DODGY POSTPONEMENTS ASIDE... THE PREM’S HANDLED COVID WELL

THERE were some amusing social-media posts after Liverpool secured a place in the Carabao Cup Final.

One mocked up a picture of boss Jurgen Klopp celebrating by hoisting a lateral flow test.

It was a reference to Liverpool getting the original first leg of their semi-final against Arsenal postponed because of what turned out to be a raft of false Covid positives.

Not that Arsenal should be having a dig.

They came in for some serious flak for managing to get last Sunday’s scheduled north London derby delayed, but then fielding a strong-looking team against Liverpool four days later.

And we could go on and on and on.

Manchester United produced a good win at Brentford on Wednesday after having the original fixture postponed just three days after sending a practically full-strength squad to Norwich.

Almost every club suspect almost every other club have tried to bend the Covid rules.

You can leave Manchester City and Chelsea out of this because they have – understandably, considering their resources – just ploughed on.

But there are plenty of

Premier League people who believe plenty of Premier League people have been exploring the regulations to get matches called off.

And there have been plenty of observers who agree, Gary Neville (below) saying: “What started out as postponements due to a pandemic has now become about clubs not having their best team.” You can see his point. But let’s take a reality check. Let’s get a sense of perspective.

There have been 21 Premier League matches postponed. A pandemic still rages. The Covid death toll in the UK

is now in excess of 153,000.

What started out as postponement due to a pandemic has now become about clubs not having their best team

Last week, more than 300 people died with Covid PER DAY.

And we are talking about integrity being threatened by football clubs asking for games to be delayed? Really? Clearly, the way the rules have been drawn up leaves them open to dubious decisions.

But there were always going to be grey areas.

If you have, say, 13 players out with Covid, then postponement is a no-brainer.

But what if you have 13 players out and only, say, two of them have Covid?

Under the current rules, that is also a postponement.

Apparently, those rules might change during the winter break.

Hopefully, any change will be a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted and that the nation – and, indeed, the world – is coming out of the worst of it. But anyhow, change will be wrong.

You cannot play one part of the season under one set of rules and play another part of the season under another set of rules.

Now, that is something that would undermine the integrity of the Premier League.

Unlike the current regulations. They might make it too easy for games to be postponed, but those games will get played.

The season will be completed and the worst three teams will go down and the best four teams will finish first, second, third and fourth.

And remember, the Premier League and football, in general, have done wonderfully well to keep going during this dreadful pandemic.

Don’t let a few dubious postponements take anything away from that.