Hammer home the message, managers

Players are putting their places at risk

WHY AREN’T PLAYERS GETTING JABBED?

PRIMARILY, a lack of the right information. The higher up the leagues you go, the more players will be vaccinated because clubs have the financial capability to bring in the right medical people and explain why these stupid conspiracy theories are wrong.

There is also an element of players in their 20s feeling invincible. Most player that age are fit and believe they’ll get over anything. I was like that myself.

A lot of players, even in the lower leagues, are in a privileged position and they always know best. They don’t think about the bigger picture, protecting others.

I also think there is a lack of leadership from managers at some clubs. Jurgen Klopp has been criticised for his stance but I think he’s been correct to proactively advise his players they should get jabbed. And he has personal experience of the disease, having lost his mother earlier this year.

Other managers are a bit flaky, they are worried about a backlash on social media so they sit on the fence and don’t make it their job to give players the best information.

Football clubs are asking supporters to be fully vaccinated in order to come to stadiums. They should be strong in insisting their own players can’t be accused of double standards.

WHAT WILL PERSUADE THEM TO GET IT?

AS I’ve said, managers are huge influencers on players and the first thing is for them to hammer home the message, backed up by the doctors and medical experts. It’s accepted worldwide that vaccinations help stop the spread of Covid and the fatality rate so there’s no reason to avoid it.

Players need to be told how it can impact their careers. Most players love playing football and would do anything to be in the team. If you get Covid and you’re unvaccinated, there is a greater chance of suffering after-effects that may impact your performances.

Why take that risk when another player is ready to step into your boots? You may not get your place back if they do well. It doesn’t make sense to potentially reduce the amount of football you can play by avoiding a simple vaccination.

The longevity and severity of Covid can be much worse if not vaccinated, therefore putting you out of action for longer or unable to be physically up to speed as quickly.

Managers are quite within their powers to explain to players who don’t protect themselves that if they fall ill and aren’t at their best immediately afterwards, there is no point knocking on the door to complain about being left out of the team.

SHOULD UNVAXXED BE DOCKED PAY?

IT’S too soon to go down that road, however tempting it might be. For one thing, there would be all sorts of legal challenges and that would only cause disharmony and more problems in the camp. At this stage, persuasion is the better option — and managers need to be assertive in that.

However, there is nothing to stop clubs differentiating between vaccinated and unvaccinated players in deciding who to sign — that is their right.

I don’t see why owners would want to pay out millions of pounds on players who steadfastly refuse to be vaccinated and therefore are more likely to create health problems at the club.

Senior players also have a role to play. If they see team-mates buying into the conspiracy theories, they have an obligation to try to guide the younger players to the experts or medical staff.

We don’t know how long the pandemic is going to be a major intrusion in football and all our lives but right now I don’t see that direct financial penalties or contractual clauses is going to work. The risk is that it would further divide squads when the message has to be one of unity — everyone should want to be vaccinated to protect the common interests of the club.

SHOULD THE SEASON BE HALTED?

WITH only one Premier League game yesterday, my appearance on Match of the Day was nearly halted. But the fact remains that with at least one match able to take place, what would be the benefit of postponing games?

We realise the situation is not ideal and that some matches will have to be called off but that’s no reason to call them all off. You are only delaying problems that way, not solving them. The fixtures would need to be rescheduled at some point.

I’ve heard that postponing half the weekend schedule damages the sporting integrity of the competition but I don’t see that. In the days before undersoil heating, half the games might be called off in winter, but that didn’t mean the other half had to go as well.

The argument is usually made by teams at the bottom who would benefit from having the season uncompleted in the hope they’d avoid relegation but I’d want football to carry on when and where possible, and I hope the Premier League shareholders’ meeting tomorrow agrees with that.

We have to accept not everything will be 100 per cent fair during Covid time but it’s right to put on the games we can. And clubs have to be as stringent as possible at their training grounds, with mask wearing and social distancing to minimise the threat of call-offs as far as possible.