How much will Coronavirus (COVID-19) impact Aston Villa's season?

[andyh]

Good article here about the issues of playing even with no fans

https://www.si.com/mlb/2020/04/10/sports-arent-coming-back-soon

Conversations with experts painted a picture of what exactly it would take to make these sports vacuums a reality. Before any of this can begin, every person who would have access to the facilities will need to be isolated separately for two weeks to ensure that no infection could enter. That’s players and coaches, athletic trainers and interpreters, reporters and broadcasters, plus housekeeping and security personnel. No one can come in or out. Food will have to be delivered. Hotel and stadium employees will have to be paid enough to compensate for their time away from their families. Everyone onsite will have to be tested multiple times during this initial period.

All right, so the 14-day period is over and everyone has tested negative at least twice. Now they are allowed to begin spending time around one another—but not too much time. If one person gets it, he or she will begin spreading it immediately, so everyone will have to continue practicing social distancing. That probably means using a new ball for each play. It probably means seating players in stands rather than on benches or in dugouts. It certainly means banning high-fives.

That’s a great find.
It brings home the absurdity of talking about playing behind closed doors unless there is a vaccine.

[OzVilla]

I’m sure it’s been said before but playing behind closed doors doesn’t necessarily mean no crowd..see the PSG game in Paris I forget against who.
Could you trust the great British public to stay away and even if they did you would still have to have a police presence there to ensure that was the case.

Absolutely. The potential for (relatively) large public gatherings for a game of football would take up vital police resources. If a game is on some idiots will attempt to attend it to claim their 'I was there' moment.

As I said before, how will you keep a million scousers off the streets when they are announced champions?

Not to mention the amount of unscrupulous pubs and clubs that will have ‘lock ins’ around Merseyside, Leeds etc when their games are being played. We are all football fans and we’ve all been around long enough to know how this stuff works. Fortunately it’ll also be all over social media so I can see one game back being enough for the Government to put a stop to it.

But we know it’s going to happen and it could easily set off a 2nd wave.

[PeterWithe]

Wembley and St George’s Park now being floated as neutral venues in which to finish PL season. In today’s Times.

[aev]

Wembley and St George’s Park now being floated as neutral venues in which to finish PL season. In today’s Times.

Why would neutral venues be needed?

[mr underhill]

Football has inflicted irreparable damage on itself over its response to the pandemic. It's fucked.

[aev]

Football without fans is nothing. (Just ask the rags).

If they are hell bent on playing out the season behind closed doors in some dopey festival of football I can’t imagine they will be relegating clubs on the back of it.

[aj2k77]

We've played less games and less home games than all around us and close enough for 1 win to lift us to 15th. Fuck neutral games.

[exigo]

Reports yesterday that Sky wouldn't be asking for a rebate on the games not shown this season. If that's true then it's surely the first step towards voiding the whole thing.

I'm not linking to the Daily M**l report that had it in.

[exiled on the wirral!]

unless they relegate us as it stands I think the corona virus gives us a better chance of us staying up whatever they decide

The last few league games we were rubbish
I honestly don’t think it was because we weren’t trying but more a total loss of believe, tactics, ability
imo we were down, I know anything can happen in football but whenever we needed a result or even a performance it didn’t happen

a new start however that happens with players back from injury and maybe other teams not having as much to play for in a distorted season might give us a better chance than we would have had

I would rather we earned our position in the premier league rather than just be handed it by default as if the rubbish we have played in recent weeks never existed

Maybe you're right, but equally you have watched football long enough to know it only takes one result to change the fortunes and confidence of a team. Leicester were dead and buried in 14/15 with a few games left so anything is possible. I personally think our home form although not great would have been just enough to get us through.

[exiled on the wirral!]

Surely playing games at the same venue would increase the chances of spreading the infection.
Wembley and St George’s Park now being floated as neutral venues in which to finish PL season. In today’s Times.

Why would neutral venues be needed?

[Brassneck]

unless they relegate us as it stands I think the corona virus gives us a better chance of us staying up whatever they decide

The last few league games we were rubbish
I honestly don’t think it was because we weren’t trying but more a total loss of believe, tactics, ability
imo we were down, I know anything can happen in football but whenever we needed a result or even a performance it didn’t happen

a new start however that happens with players back from injury and maybe other teams not having as much to play for in a distorted season might give us a better chance than we would have had

I would rather we earned our position in the premier league rather than just be handed it by default as if the rubbish we have played in recent weeks never existed

Maybe you're right, but equally you have watched football long enough to know it only takes one result to change the fortunes and confidence of a team. Leicester were dead and buried in 14/15 with a few games left so anything is possible. I personally think our home form although not great would have been just enough to get us through.

For me, I think we were the worst team in the division at the point of suspension.  The performances at Watford, Bournemouth, Southampton and Leicester were a disgrace.  I clung to the hope that our home form would be key but as the games approached, we were on the decline whereas the likes of Man U, Wolves, Sheff U & Chelsea were all looking really good.

The season won't be played out in front of crowds, unless it is done so in some time in the future because next season can't be played.  Whatever other option is chosen (void or behind closed doors) should mean no relegations take place.

I too would rather we earned our place in the PL (wouldn't we all).  However, we were dead men walking.  I'm more than happy for no relegations to take place and for me, it balances out the misfortune/wrong decisions that went against us at Palace and to a lesser extent Arsenal.  They say that decisions have a way of balancing themselves up well I think that would be true if no relegations take place this season.

[Villan82]

The momentum of the season is gone. It has to be voided.

Playing it out, but with no relegation, is too risky. Look at he numbers dying. It is an insult for football to be having this conversation.

[Pete3206]

Agree with the post above, null and void.

[old man villa fan]

I’d suggest that even playing matches behind closed doors depends on a vaccine being available and effective for all the clubs and officials involved in the professional game.

We seem to be some way off that, at the moment.

Also, I can’t be the only person who hears a chorus of Behind Closed Doors by Charlie Rich every time the phrase comes into discussion.

I think I raised this earlier in the thread but what about players' insurance.  What if a player was to pick up the virus even though a game was played behind closed doors and was put out of the game for some time or, heaven forbid, died through it.  A player's insurance company would certainly be looking at that scenario and either would refuse to insure or force a new greater risk policy on the player.

Players would be tested prior to games.

In any case, how could you possibly prove that the virus was contracted whilst a player was participating in a match?

I think you missed the point.  What if an insurance company refused to insure the player.  Could you imagine a player's agent saying "It's ok Sergio, there's not much of a risk to you".  No, I can't, either.

[baddowvillans]

Can't believe anybody would think (even at the PL) that playing our "home" games at a neutral venue would be fair way of resolving the season.  It could only work if there were no relegations and if that is the case then what would be the point in risking loss of life?