Is the football world really in denial about coronavirus?
the day as we head towards the peak over the coming weeks and months.
It is important, however, to have a clear vision and collective agreement when it comes to how the current campaign is concluded, whenever that may be. There is a will to complete the season.
Football unites people like no other sport and everyone needs a little hope in these unprecedented times.
But there are wider, complex, legal, contractual implications of just ending the season now and declaring it null and void while everything shuts down for months the wrong call and many clubs could go to the wall, especially the further down the league pyramid you go.
So no, I don't feel football is in denial.
It is an industry, a business at the end of the day - and like everyone else - is trying to find a way to best muddle through this crisis.
The priority though, has to be everyone's safety; staff, players, fans, so it remains to be seen how feasible a compressed end of campaign in June behind-closed-doors will actually be.
The next few weeks will be key. Stay safe. And stay home.
“Signs of progress”
I'll sit on the fence here. Yes in some regards, no in others. Had you asked me this question a week ago, I may have given a different answer.
But in that time we've seen a more realistic return date put on the league, and a realisation that in some cases particularly in non-league - it is not practical or financially prudent to finish the current campaign.
That, for me, is a sign of progress and football waking up to the problems COVID-19 will cause. But while football is beginning to overcome logistic and scheduling issues, they are still to act properly when it comes to the issues facing those in the midst of the game - the players. I'm not talking about wages here - although for some in the lower leagues, being asked to take a salary cut could prove a worry. This transcends far beyond money.
In terms of mental health, this will be a testing period for a number of players. To have gone from a regular routine, surrounded by a group of people, to potentially being isolated for a number of months could prove difficult for some.
Nottingham Forest defender Michael Dawson eloquently summed-up the situation during an interview with Sky Sports, and called for the authorities to do more to help players who may be struggling with mental health during this period.
It's all well and good the PFA chiefs reminding players of their helpline, but sometimes it isn't that easy to talk.
Football needs to wake up to the fact that a number of players could be struggling and ensure they are adequately catered for.
Forget schedules and fixture congestion, this should be a far greater concern.
“We’re in this for the long haul, whether we like to believe it or not”
Football is a force that can unite, divide, excite, despair – all in equal measure.
It is the national game and is rightly at the forefront of national consciousness 99.9% of the time.
This is a very rare occasion where it is not. But the problem is that football thinks it’s still at the party.
While everyone else is rolling down the shutters, there are still some within the game – whether that be players, pundits, fans or decision-makers – that hold hope football will be able to just start up, while everything is crumbling around them, and all will be OK.
June seems to be the consensus. The bit that gets forgotten is that the people who should know about these things – the country’s top scientists, medical officers and statisticians – seem to think this is around the time the virus could peak in the UK. Yep, so let’s expect 22 players, with a support staff of more than 100, to test negative for COVID-19 – in order to return to training a month prior in May – then stay virus-free, effectively in quarantine, until the first game. This exact sequence must be repeated another nine times – and that’s just for one round of fixtures, not nine/ten in the Premier
League, for example, as well as cup games.
We are only just starting to realise on these shores just how big an impact this virus is set to have on life as we know it. Already some of our takenfor-granted basic rights have been stripped – I hope you’re all enjoying your dictatorial, one designated walk per day – and things are likely to go further.
It is unrealistic to think football, as we know it, will start up in May, June, July even beyond.
Those who seem to be holding out hope this will happen are delusional. It sounds like we are in this for the long haul, whether we like to believe it or not.