Pause should have covered all leagues

There are only two leagues of football that have been allowed to continue in Scotland and Arbroath are in one of them.

My take on the threeweek pause of the season for everybody at League One level and below in the professional pyramid is this: If you’re stopping it for some, you should stop it for all.

I’ve listened to Ia n Maxwell and others speak about the travelling reasons behind the decision but that doesn’t stack up for me.

Premiership and Championship sides have the same logistics on that side of things as the clubs in lower leagues.

I’m pretty sure that the TV deals and the financial consequences of football being halted at the top are driving a lot of the decisions that are being made.

But I fear that folk are sticking their fingers in their ears if they think the two top divisions will be

able to keep going all the way through to the end of the season.

The virus is spreading faster and further than ever and football and footballers aren’t protected from that.

And the latest we’re being told is that the peak of this current wave isn’t due until mid-february!

We’ ll keep playing and giving our 100% commitment as long as the Championship continues, and I know there are mental health benefits for people who love to watch their football.

But, trust me, there is nothing enjoyable about this just now.

We train in Perth and driving home without having a warm shower when you’ve been out in minus five temperatures is no fun. Especially when you forget a change of clothes like I did the other night!

And match days much better.

This isn’t a criticism of Dunfermline but on Boxing aren’t

Day we were getting changed underneath a stand with industrial heaters on that drowned out the m a n a g e r ’s team-talk.

We may technically be classed as elite sport but the reality in the middle of winter is a bit different.

On Thursday we’ ll be tested for the first time since the Ross County Betfred Cup tie back at the start of October.

Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’d be shocked if this round of Championship testing doesn’t reveal a fair few positive cases.

I think people are kidding themselves if they think the suspension of League One and below is the end of it.

POSITIVES FROM SCARE

That was a bit too close for comfort for Dundee.

Bonnyrigg Rose were as good as I thought they would be but clearly the Dark Blues didn’t hit the same standards they reached to beat Hearts.

It showed that Dundee aren’t the sort of side that can drop to 70 or 80% of their best and expect to win.

Who knows what the consequences would have been if they hadn’t come up with that injury-time equaliser.

But that’s irrelevant. Now that they have come through it – just – James Mcpake can take some positives.

Make no mistake, even though there were no fans in the ground, the players would have known exactly what was coming their way if they’d gone out of the cup to a Lowland League team. And that’s serious pressure.

But they kept playing football and didn’t wilt under the pressure.

I definitely think it’s fair to say that might not have been the case even a few weeks ago, and certainly last season.

That was exactly the type of game Dundee would have lost.

COVID PROTOCOLS: The temporary set-up in place at Gayfield for Arbroath’s game with Queen of the South.