Calling games off at 2 hours notice

I don’t know what the alternative is, if someone’s tested negative the previous day or even the morning of the game but then test positive 2 hours before the game what are they supposed to do? Are we saying don’t test on match days even if it means players with Covid are playing?

 

Players don’t get tested two hours before kick off. They’ve clearly claimed that they’ve had an injury in the warm up or prior to the warm up.
It’s corrupt.

 

Get players to their own ground early, test people and leave behind anyone positive and get the game played.

Not yet obviously but at some point talks will happen from the government about no longer self isolating with covid and instead treating it like a cold.

 

Really? What benefit is there in doing that? Are you saying it’s a deliberate plot by Hull to get the match cancelled? If so are they all in on it?

I can’t see the benefit in shafting their own fans & the away team & fans.

Isn’t it just more likely that a couple of players have started to feel ill today? My facebooks full of people with Omicron saying it’s ruined Christmas, it’s literally everywhere. I don’t think there’s a conspiracy

 

I felt ill with Covid for a couple of days before I actually tested positive. I thought it was probably Covid because it felt different to any other cold / flu I’d had previously.

I stayed away from others before I tested positive because I didn’t want to risk passing it on.

I’ve got no reason to believe this wouldn’t be the case with footballers especially this time of year with all the different people they’re seeing.

 

Not necessarily tested positive but if they’ve started with symptoms & they only just had enough players anyway then it makes sense.

 

Can’t see how it could be avoided really. In terms of not messing fans around the only thing that could help would be a short winter break but that’s not gonna happen.

 

Seems a bit off that it would be this late in the day. Do players get tested that close to kick off?
Or was it a case of so many players were out with Covid then a late injury pushed them over the edge in terms of numbers?

 

17 Hull cases. Hard to avoid it.

 

Are players tested twice on the day of a game? Struggling to see how this is unavoidable. Get the players in for testing first thing. Blackburn sold 3,000 tickets for that game and they will have set off, or even got there by the time it was called off. Not acceptable.

 

They have a round of testing on the morning of the game. No idea on the time. Tottenham Palace was in doubt but all tests came back negative around lunchtime I think.

Icke levels of thinking on this thread in places.

 

Assuming it’s a lateral flow test on the morning of the game, I’m still struggling to see how the decision couldn’t have been made and announced before noon?

 

Oh I agree it should be done first thing. I think the testing is done when players arrive at the ground - which is probably a few hours before the game, which is daft.

 

Of course they’re all in on it. Players don’t want to play at Christmas, and managers claim the games are too close and they end up having to rotate and use a weaker squad or risk getting too many key players burnt out or injured. Listen to Klopp, Pep etc on the subject. Once you’ve listened to what they’ve got to say it’s so so clear. They haven’t got injury worries at all, they just want the game postponed to a later date as the fixture list is too demanding at Christmas time.

Its worth listening to Simon Jordan talk about the very same subject. Football is bent and has been for the last 25 years, but this covid/injury rubbish is scandalous. I guarantee a club will get found out over this very shortly.

 

Clubs have to provide evidence of their testing programme. So the Premier League and the EFL make their decisions based on the evidence presented.

I don’t doubt that some clubs will be happy to see games postponed, but all cases are documented so it’s not like it’s even possible to ‘magic’ up positive results.

The issue isn’t the COVID cases as much as it is the injured players. That’s the route Stoke went down regards our game. When adding the positive tests to their injury list, they reckon they couldn’t field a team. When they’ve an U23s and U18s squad. They should be forced to play their kids.

So I do get where you are coming from.

We haven’t had one game called off throughout this whole saga because of positive cases in our squad. Last season, we even played Norwich despite missing Mowatt. And he only picked it up at Rotherham who were riddled at the time. We’ve just had three cases, heading into the Stoke game, but we were happy to play on. Stoke weren’t.

I feel for the affected supporters today - Hull and particularly Blackburn. And for the staff of both clubs, plus the press/media etc. Nowt worse than prepping for a game and it getting binned last minute. We were lucky we knew well in advance with Stoke. Although we had printed 1500 programmes which we will never use now. A waste of time, cash and effort.

I’m sick of this pandemic. Fingers crossed Wednesday goes ahead.

 

It doesn’t even have to be a positive test if they’ve come down with symptoms. There’s no suitable alternative that I can think of.

If a clubs down to the bare minimum allowed players & one tests positive, gets ill or injured what can be done?

It’s **** but I can’t see a way round it.

 

Pop the programmes online to buy. You'd be surprised how many get sold and especially from people who don't support Barnsley or Stoke. There is quite the market for programmes from games that don't get played. To many they are a more appealing purchase.

Years ago Charlton was called off home to Rochdale. I was buying them off Charlton to be delivered to me and then getting around a tenner each on Ebay. Sold around ten of them. To this day I still get marketing emails off Charlton rather than unsubscribe.

 

Come on you’re been ridiculous. Foreign managers always moan about fixtures over Christmas, it doesn’t mean they’re coming up with elaborate plots to cancel games. Why would Liverpool want their match off to fall further behind City & potentially have it rescheduled for when Salah, Mane & Keita are in Africa?

There’s no benefit at all to the Leeds match been off, they’re in awful form & Van Dijk, Fabinho, Henderson & Thiago are all back available.

Managers moan to try & put pressure on referees, fixture organisers, TV companies etc to get things in their favour.

Who’s ‘all in on it’ anyway? Take Hull today, are the young lads making the bench in on the conspiracy? Their chance to make the first team but they’re going to be part of a conspiracy to get the game called off & replayed when there way down the pecking order? How many are in on the conspiracy? How many in the boardroom, coaching staff, players, immediate family etc? 50 plus people all part of a scam to get a match delayed? It doesn’t add up.

There might be a benefit to a team like Leeds with no European football & a quiet calendar to get the match delayed but it’s one thing been happy to get a match delayed & putting the pressure on the FA to delay it but it’s another to fake injuries & Covid symptoms to delay it.