IN THE DARK
NO compassion. NO common sense. NO explanation. Saints still waiting for SPFL to clarify why Hibs match went ahead
ST MIRREN have demanded an explanation from the SPFL as to why their game with Hibernian on Saturday went ahead despite being deprived of three goalkeepers due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The Paisley club were rocked last week when it emerged that both Jak Alnwick and Dean Lyness had the virus. Both keepers were ruled out of the match after being forced to self-isolate for ten days, with third-choice Peter Urminsky also excluded as a precaution on the advice of the local health board’s Health Protection Team.
Facing the prospect of playing an outfield player in goal, manager Jim Goodwin managed to secure an emergency loan for Hearts keeper Bobby Zlamal, with the Czech only meeting his team-mates at 1.30pm on matchday.
Goodwin insisted he would have had no issue with cobbling together a side had he lost three outfield players but said he was ‘flabbergasted’ at the SPFL’s insistence that the game had to go ahead — a decision the Buddies boss believed made Scottish football ‘the laughing stock of world football’.
The decision to press ahead with the match came after Aberdeen and Celtic each had two games postponed when players were plainly at fault.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon reacted with fury to eight Dons players breaching protocols by
having a night out in the city and Parkhead defender Boli Bolingoli playing at Kilmarnock when he should have been self-isolating after a day trip to Spain.
Perplexed at the apparent contradiction, Goodwin says the club will now press the Hampden authorities for answers that have so far not been forthcoming.
‘There was no explanation,’ he said after a 3-0 home loss. ‘Me and Tony Fitzpatrick (chief executive) are in constant dialogue.
‘He’s getting messages back with the SPFL but there’s no explanation.
‘I’m hoping to speak to the SPFL and find out why they thought this was okay.
‘If this had been caused by our players doing something stupid, we wouldn’t have had any sympathy from anybody.
‘The fact is we as a club have done everything to the letter and unfortunately the lads have picked it up.
‘Compassion is the word I’m looking for and that’s gone amiss. There was no common sense shown whatsoever.’
On Friday, SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said he understood the situation was ‘extremely challenging’ for St Mirren while praising the effectiveness of the current testing regime.
The decision by the league to play the game was taken after the Scottish Government’s Clinical Adviser on Covid & Sports, in conjunction with Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board Health Protection Team and Health Protection Scotland, confirmed to the Joint Response Group that there was not enough evidence to support a postponement.
Zlamal is likely to retain his place in the side for the visit of Celtic on Wednesday although Urminsky, the 21-year-old Slovak, could come into contention if he returns a negative test today.
Despite the controversy, St Mirren skipper Sam Foley insisted they only had themselves to blame for Saturday’s defeat to high-flying Hibs.
‘I don’t think you can use that as an excuse,’ he said.
‘Bobby has come in and made a few good saves. I said to him jokingly before the game: “Keep the ball out of the net”. As information goes, that’s as simple as it gets.
‘That’s all you want your goalie to do. But we just didn’t limit them enough in terms of chances. We’ve gifted them two good chances and they’ve stuck them away. Regardless of who was in goal, that was going to be a difficult job to stop it.
‘I don’t see the goalkeeper thing as an excuse at all. Bobby is a good keeper and has proved that he can play at this level. As a team, we just weren’t good enough.
‘I don’t think we deserved to win. In fact, we didn’t deserve to get anything out of it. Hibs were the better team.’
With the shadow of the virus still cast across Scottish football and society at large, it’s surely impossible now to imagine any circumstances in which a game will be called off as a result of any number of positive tests.
Admitting he did not object in principle to strapping the boots on, Foley added: ‘It’s maybe not my place to say. But, personally, I wanted it to go ahead as I just wanted to play.
‘Overcoming these things… you get an opportunity to put these things right on the pitch. But we just weren’t up to it.
‘It was always going to be difficult with the kind of week we’ve had. But these are the sorts of obstacles you have to try to overcome as a person and as a footballer. You need to put them to the back of your mind and just get on with your job.
‘It was a spanner in the works not being able to train on Friday. It hampers your preparations. But you still have to play the game to the best of your ability.’
With a desperate week consigned to history, St Mirren at least have the visit of Celtic on Wednesday to occupy their thoughts.
Neil Lennon’s side have hit eight goals without reply either side of the international break and appear to be crunching through the gears. It could be no one’s idea of a soft landing for Goodwin’s men.
‘It will be a tough test,’ said Foley. ‘Celtic always are as they’re a good side. We need to go back to the drawing board and see what we can do.
‘We’re back in on Monday and will review our performance further and try to figure out a gameplan for playing them.’