Rileybobs wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:36 pm
The issue is what happens when a player contracts the virus and spreads it to 5 or 6 team mates. How can a club continue to fulfil its fixtures with half of the first team unavailable?
Good point and one that I was going to address in my original post, but it made it a bit long-winded.
My solution would be:
All teams select an enlarged squad for the remaining games of the season, say 30. I would argue all PL clubs should be able to get 30 together, although clearly some will have more strength in depth than others.
They then agree, before the season restarts, what the limit is: I would say you need 16 players to make a game, so I would say 14 out through virus/injury is the limit. That gives a fair bit of room to manoeuvre. If this is exceeded they can chose to play with a reduced bench, draw on their youth teams to supplement the squad, or forfeit the game.
In the event a club forfeits a game, and given opportunities to reschedule are likely to be non-existent, a result is awarded based on statistical analysis of the likely outcome. We have some super-boffins in the country, which is why the bookies always win, so I’m sure it’s not beyond their capabilities to develop an algorithm for this scenario. All clubs would need to sign up to it before the season restarts. It’s not a perfect scenario, I agree, but it gives a better/fairer outcome than just ending the season now without even attempting to conclude it.
When a player tests positive the virus, they self-isolate for 14 days before returning to the squad.
Final point being that all clubs would have to risk assess anyone attending the ground on match days. Age, weight and underlying health conditions are clearly risk factors. Anyone high risk, or living with someone high risk, should be excluded. Sad for Roy and Bruce, but I’m sure they have second in commands that can attend the matches and relay their instructions.