accrington boss has backed Kenny Jackett’s view the 2020-21 campaign may needed to be pushed back to accommodate the swathe of postponements caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
But Coleman has war ned that players’ contracts could once again be a serious issue when it comes to how long an extension could work for.
With existing deals running until the end of June, a lengthy continuation of the season could once again provide a major headache for clubs to deal with.
But with Accrington currently having 31 games to still accommodate this ter m, Coleman can see only one answer to help things can continue.
He told Sky Sports News: ‘There’s going to be more postponements, that’s for sure.
‘There’s no guarantees about the weather. There’s supposed to be a cold snap coming next week and League One and League Two generally gets postponed when the weather is bad.
‘As it stands now we have to play 31 games between now and the end of the season.
‘I can’t see it (happening) logically unless they extend the season, possibly until the end of May.
‘But I was banging the drum last year that once you start going into June and the end of June, you’re going into the minefield of the contract situation.
‘Contingency plans should possibly have been put in place at the start of the season for if this reared up again.’
With such a heavy load of fixtures on the horizon for clubs like Accrington, clubs face the prospect of playing every three or four days over the coming weeks.
Pompey have seven games due to take place this month alone, and that leads to the threat of injuries being picked up - especially after a threeweek lay-off.
Coleman added:
‘That’s the big question, that’s the $64,000 question.
‘We had a lot of that when we came back from pre-season after a fivemonth lay-off.
‘I’ve always been a fir m believer in playing my strongest team, and I don’t make a lot of subs as well.
‘Players get pushed to the limit at Accrington. We work very hard in pre-season and we taper the training towards games. It’s worked for us for years.
‘The training is more focussed on tactical and matchday preparation rather than fitness.
‘Whether that will work with just keeping fit by playing games, who knows? We’ll give it our best shot and that’s all we can do.’
31 games still to accomodate this term