The Ultimate Super Ayr Thread

[diegomarahenry]

If Bolingoli had been a carrier, there is a potential for 36 players, coaching staff, medical staff, ground staff and everyone present in the stadium to be at risk. The current cluster in Aberdeen has shown how quickly a situation like this can escalate.

Football is a higher focus situation and it isn't possible for players to wear masks during games. Gyms are closed due to a higher risk of spread through droplets. Football has been given a pretty big exception based on the plan they put forward. 

Every country that has restarted football  have had players quarantined due to failed testing and in some cases, games postponed. Scottish football is the only country that looks like players have just ignored the protocols within the first week.  Until clubs can prove that they can manage the situation, the lower league return will be in jeopardy. 

[Thereisalight..]

6 hours ago, D'Jaffo said:

The return to training delayed a further week so it’ll be the 24th we come back instead of the 17th.

I really have no idea why they’ve delayed the return of training at our level. Admittedly I haven’t read any articles regarding it but it just seems a bit pointless to punish lower league clubs for the actions of two premier league ones

[rb123!]

Haven't agreed with much of what Hearts have said or done over the last couple of months but i'm with them on this.

It's absolute BS of the highest order that training in the league below has to be delayed a week because of bellends in the Premiership. If issues are that serious all fixtures for next week in the Premiership should be postponed and not the clubs in the league below punished. 

It costs clubs money to train with bringing players off furlough and cost of providing training facilites and meals etc and also the biggest issue of testing now. SFA/SPFL are bafoons of the highest order and clubs should claim back money on lost costs of training being delayed. 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hearts-incensed-spfl-training-ban-22518646 

Edited August 13, 2020 by rb123!

[D'Jaffo]

I really have no idea why they’ve delayed the return of training at our level. Admittedly I haven’t read any articles regarding it but it just seems a bit pointless to punish lower league clubs for the actions of two premier league ones

I don’t see it as a punishment although many will think that’s the case. They last thing they want is to delay the football season given the financial risk and the amount of people that it would piss off.

It’s another week to make sure every club is fully aware of the guidelines and I’d expect there may be one or two changes to come before the 24th.

The real test is going to be what happens when part time players begin working their day jobs and then going and mixing with other players. I really don’t see any way round this though.

[Trogdor]

I don't have much sympathy for Hearts. I hadn't realised they were training already, how come they got dispensation? Surely thats a competitive advantage?

Spoiler

I am incensed at the preferential treatment Hearts have been receiving of late from the Scottish football authorities. 

 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Trogdor

[Thereisalight..]

3 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

I don’t see it as a punishment although many will think that’s the case. They last thing they want is to delay the football season given the financial risk and the amount of people that it would piss off.

It’s another week to make sure every club is fully aware of the guidelines and I’d expect there may be one or two changes to come before the 24th.

The real test is going to be what happens when part time players begin working their day jobs and then going and mixing with other players. I really don’t see any way round this though.

The Government wouldn’t care about pissing off football fans. We’re (football supporters) the lowest dregs in their eyes. Anything to stop the supporters buses with a few cans on it every week would be seen as putting us in our place

[D'Jaffo]

The Government wouldn’t care about pissing off football fans. We’re (football supporters) the lowest dregs in their eyes. Anything to stop the supporters buses with a few cans on it every week would be seen as putting us in our place

There’s a difference in how incensed people would be if the Government turned around and stopped all the football to how they react when their supporters bus gets stopped and searched.

Regardless of how you think they view football fans they don’t want to have to deal with another mass uproar only weeks after the one they got for the exam results.

[Thereisalight..]

2 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

There’s a difference in how incensed people would be if the Government turned around and stopped all the football to how they react when their supporters bus gets stopped and searched.

Regardless of how you think they view football fans they don’t want to have to deal with another mass uproar only weeks after the one they got for the exam results.

Hope you’re right about the last part!

[ryanayr1987]

It wasn’t the Scottish government that stopped training happening. It was the sfa/spfl Jason leitch had no idea about it being postponed! 
 

I don’t understand it either! I also have no idea why hearts were allowed to start training as it was only “top flight” clubs allowed to return, they really need to remember that they aren’t top flight anymore!

[Skyline Drifter]

9 hours ago, rb123! said:

Haven't agreed with much of what Hearts have said or done over the last couple of months but i'm with them on this.

It's absolute BS of the highest order that training in the league below has to be delayed a week because of bellends in the Premiership. If issues are that serious all fixtures for next week in the Premiership should be postponed and not the clubs in the league below punished. 

It costs clubs money to train with bringing players off furlough and cost of providing training facilites and meals etc and also the biggest issue of testing now. SFA/SPFL are bafoons of the highest order and clubs should claim back money on lost costs of training being delayed. 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hearts-incensed-spfl-training-ban-22518646 

This. It annoys me to sympathise with Hearts after their actions of the last 5 months but they are spot on here. They've already started training (pointlessly early but that's up to them) and have complied with every requirement as far as we know. Yet because of the actions of Celtic and Aberdeen players they are required to stop, which might be fair enough if the whole of Scottish football was told the same but the Premiership clubs are allowed to carry on including the two clubs whose players caused the problem. You couldn't make that up!

In addition, Glasgow City women who are caught by the same rule but have a CHampions League match next week have been given special exemption to continue training subject to audit from an SFA representative today to check their procedures. If they can have that why can't Hearts? It's an absolute nonsense.

8 hours ago, Trogdor said:

I don't have much sympathy for Hearts. I hadn't realised they were training already, how come they got dispensation? Surely thats a competitive advantage?

  Reveal hidden contents

I am incensed at the preferential treatment Hearts have been receiving of late from the Scottish football authorities. 

 

They don't have any dispensation. There was nothing stopping any senior club in the SPFL training before last night's announcement. I think Falkirk were in last week too. Most clubs weren't because they felt it unnecessarily early and costly with the testing, etc and taking staff off furlough.

8 hours ago, D'Jaffo said:

I don’t see it as a punishment although many will think that’s the case. They last thing they want is to delay the football season given the financial risk and the amount of people that it would piss off.

It’s another week to make sure every club is fully aware of the guidelines and I’d expect there may be one or two changes to come before the 24th.

The real test is going to be what happens when part time players begin working their day jobs and then going and mixing with other players. I really don’t see any way round this though.

As much as I think it's chronically unfair, I also think it's probably a good thing. I'm pretty sure there were people pressing ahead at lower league clubs without any absolute certainty about what procedures they had to follow. It was a matter of time before someone in the lower leagues was caught inadvertently doing something they shouldn't. It will be good to have the SFA attend every club and ensure that it's all correct before they go back and it also levels the playing field a bit in terms of everyone probably going back about the same time instead of the more affluent clubs starting sooner.

It's a pain in the arse and has meant some clubs having to change their return date at short notice, and especially irritating for Hearts who presumably have had to tell all their players overnight not to come back in, but in the long term it's better. They should have set a specific date and carried out audits in the first place instead of allowing adhoc return.

 

[Kitty_Boy]

Here's my hot take: the JRG (SFA & SPFL) are desperate - for financial reasons - for the Premiership to continue to protect the bumper new Sky TV deal (which has already been diminished by the curtailment of last season and seen x3 live games postponed this) and for the upcoming Scotland Euro 2020 qualifier to take place. The Scottish Cup semis are also important, but they are still 70+ days away. 

Effectively halting all other football is their concession to the Scottish Government - a sacrificial lamb if you were - to protect that. 

[itzdrk]

2 hours ago, ryanayr1987 said:

It wasn’t the Scottish government that stopped training happening. It was the sfa/spfl Jason leitch had no idea about it being postponed! 
 

I don’t understand it either! I also have no idea why hearts were allowed to start training as it was only “top flight” clubs allowed to return, they really need to remember that they aren’t top flight anymore!

It was, Leitch is talking utter shite. 

[diegomarahenry]

9 minutes ago, Kitty_Boy said:

Here's my hot take: the JRG (SFA & SPFL) are desperate - for financial reasons - for the Premiership to continue to protect the bumper new Sky TV deal (which has already been diminished by the curtailment of last season and seen x3 live games postponed this) and for the upcoming Scotland Euro 2020 qualifier to take place. The Scottish Cup semis are also important, but they are still 70+ days away. 

Effectively halting all other football is their concession to the Scottish Government - a sacrificial lamb if you were - to protect that. 

I am guessing that unless the government say a fixture cant go ahead, Sky will receive compensation from the SPFL for an unfulfilled fixture.

So if a player were to breach protocol, making it a requirement for the whole club to self isolate for 14 days, if the government step in and halt the fixtures, there will be an insurance pay-out or something similar rather than breach of contract. 

 

[itzdrk]

7 minutes ago, diegomarahenry said:

I am guessing that unless the government say a fixture cant go ahead, Sky will receive compensation from the SPFL for an unfulfilled fixture.

So if a player were to breach protocol, making it a requirement for the whole club to self isolate for 14 days, if the government step in and halt the fixtures, there will be an insurance pay-out or something similar rather than breach of contract. 

 

Nah, Sky buy X number of games per season which can still be fulfilled.  

[Trogdor]

2 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

They don't have any dispensation. There was nothing stopping any senior club in the SPFL training before last night's announcement. I think Falkirk were in last week too. Most clubs weren't because they felt it unnecessarily early and costly with the testing, etc and taking staff off furlough.

Interesting... I hadn't realised anyone was training as yet.

Hearts really ought to change the record, instead of puting out public statements emphasising their seeth all the time. They are becoming Sevco Mark 2.

Edited August 14, 2020 by Trogdor

[AUFC 1910]

The tail wagging the dog again.

1 Celtic player is an idiot
8 Aberdeen players are idiots
All lower league clubs suffer

As someone has said, all lower league clubs are the sacrificial lamb to appease those that hold their finger over the STOP button

Not fair, but how it is

[diegomarahenry]

39 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

Nah, Sky buy X number of games per season which can still be fulfilled.  

The Aberdeen game was going ahead with whoever was left until the government stepped in, the government postponed all Aberdeen and Celtic games for two weeks. Seems strange that they called it off when the SPFL could have announced it. Thats why I thought there would be a contractual reason for them doing it. 

[ayrunitedfw]

1 hour ago, itzdrk said:

It was, Leitch is talking utter shite. 

Not having that, Jason Leitch is one of the only people to come out of this whole fiasco with any sort of credit. 

[rb123!]

300 season tickets sold. Not sure if that's good or bad figures compared to usual for the first couple of weeks of sales

[Trogdor]

7 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said:

Not having that, Jason Leitch is one of the only people to come out of this whole fiasco with any sort of credit. 

That was my view a couple of weeks ago.

However, every time I see his coupon on the TV I'm becoming more and more convinced he is a dentist enjoying the lime light a little too much. He's getting like some of the ITK people on here.