Cowley: Playing in empty stadiums will take soul away from football
Huddersfield manager Danny Cowley has his reservations about playing behind closed doors as it will "take the soul away from football".
Cowley - whose team sit 18th in the Championship - is adamant that it must be safe in stadiums before supporters return to the stands. But he is convinced home fans can "influence the outcome" - and the recent Bundesliga games played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic appear to back up his view.
Since the resumption of the German top-flight earlier this month, there have been 27 games up to and including Wednesday night's fixtures. Of those games, five have been home victories ,10 draw sand 12 away wins. That is a home win percentage of 18.5 per cent compared to 43.3 per cent of home wins in the season prior to the delay.
Cowley said: "It's the people's game and I think it (playing behind closed doors) will take the soul away from football. I think (having fans back) can be achieved but it is further down the line and it has to be done safely.
"The quicker we can get supporters back into the stadiums the better."
Cowley is keen on fans being able to watch the games on television in the meantime. He added: "In the short term they must be able to get exposure to the game, we have to find a way of getting supporters affordable exposure to the game. Otherwise why are we doing it?"
Championship clubs returned to training on Monday, with a testing programme under way. Out of more than 1,000 players and staff initially tested at the 24 clubs, two people at Hull tested positive for Covid-19. The results of a second round of 1,030 tests were announced, with three positives returning from two clubs. Fulham said two of those three were from their staff. It is still unclear when the season will resume for the second-tier competition, but it is looking increasingly more likely it will be some time later in June.
*Nathan Jones is back in the managerial hotseat at Luton, just 16 months after leaving the club for Stoke. Having announced former boss Graeme Jones was leaving the Championship club in April, the Welshman has been confirmed as successor. Jones had a brief spell at Kenilworth
Road as a player and enjoyed success there as manager between 2016-19, ruffling feathers when he left for Stoke, but that ill-fated reign at the bet 365 Stadium came to an end in November.