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

[john e]

With infection numbers rising astronomically, 42K people, 95-99% mostly maskless crammed into Villa Park (based on matches so far this season) and more worryingly, the concourse.... Is anyone as concerned as I am that the match going ahead is a really bad idea?

Let's face it - It's Burnley. I certainly won't lose any sleep if this one gets postponed.

Personally, I'm fairly confident I'd be okay if I caught the 'rona (but you never know), but with Christmas and family gatherings just a matter of days away, is this not a recipe for disaster?

It’s a weird thing because me and my wife caught it when it first came out before all the vaccines and stuff

And I ticked a lot of boxes for getting it bad
Mild asthmatic
Overweight
Unhealthy lifestyle
Old
High blood pressure etc

Yet I didn’t feel too bad yet my wife who is the opposite of all the things above,
Well apart from the overweight one which in fairness and there’s no getting away from it she is a bit plumpish,
Got it so bad I thought she was going to Die

But the good news is she made a full recovery and doesn’t read this site

[Smithy]

The EFL has revealed that only 59% of players are double jabbed, I would guess the numbers are similar or worse for the PL.

Weird when you think they work in an industry where being at the peak of physical health is kind of important.

I guess they are subject to all the stuff on Social Media, they are sheep like as well. If say Ronaldo and KDB said we have been fully vaxed they would be queuing up for a jab.

The problem in this day and age is that if a pro footballer - particularly one at the very top end - came out and said "I've been double jabbed and boosted, and you should too" - there will be elements that then go over every single element of every game they play looking for signs it has affected them negatively, and an angle to use to claim the vaccine as being higher risk than getting Covid.

"Did you know they ran 5% less distance per match after being vaccinated? It must have affected him."
"He creates HALF the number of chances since he was vaccinated. It must have affected him."
"He hasn't scored since he had the booster. It must have affected him." etc etc etc.

This is the problem with fake news, it needs no basis in reality, but a player voluntarily sharing that type of information could give them loads of material to work with.  So I do understand their reluctance.

Imagine, if you will, that Jack Grealish came out and said "I got jabbed in the summer, and you should all get the jab too".  The Internet would explode with conspiracy theories insisting he's not the player he was because of the vaccine.  And what's worse, plenty of people would believe it.

[Nii Lamptey]

With infection numbers rising astronomically, 42K people, 95-99% mostly maskless crammed into Villa Park (based on matches so far this season) and more worryingly, the concourse.... Is anyone as concerned as I am that the match going ahead is a really bad idea?

Let's face it - It's Burnley. I certainly won't lose any sleep if this one gets postponed.

Personally, I'm fairly confident I'd be okay if I caught the 'rona (but you never know), but with Christmas and family gatherings just a matter of days away, is this not a recipe for disaster?

It’s a weird thing because me and my wife caught it when it first came out before all the vaccines and stuff

And I ticked a lot of boxes for getting it bad
Mild asthmatic
Overweight
Unhealthy lifestyle
Old
High blood pressure etc

Yet I didn’t feel too bad yet my wife who is the opposite of all the things above,
Well apart from the overweight one which in fairness and there’s no getting away from it she is a bit plumpish,
Got it so bad I thought she was going to Die

But the good news is she made a full recovery and doesn’t read this site

Ha - You're in trouble if she does read it John!   

That's the worrying element about it all.... This virus is a fucker and isn't fussy who it takes down. Even vaccinated people can still catch it, and if a number of fans rock up at Villa Park who are asymptomatic (*or even symptomatic, but don't give a shit about other people... and as we know, there are quite a few of those in this country!), spreading it around 42K people is going to ruin A LOT of Christmasses.

The Premier League should be stepping in here, imo. Knock it on the head till FA Cup weekend and extend the season by a month. Job done.

[Ad@m]

It's almost impossible to contain it at a football match. With everyone so packed into the stands, there's no way that it's not going to spread.

Masks in the concourse isn't workable either - Most fans are in there to eat and drink, so masks won't be worn there either?!

Next time you're at the ground, have a look around the concourse at how many are actually eating or drinking at any one time.  It's well below 50% but mask wearing is around 0.001%.

[Lucky Eddie]

Play them all behind closed doors for a fortnight. They can all muster 11 players together like we did in the cup last season and sadly the population needs football far more than football needs attendances.

[UK Redsox]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59698662

Premier League clubs will meet on Monday to discuss the escalating crisis around the coronavirus pandemic.

Looks like the games that are still on for this weekend will go ahead. The Premier League clubs aren't even meeting to discuss the situation until Monday

[Nii Lamptey]

Ridiculous. THIS weekend is the one that should be halted - Christmas is fucked for anyone that catches it tomorrow.... *as well as at least one of our players who will almost certainly be out for a season after facing those fecking animals!

[Behind Bluenose Lines]

Ridiculous. THIS weekend is the one that should be halted - Christmas is fucked for anyone that catches it tomorrow.... *as well as at least one of our players who will almost certainly be out for a season after facing those fecking animals!

All the more reason to have it behind closed doors to fulfill the fixture if there's enough fit players on both sides. As I said in a previous post, I wonder how many people will go. I'm 50-50 still, but I will decide once I've seen the PCR-confirmed omricon figures for the West Midlands later. As much as I love Villa, I love my family more!

[Flin5tone]

I imagine tomorrow (if it goes ahead) will be the last time we play infront of supporters for a while. I'm expecting a circuit breaker for the entire league or even a National Lockdown . Spreading like wildfire and people very worried, with Christmas around the corner and the priority for most will be a Turkey Dinner with Family .

I'm actually expecting many empty seats tomorrow with hassle of Vaccine/Test putting many off and those who are worried about the virus staying away. As mentioned above the concourse is crowded with nobody wearing masks and 60% of people not eating or drinking and those that are usually frustrated after the long wait to be served . They should close all catering and allow supporters to bring their own food and drink if really needed.

[Nii Lamptey]

Posted something on twatter in response to premier league, similar to what I posted above. Seems Heroes and Villans forumites are a lot more considerate than the general villa ‘fan’.
Based on some of the replies, I’ll be staying well away from villa park tomorrow…. as it will be mostly full of fucking selfish brain dead idiots.

[mcgrath_85]

If you don’t want to go and risk catching it, then don’t go. If you’re happy to take the risk then go.
No need to postpone the match.

[Bobby Boy]

If you don’t want to go and risk catching it, then don’t go. If you’re happy to take the risk then go.
No need to postpone the match.

It's clear from Steven Gerrard's press conference just now that although we're OK  to play as things stand that this could quickly change.

Fingers crossed but I'm still not sure that this is going to happen.

[Nii Lamptey]

If you don’t want to go and risk catching it, then don’t go. If you’re happy to take the risk then go.
No need to postpone the match.

Yes there is…. There are a lot of season ticket holders worried about theirs/their families health, who have paid for the match and want to watch the game.
We shouldn’t have to make that choice… the premier league are the custodians of the safety of the players and fans, and they’re dropping a Boris level bollock in this instance imo.
Think back to Cheltenham Races at the start of the pandemic…. This is a similar clusterfuck waiting to happen.
There’s already half the league with a backlog of fixtures, so delaying the remaining games by  weekend or two would make hardly any difference and keep EVERYONE safe.

[Flin5tone]

If you don’t want to go and risk catching it, then don’t go. If you’re happy to take the risk then go.
No need to postpone the match.

Yes there is…. There are a lot of season ticket holders worried about theirs/their families health, who have paid for the match and want to watch the game.
We shouldn’t have to make that choice… the premier league are the custodians of the safety of the players and fans, and they’re dropping a Boris level bollock in this instance imo.
Think back to Cheltenham Races at the start of the pandemic…. This is a similar clusterfuck waiting to happen.
There’s already half the league with a backlog of fixtures, so delaying the remaining games by  weekend or two would make hardly any difference and keep EVERYONE safe.

Cheltenham was a disaster event along with Liverpool V Madrid (I think) both super spreader events

I wish I was sat in the Trinity Road or Doug Ellis upper tomorrow where people tend to behave a little better

[ChicagoLion]

Nii but it is still their choice. No one is being forced to go to the match.