COVID-19 In Scottish Football

[The Marly]

Good news for Motherwell,  not so good for St Mirren and Killie.
 
We'll need to be careful here, can't afford any points being deducted. 

Aye like that would ever fucking happen to you c***s.

"But it wiznae us, it wiz the company..."

[Detournement]

Just now, craigkillie said:

Aberdeen's entire squad was essentially declared unsafe to play the fixture by the Scottish Government, why is that substantially different to our entire squad being declared unsafe to play the fixture by NHS Ayrshire & Arran?

If Aberdeen successfully adhered to the rules then why were they fined by the SPFL for breaching them?

 

The Scottish Government were being arseholes. The way dealt with Celtic and Aberdeen was incoherent but they are the government and can do that. 

Aberdeen and Celtic were willing and able to fulfilll their fixtures. Killie and St Mirren were not.

[G51]

Just now, The Marly said:

Aye like that would ever fucking happen to you c***s.

"But it wiznae us, it wiz the company..."

Love it when someone does a Sevco in a completely unrelated thread. Fair play to you.

[Yorky]

Personally I’m not sure we should have been awarded the six points but my god Killy and Saints that’s some pretty amazing stupidity.

[coprolite]

Anyone else think there's an element of trying to convince the government that the football authorities have this under control? 

[kingjoey]

10 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

The reason the Scottish government asked for the fixture to be postponed was to prevent the risk of further spread of the disease to other players. This is also the reason why our players were asked to self-isolate.

I’ve already said that I totally disagree with any club being deducted points or gaining points in these circumstances, but that doesn’t alter the facts that the Aberdeen/Celtic and the Kilmarnock/St Mirren cases are totally different. The problems with Aberdeen and Celtic were caused by players and what they were doing  away from the club, the Kilmarnock/St Mirren problems were caused by what happened within the club itself. You can try to dress it up any way you want, but they are different scenarios.

[marie osmond]

Am I missing the bit where the clubs voted 38 out of 42 NOT to allow them to punish clubs with a 0-3 defeat for failing to complete a fixture due to COVID?

Ok the Killie and St. Mirren games were previous to this vote but it kind of disproves Doncaster’s insistence that the SPFL board are simply fulfilling the wishes of the clubs.

[AndyDD]

1 minute ago, craigkillie said:

Aberdeen's entire squad was essentially declared unsafe to play the fixture by the Scottish Government, why is that substantially different to our entire squad being declared unsafe to play the fixture by NHS Ayrshire & Arran?

If Aberdeen successfully adhered to the rules then why were they fined by the SPFL for breaching them?

 

Why were Aberdeen fined, you ask? Because their players breached  Covid 19 regulations. which apply to us all

Aberdeen and Celtic have been fined £30,000 by the SPFL after players from both clubs breached Covid-19 rules.

Eight Aberdeen first-team members visited a bar, where two contracted the virus, causing the postponement of three Scottish Premiership matches.

Did Aberdeen successfully adhere to the rules of the SPFL, as a club? Why, yes, it turns out that the SPFL feel they did-

In a statement, the SPFL said both clubs "offered substantial evidence in mitigation" after they were charged separately for their players' actions.

A spokesman added that both "had gone to enormous lengths to ensure that their players adhered to all relevant requirements and protocols relating to Covid-19" which is why the majority of the fine is suspended.

In short, during club time, all the rules were followed. 

That did not happen with Kilmarnock, as the club themselves have now admitted. 

 

[Junior_Arab]

COVID for Motherwell’s POTY at this rate. 

[craigkillie]

3 minutes ago, Detournement said:

That's nonsense though. The non isolating Aberdeen and Celtic players weren't restricted from doing anything else bar playing in the Premiership. 

You can't compare a Kilmarnock player who has to stay home for 14 days to an Aberdeen player who was able to train, go to the shops, go out for a meal etc

Whether footballers are allowed to go to the shops is completely irrelevant to the SPFL. The only thing they should be bothered with is whether they were allowed to play Premiership football, and as you have pointed out they weren't.

The argument being made by the Aberdeen fan was that they did not have any matches postponed due to players being unable to play. However, clearly their players were unable to play due to government concerns about whether it was safe.

[Detournement]

1 minute ago, craigkillie said:

Whether footballers are allowed to go to the shops is completely irrelevant to the SPFL. The only thing they should be bothered with is whether they were allowed to play Premiership football, and as you have pointed out they weren't.

The argument being made by the Aberdeen fan was that they did not have any matches postponed due to players being unable to play. However, clearly their players were unable to play due to government concerns about whether it was safe.

There is no credible argument that the government were concerned about safety. It was an attention seeking, arbitary punishment that the SPFL and the clubs had no choice but to accept.

 

[C4mmy31]

1 hour ago, kingjoey said:

It wasn’t really. Kilmarnock didn’t have enough players to allow the game to go ahead, Aberdeen did.

Thats irrelevent, the actions of employees of both clubs caused fixtures to be postponed yet one team gets a reshedule the other gets a forfeit.

[ropy]

We obviously benefit from this although it has been none of our doing. I am not entirely sure it sits comfortably with me.  On one hand these game were postponed during our one hot period in our season so there is a reasonable chance (but just a chance) that we would have won these games. Unlikely that it would be 2 x 3-0.

However, this cannot now be reversed.  You cannot give us points and then later in the season take them away.  If appeals go in before the weekend and the points allocation is suspended then fair enough but if we play another game with the points on the table then that is them fixed.

[RandomGuy.]

8 minutes ago, C4mmy31 said:

Thats irrelevent, the actions of employees of both clubs caused fixtures to be postponed yet one team gets a reshedule the other gets a forfeit.

Probably because Kilmarnock actively allowed rule breaking to happen when the players were under their control, while Aberdeen players breached them without their clubs knowledge. 

[RandomGuy.]

1 hour ago, marie osmond said:

Am I missing the bit where the clubs voted 38 out of 42 NOT to allow them to punish clubs with a 0-3 defeat for failing to complete a fixture due to COVID?

Ok the Killie and St. Mirren games were previous to this vote but it kind of disproves Doncaster’s insistence that the SPFL board are simply fulfilling the wishes of the clubs.

That rule prevents team losing 3-0 if they don't have the players to fulfill a fixture due to players having to isolate.

This punishment is for clubs breaching covid protocol consistently. 

[Mr Heliums]

By the end of this pandemic every club in Scotland is going to hate every other club.

Magic.

[Cowden Cowboy]

1 hour ago, marie osmond said:

Am I missing the bit where the clubs voted 38 out of 42 NOT to allow them to punish clubs with a 0-3 defeat for failing to complete a fixture due to COVID?

Ok the Killie and St. Mirren games were previous to this vote but it kind of disproves Doncaster’s insistence that the SPFL board are simply fulfilling the wishes of the clubs.

I think the key aspect of that was that clubs didn't necessarily object to the 3-0 outcome as per the Betfred but did not want it to be automatic - thus each case would have a hearing and be judged on its merits 

[ropy]

Are Hearts getting off Scot Free here?

[kingjoey]

45 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

Whether footballers are allowed to go to the shops is completely irrelevant to the SPFL. The only thing they should be bothered with is whether they were allowed to play Premiership football, and as you have pointed out they weren't.

The argument being made by the Aberdeen fan was that they did not have any matches postponed due to players being unable to play. However, clearly their players were unable to play due to government concerns about whether it was safe.

I have to say craigkillie, that you normally see things in perspective and are an extremely sensible poster. However, with Killie being unfairly given a 3-0 loss you appear to be lashing out, and it’s understandable.

[Guest 8GamesToGo]

The SPFL and SFA could have mitigated the risk of something like this happening at a club by conducting rigourous  safety inspections of all aspects of the protocols when they received their yellow card from the government a few months ago. Inspections like these would have revealed red flags of protocols likely to be most at risk of being broken, and they could have informed clubs of this and helped them find ways to ensure the protocols would be followed.

Instead they banned Hearts from training for a week.