Football and the Coronavirus

Don
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5 subs rejected by PL clubs again, however an expanded 9 man bench has been voted through.
Pretty much the only League in Europe that isn't allowing 5 subs, even the EFL are doing it! And what makes it worse is that at the recent PL managers meeting 15 or 16 managers were in favour of it meaning 5/6 clubs have gone over their managers head.
 
Man of Honour
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Bit odd they've not followed what is happening elsewhere, especially in what is a congested season due to the late start and Euros in the summer.
Personally I'm not massively in favour of 5 subs as it disrupts the game quite a bit but if that's what's going to be used in Europe it makes it a bit of an anomaly.

As for the concussion subs, why the heck have they imposed an arbitrary limit of two? This is one of the most hypocritical things I've ever seen in football; on the one hand it is lauded as protecting player safety, but on the other we're going to say tough **** if someone gets KO'd after two of his mates have been done first.
I completely get the argument about it being open to abuse to get free subs but that argument falls on it's face if you decide you will allow it to be used up to a point. Why would a third 'head injury' be any more of an abuse than the first two? Surely if there is enough checks and measures / common sense to police subs 1 and 2 then 3 and beyond can be subject to the same principles.
 
Soldato
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4th ref ought to dictate when head sub is needed. Take it out of the clubs hands ie if no clash of heads on VAR then 4th ref can veto.
 
Associate
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[QUOTE="HangTime, post: 34367756, member:
As for the concussion subs, why the heck have they imposed an arbitrary limit of two? This is one of the most hypocritical things I've ever seen in football...[/QUOTE]

Agree with everything you say here. Very well reasoned post.
 

fez

fez

Caporegime
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Can someone explain what the benefit of a 9 man bench is...

I guess it gives you slightly more options for injury cover or tactical changes but in the grand scheme of things, its pointless.
 
Soldato
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Bit odd they've not followed what is happening elsewhere, especially in what is a congested season due to the late start and Euros in the summer.
Personally I'm not massively in favour of 5 subs as it disrupts the game quite a bit but if that's what's going to be used in Europe it makes it a bit of an anomaly.

As for the concussion subs, why the heck have they imposed an arbitrary limit of two? This is one of the most hypocritical things I've ever seen in football; on the one hand it is lauded as protecting player safety, but on the other we're going to say tough **** if someone gets KO'd after two of his mates have been done first.
How many games has one player been subbed off for a concussion, let alone two. It's a new rule, if it needs changing they'll change it.
 
Man of Honour
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How many games has one player been subbed off for a concussion, let alone two. It's a new rule, if it needs changing they'll change it.
I don't know the answer to that question, but the whole point of the new rule is because it is felt that more players should be subbed off than are currently. Under traditional rules, teams don't want to 'waste' subs on players who've taken a knock to the head if they might be fine a few mins later. You patch them up with a headband, mop up the blood and push them back on.

I'm not saying it would be common to have more than 2 players concussed in the same game but that's irrelevant really, the whole point is about players safety, not some tweak to the subs rules like saying you can have 5 instead of 3, or 9 on the bench which are much more arbitrary and driven by multiple factors. Why put a limit on concussion subs at all if we are introducing them as a concept, it just seems odd, either don't have them at all and make them be done as 'normal' subs, or if going down the route of saying they are some special circumstances where we need more subs, don't impose artificial restrictions on how often they can be used.
 
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We heard about it. They had a number of players test positive and ended up having their game postponed.
I meant it is likely to have affected players at other clubs. I've edited my post to make it clear.

2 Newcastle players have long covid from 10 testing positive - that's 20%. Seems very unlikely that Newcastle alone have been tremendously unlucky and that other clubs/players have escaped unscathed.
 
Don
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I meant it is likely to have affected players at other clubs. I've edited my post to make it clear.

2 Newcastle players have long covid from 10 testing positive - that's 20%. Seems very unlikely that Newcastle alone have been tremendously unlucky and that other clubs/players have escaped unscathed.
Oh I see. I'm not sure whether others have had more serious symptoms but you have to remember that we only ever hear about a tiny number of players that have tested positive - for confidentiality reasons clubs don't just name names. I know Liverpool have had a couple of players out with unnamed injuries which I suspect were covid but nobody for a significant time that may have suffered more seriously.

I did hear Nigel Pearson on the radio the other week talking about his personal situation - he got very ill just before the resumption last season.
 
Soldato
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So City get a couple of weeks off now or do they just take a couple of days to test everyone and reset the safe bubble?

That's the interesting question because if they now have to isolate for 10 days they're getting an advantage over other teams who have to play so many games in a few days (although that could work against them later in the season) but it seems like they set a precedence by postponing when Newcastle had the positive tests.
 
Caporegime
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They'll be screwed if they have two weeks off, they're already two games behind and are in all the cup competitions. They'll be playing 3 games a week with no rest until the end of the season, that's not really advantageous tbh.
 
Soldato
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They'll be screwed if they have two weeks off, they're already two games behind and are in all the cup competitions. They'll be playing 3 games a week with no rest until the end of the season, that's not really advantageous tbh.
with their squad size they should cope. They'll still whinge about wanting 5 subs however.
 
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