NOW HIT THE PLAYERS HARD
Saints manager Goodwin says clubs can’t pay for the sins of their employees Authorities set to reveal just how they plan to hammer the Covid rule-breakers
ST MIRREN boss Jim Goodwin believes players who deliberately breach Covid-19 rules should be handed a five-game ban.
The Buddies boss was speaking after his side’s midweek home match with Celtic was postponed following Parkhead left-back Boli Bolingoli’s illicit trip to Spain.
Goodwin does not believe that matches should be forfeited by the clubs responsible for call-offs.
However, as Scottish football’s Joint Response Group prepares to announce sanctions for players who don’t adhere to football or government protocols, Goodwin believes rule-breakers should have the book thrown at them.
‘I don’t think teams should forfeit games,’ he said. ‘But I think there should be heavy punishments for individuals who knowingly break the rules.
‘If somebody manages to pick up the coronavirus because a member of their family brings it back into the house and it’s unavoidable, then what can you do?
‘It happened to us a few weeks ago when one of the lads’ partners brought it back from work. We didn’t bring that on ourselves. That can happen to anybody.
‘But I don’t think any manager or player out there would have any argument if the SPFL decided to hit them with a heavy, heavy suspension.
‘The two-week quarantine isn’t enough. You could be looking at a four or five-game suspension and an internal financial (punishment) as well.’
As Nicola Sturgeon was showing Scottish football a very public yellow card on Tuesday, Goodwin was simultaneously cautioning his St Mirren players.
The Buddies boss made his squad watch the televised address and asked them to imagine the fallout should any of his players follow in the footsteps of Bolingoli or fellow Covid-19 rule-breakers the Aberdeen Eight.
He also warned them he will come down like a ton of bricks on anyone caught breaching the guidelines.
‘We made the players watch the press conference given by the First Minister the other day,’ said Goodwin. ‘It was just to highlight the fact that it would be extremely embarrassing if it was St Mirren Football Club up there getting talked about in a negative way.
‘But as a football club we can’t do any more than we are doing. I’m proud the club have been as strict and stringent as they have been.
‘At a football club you can only control the situation 100-per-cent at our training ground and stadium.
‘Then the responsibility transfers over to the players and what they do in their own homes and who they decide to socialise with.
‘But I’ve stressed to my players that if they are caught out in any type of hospitality venue, restaurant, pub or nightclub and if something comes off the back of it, then they’re in serious trouble and there will be consequences.
‘If the worst-case scenario happens and one of these venues gets closed down and track-and-trace brings it back to one of our players or members of staff, then we would deal with that internally.
‘Whether that’s a financial thing or whether they’ll be told to stay at home for the next couple of months, then we will see.
‘We are all well aware of the rules and I hope they continuously remind themselves about them.’
While disappointed, Goodwin was choosing yesterday to accentuate the positive of his side’s midweek match with Celtic being called off.
‘It was one of those things,’ he said. ‘Once the news broke about Bolingoli we had a fair idea the game wasn’t going to go ahead.
‘But, mentally, the players are absolutely delighted because we played Rangers on Sunday and to face Celtic on Wednesday wouldn’t have given them a great deal of time to recover.
‘It would have been a hugely demanding game, really energysapping, and then we face Hamilton away on Saturday who would have had a free week given their game with Aberdeen was called off.
‘So what happened makes it a level playing field against Accies this weekend as both teams have not played in midweek and should be as fresh as each other.’
Sportsmail revealed earlier this week that Scottish football’s authorities were fast-tracking plans aimed at punishing individual players and further details should emerge over the coming days.
The game is still reeling after fixtures had to be postponed because of health fears following the night out by a group of Aberdeen players and Bolingoli’s trip to Spain.
And the First Minister warning a ‘red card’ could follow has made everyone sit up, take notice and sharpen up their act.
The prospect of football suffering another lockdown because of foolishness of players does not bear thinking about.
Dundee United boss Micky Mellon says there are grey areas in the existing guidelines and he has told the squad at Tannadice to ask if they are in the slightest doubt.
However, he added that a common-sense rule of thumb will keep his team on the right track.
When asked about potential penalties for players, Mellon said: ‘That’s a difficult one. It is a virus that we are dealing with for the first time. There are a lot of grey areas in things players can and cannot do.
‘I certainly don’t remember a time apart from Monday when we sat down with the national clinical director and things were put to us a wee bit clearer. So a lot of areas are grey to me as well and people will make mistakes.
‘Unfortunately, some people are doing that but I say to my players, if in doubt ask. Don’t go doing anything that you think might be in a wee bit of a dodgy area.
‘Ask the question and if we don’t know, then we will go and try to find the answers for you.
‘We don’t want people punished unless it is a blatant breach of what we already know is wrong.
‘It is difficult because we are doing this for the first time and we are going to make mistakes. Let’s just try to get football played because that’s what we all want.’
How the authorities see the matter was illustrated yesterday when national clinical director Jason Leitch took to the airwaves to insist it would be more appropriate to sanction players rather than clubs over Covid-19 safety breaches.
Former Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith believes clubs should have to forfeit points for any future games called off due to breaches but Leitch thinks differently.
‘There is an argument for individual player sanction, there is perhaps less of an argument for the clubs because the clubs didn’t know, so I haven’t publicly put any blame on the clubs,’ he said.
‘It’s tricky if the players don’t tell you. Whether the clubs could know more about players whereabouts, that’s a separate question. There are some arguments to be had in there about responsibility.
‘It’s a non-essential industry that got to come back and it got to come back on the proviso it would follow the rules.
‘And that means there is a responsibility on those in charge of it to sanction those who do not follow the rules.’
Leitch said football’s failure to comply with guidelines could also damage the chances of other sporting events taking place.
‘If we don’t behave, not for any other reason than the virus, then we’re putting professional football in Scotland, at least, at risk,’ he added. ‘Actually, they put broader sport at risk in other places too.
‘We’re about to have the Ladies PGA come to Scotland in a sport bubble.
‘When the First Minister looks at me and says: “Are the sports bubbles working?” I want to be able to say yes. And a few days ago I couldn’t quite say yes.’