I was scared and shocked when I tested positive... if you think it won’t happen again at another club you’re dreaming
Goody fears virus could cause Premiership call-offs
JIM GOODWIN has confirmed he was one of seven at St Mirren to test positive for coronavirus – only to be cleared 24 hours later.
And the Buddies boss has warned anyone who thinks Covid won’t affect another club they’re “dreaming” as he prepares for tomorrow’s season opener against Livingston without the one member of his coaching team who has been confirmed to have the virus.
Goodwin was forced to self-isolate for 24 hours after being one of the Buddies coaches to return a positive test last Wednesday.
A hastily-arranged NHS follow-up test showed six of the seven were negative, sparking an investigation into the initial check carried out by a private company.
Goodwin said: “First of all we were very concerned and worried about not only the welfare of the staff affected but families and the players.
“I had to self-isolate from the moment we got the positive results. I’m fortunate I have a second property so I was able to go there without my family and I stayed there until we got the NHS results.
“We were then told we could return to our homes but we’d still need to quarantine for another four or five days.
“We think there was a problem with that first batch of swabs. It was far too coincidental for us that it was those first seven tests of that Monday morning.
“Everyone felt great, there were no symptoms. We get temperature checks every day coming into the training ground. Nobody had a high temperature prior to the test.
“That’s the worrying thing – so many people out there in different industries going in and out of offices and you could be sitting next to someone who looks a clean bill of health but could unfortunately be infected.
“I don’t know how we’re going to contain it or manage it and we’ve still got the winter months when everyone says there will be a spike. To say nobody else at any other club is going to be affected, you’d be dreaming.
“As long as everyone takes care of personal hygiene we’ll have a chance of avoiding it and I’d like to think the SFA and SPFL have already had discussions about what will be done if Armageddon does happen because we will end up with postponements throughout the season.”
Like all top-flight clubs Saints are now undergoing tests twice a week – on a Monday and Thursday.
But Goodwin fears that, without a vaccine, the Premiership situation is precarious and it could lead to late cancellations.
He said: “This is the conversation I’m having continuously with my chief executive. What do we do if it happens again on a Wednesday and we have a really important game on a Saturday?
“I’m assuming they’re going to have to postpone
the game because we’re not blessed with a 30-man squad.
“If I lost five or six of my players then quite simply I couldn’t fulfil the fixture.
“We’re trying to stay as positive as possible. We’re looking forward to the start of the season but it’s inevitable we continue to have these things happen through the season.
“If it happened to a manager or a couple of star players at certain clubs then we have a tricky situation.
“If I were to lose one player from what I consider my best starting XI that would be a major blow and we’re all a little nervous about the situation because we’re being tested twice weekly again now.
“We were all tested this morning and if, on Saturday morning, we’re told that four or five of the boys have got it then we’re in the lap of the gods, aren’t we?”
It was far too coincidental for us that it was the first seven tests of that Monday morning
JIM GOODWIN