The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Mcinnes apologises for ‘foolish’ players
Perth boss Callum Davidson – who learned of the postponement when Sky staff began de-rigging their kit during training – was on the receiving end of a fixture calloff last month when members of St Mirren’s backroom team returned positive Covid-19 tests ahead of their pre-season friendly.
He has called in his players today to begin preparations for Wednesday’s Premiership clash at Ibrox against Rangers.
They will have had just one competitive game against Dundee United and two friendlies against Aberdeen and Hibs under their belts before the fixture with Steven Gerrard’s men.
Meanwhile, Dons chairman Dave Cormack admitted he is grateful his side didn’t have to forfeit the Saints game.
Manager Derek Mcinnes was going into the match without eight first-team players – the two who tested positive for Covid-19 and a further six who were also self-isolating after being in the pub with the pair.
All eyes have been on the Granite City over the last few days as far as the coronavirus in Scotland is concerned, with the first minister increasing lockdown restrictions for seven days on Wednesday due to a spike in cases.
Bars and restaurants were ordered to close, there is a five-mile travel limit for leisure activities, and people from outside Aberdeen have been encouraged not to travel there.
Cormack, who has launched an investigation into what happened, said: “I took the opportunity yesterday to apologise to both football and health authorities, and with our fellow premiership clubs.
“We are now dealing with this internally with the seriousness it deserves.”
Mcinnes apologised, calling the players involved “foolish” and insisting that fans deserve better.
He said: “First and foremost having spoken to all the lads they all take full responsibility. They have made a real error of judgement. The four household rule is clear and I think that is where they fall short and are guilty.
“What they have said to me was, because they felt they were in their own bubble here and tested negative and had been in the changing room and all the rest of it, they actually said that that hadn’t even crossed their minds.
“The bit for me that makes it even more of an issue is that they then go after dinner into a pub for half-an-hour or so – there wasn’t intentions to go out partying and only a couple of them had a glass of wine with their food – but the majority were driving and not drinking because they had training the next day.
“I think they have been really foolish in the fact we have lost an important game to Rangers and we have all been at Aberdeen long enough to know you don’t go out the door if you lose a game.”
Scottish football’s Joint Response Group (JRG) added: “Following a meeting between the minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, Joe Fitzpatrick, the Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell, and the chief executive of the SPFL, Neil Doncaster, to further examine the circumstances around the selfisolation of eight Aberdeen FC players, a request was received from Scottish Government – and agreement reached – to postpone Saturday’s Scottish Premiership match against St Johnstone.
“There is an evolving public health outbreak in Aberdeen and the minister conveyed the need for additional work to provide further assurance around Aberdeen FC’S adherence to the agreed protocols.
“Given the overriding responsibility to public health, the subsequent advice and discussion with the minister this morning means that the Joint Response Group must adhere to the request to postpone the match.”
T here appears to be zero sympathy for the Aberdeen players who’ve caused the cancellation of their game at St Johnstone, and that’s just among Dons fans.
The players who breached Covid-19 protocol in a bar after the Rangers game last weekend have attracted the fire of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who said they had blatantly broken the rules.
It remains to be seen if they’ve jeapordised only their own prospects or also that of the wider game.
It will be intriguing to see if any punishments are handed out in terms of points deduction, or fines, or whether simply being without eight first team members for the next few games is sufficient penalty.
Dave Cormack, the Pittodrie chairman, will be apoplectic after the hard graft he and Aberdeen fans have put in to ensure that their season started brightly.
The race to get this season under way rested on the desperate need for Sky TV income.
Now the broadcaster, which effectively subsidises the game here, finds their extensive and expensive outside broadcast facilities sitting idle in Perth, and costing them lost revenue.
Will they decide that the clubs should share in that economic hit?
Derek Mcinnes is entitled to rage at the lack of professionalism shown by so many of his players, and the ramifications could be grim with his side now at a serious disadvantage in being significantly weakened in forthcoming games.
It also remains to be seen what impact there may be on the wider game.
Any halting of the sport after just getting going again would cause a huge amount of anger and bitterness directed at the individuals concerned.
Professional football demands certain sacrifices that the average worker doesn’t need to make.
Strict attention to diet, alcohol intake, and general standards of behaviour are expected of top pros.
They’re well rewarded for foregoing some pleasures that the rest of us can indulge in without restriction.
Discipline and rigour is part of the package in being a serious athlete, and in a situation like this, these players have lost sight of their duty to the supporters, the club, and the game itself by their short-sighted and selfish behaviour.
Brains in head – and feet
There’s a great after-dinner tale where the legendary Hibs boss Eddie Turnbull, questioned at half-time over his tactics by Alan Gordon, who was also an accountant, told the striker: “The trouble with you son, is that all your brains are in your head.”
Football players, of course, aren’t all as daft as the Aberdeen players mentioned above.
In a week when the Scottish Government have been taken to task over the results from this year’s Higher examinations, Dundee United can be proud that five of their academy graduates have distinguished themselves with good grades in their school results.
These lads are all living the dream, but they’re wise, in a precarious profession, to give themselves an educational back-up.
Football is a short career – injury, illness, loss of form, and the general intrusion of life’s realities, can all thwart a young man’s ambitions and hopes.
The players concerned have proven they have brains in both their head and feet.
“
It also remains to be seen what impact there may be on the wider game