POP GOES FOOTBALL’S BIO-BUBBLE
Holt was braced for problems ahead of outbreak
JUST like that, the bubble bursts. And, even if yesterday’s cluster of coronavirus positive tests at St Mirren doesn’t impact on the opening round of Premiership fixtures, no one involved in the SPFL restart should be feeling even remotely complacent.
Because, according to Livingston boss Gary Holt, it’s almost a racing certainty that games will be called off at short notice.
And he says top-flight clubs should accept the risk of late postponements — and take a ‘flexible’ approach to rearranging matches.
Wednesday night’s Rangers v Motherwell friendly at Ibrox was postponed for two hours due to a delay in test results coming back.
And Ross County boss Stuart Kettlewell declared himself ‘absolutely livid’ after last Saturday’s planned bounced game against Hibs at East Mains was called off late, with a number of the Staggies already at Perth when they got the news.
With just over a week until the big kick-off, news of an outbreak in the ranks of the St Mirren staff was the last thing anyone involved in the game needed. The return of twice weekly testing becomes another necessary evil for the nation’s footballers.
For all the ambitious talk about bio-secure bubbles and hopeful noises about test events, the first hurdle to be cleared by Premiership clubs is successfully staging matches — behind closed doors — without spreading the virus.
Livingston are, ironically, due to travel to take on St Mirren in their opening fixture tomorrow week. And Livvy head coach Holt insists that, because of blips in a testing system that covers anywhere from around 750 to almost 1,100 players and staff per week, more disruption may be inevitable. Yet, set against the weekly prodding of his gag reflex in the name maintaining public health, the former Scotland midfielder doesn’t see it as a huge inconvenience. ‘If it happens, it happens,’ said Holt, speaking before the news about St Mirren broke. ‘We’ll put the game back. I think we’ve all got to be a bit more flexible about it. ‘And, if it happens and the game gets called off, it happens. No fans are missing out, are they? I think we’ve got to take that attitude. We’re not in a position yet that everything’s so nailed on that we know everything will work.
‘Like, we know the procedures we have. We know what we’re doing every day and every game.
‘But there will be times when it falls down. A test might come back as invalid at the last minute.
‘And that could be the last sample of the bunch that’s getting tested. You can’t plan for that.
‘So we just need to be flexible enough to react, hold our hands up and say: “Look, it’s happened”. We might have to put a game back a day. We might have to call it off and play it in a midweek.
‘At the end of the day, we’ve not got a winter break so there are plenty of times to play games.’
There are actually precious few free midweeks in the schedule at the moment, because of the backlog of European and international fixtures to be squeezed in.
And, while Livingston won’t be overly disrupted by a game at Easter Road or Fir Park being knocked back by 24 hours at the drop of a hat, County, who visit Almondvale for a bounce game tomorrow, might not be so pleased if they’ve travelled all the way from Dingwall to the central belt.
Explaining how the system has been working so far, Holt said: ‘We get tested early on in the week. We try to get it done.
‘I just get tested. I don’t want to know what happens next — the medical team all deal with it.
‘Just tell me they’re all negative! That’s all I don’t need to know, don’t give me a positive… I’m only interested in following the procedures in place, let the people who know the science do what they do best.
‘I just know you stick a swab up here, stick it in that tube and, right, see you later.
‘Oh it’s horrible. Absolutely horrible. And anyone who tells me they don’t gag and their eyes don’t water, they’re lying. No, it’s not pleasant. But it’s like the new norm, something you are just going to have to deal with.
‘And there are going to be bumps in the road. Just deal with it.
‘It’s not ideal. But I don’t see it as anyone’s fault, as such. It’s too easy to turn around and say: “It’s his fault. No, it’s his fault”.
‘I think we’re being flexible in a way to help each other, just to get through these unprecedented times.
‘Even although it’s great we’re getting back, it’s not the same. It’s not going to be the same until people are coming into games.
‘But we’ll try to get on with it and make as good a spectacle of Scottish football as we can.’
As things stand, Holt still expects star striker Lyndon Dykes to be in his line-up to face the Buddies next weekend. And beyond?
With Jermain Defoe suffering an injury in the win over Motherwell and Alfredo Morelos the subject of constant interest from clubs willing to spend money, Dykes — eligible for both Scotland and Australia — may yet see interest from Rangers firm up over the coming days.
Holt said yesterday that there had been no contact from Steven Gerrard or anyone at Ibrox.