Last night’s breaking news – that a City player had tested positive for Covid-19 – was the denouement of what had been the most miserable and troubling week imaginable.
First things first, and it goes without saying (even though I am saying it) that everyone’s best wishes are with the player and his family.
The fact it was uncovered as the result of a random Premier League test rather than because the individual was feeling unwell, is encouraging in itself, and let’s hope after the mandatory seven-day quarantine the player is able to rejoin the squad with no wider effects.
It’s also worth noting that under the agreed Premier League protocols this does not impact other City players or any of the Tottenham squad who played against us on Friday afternoon. The testing regime is such that players who test positive can, at least as things stand, be treated on an individual case basis.
But it does serve as a reminder of the tightrope on which we currently all walk. The complacency of some who crave for a wider, more bullish, easing of lockdown has no place in a country that still announces three-figure death tolls on a daily basis.
It also brings back into sharp focus the Premier League’s desire to ‘get this season done’ for all the wrong reasons. But ‘get this season done’ they will and whether we like it or not, Friday teatime will be the time many have waited patiently for over three long months.
It looks highly likely that, given one week’s worth of isolation means no training, City will be one down before we even begin against Southampton, but the players themselves appear enthused about the restart – at least until last night – and maybe the reset will count in their favour.
What the news also did was bring to fore all the idiots who still continue to believe that our club is doing everything it can to get the season cancelled in order to save its Premier League skin.
To give you a glimpse into the type of morons we’re dealing with…
” Relegation threatend (sic) club gets positive test.” – Sheffield United fan.
“Norwich?!?! Surely not” – Liverpool.
“You couldn’t make this up” – Everton.
“Of course it’s a Norwich player” – Middlesbrough
“Do the relegation-threatened players go round licking door handles or something?” – Sunderland
“Of course it had to be a relegation threatened team” – Anon.
“Shock horror. #NCFC who have tried to void the PL already, are trying one more time” – Real Madrid!
You get the gist. There were more – loads of them. All fixated on the fact the club were somehow able to conjure up a positive test of a life-threatening illness purely in the hope of getting the season null and voided, even though our only hope of survival is, in fact, accruing enough points by playing our nine remaining game.
My god it’s tiring.
So too the fact the media attention is not on how this may affect a City player and his family, but how it may affect Tottenham’s playing and non-playing staff. The very same Tottenham who are knocked out of all the cups and who already looked destined for mid-table nothingness even before lockdown.
We, of course, hope there is no impact on Spurs as a club, or anyone else for that matter, but why is the first thought not for the player concerned?
Yet, having got that off my chest, for our club there is still plenty left to play for.
For City there is a very clear and defined target – to win as many games as possible in order to give themselves even the remotest chance of survival – while those with nothing to play for, other than which mid-table position they will end up in, will probably have a ‘why are we doing this’ type take.
Equally, with Friday in mind, the home advantage that a vibrant Carrow Road would normally bring is negated by it being crowd-less, and the Bundesliga restart has supported this theory with away teams enjoying more success than those playing at home.
Once upon a time, part of home advantage came from knowing the quirks and traits of a home pitch, but given they all play on part-synthetic carpets today, one pitch is very much the same as the next. Those of a certain age will recall the pitch at Derby’s old Baseball Ground – and I use the term pitch loosely.
Now that would have offered a massive advantage for those who were used to playing on it, but I’m not sure knowing the layout of Carrow Road and being au fait with where the toilets are will give City be a massive head start on Friday.
What we have to hope for is that City are better prepared, more committed and hungrier than Southampton.
But, most important of all, and infinitely more important than Friday’s night’s result, let’s hope the City player who has Covid-19 gets well soon – very soon.
This hasn’t been a lucky season! Hopefully the player concerned will return to health soon.
Good read Gary and you are 100% correct in your assertion that this is completely about “getting it done”, Boris’ favourite line! Unfortunately, this is all down to money, player/public welfare completely secondary. Will this pandemic lead to a complete root and branch examination of football and it’s governance, maybe but any changes made will not level the playing field and improve things in the lower leagues, it will only widen the gap between the haves and the have nots. It’s no coincidence that the top 4/6 teams are there going back years, Leicester being the anomaly and that’s just what they want! Oh to have an annual draft system or at less outlaw this blatant hoarding of young players and then loaning them out to clubs who won’t be competing with them.
To the Real Madrid supporter: Know thy place, as in ‘Wales,golf, Madrid’
Hi Gary
A good rant for a Sunday morning.
Firstly I am with you in wishing all the family of this unlucky players a safe and sound outcome in 7 days, and sorry for the morons that find time to always have too come out with utter disbelief comments.
Secondly it proves how our Germany players have settled in to the city with Mr&Mrs Trybull donation to city charities last week, some will say that can afford it but to me it was a good gesture from the sale of a book.
My Rant
The Black Lives Matter Brigade have really got this wrong less problems would have been caused if they had said All Lives Matter, the Moron that have railroad peaceful marches are being helped by the media with all the news talking about it yet very little about how these people are endangering the lives of the Police, Medics, with the no social distance and a much increased second pandemic could happen.
Like many I remember riots in Bristol, Liverpool Tottenham all mainly fueled with race hate but at this present time with football about to restart can any club after seeing these crowds actually say their supporters with not turn up or will each game just be another reason to have a riot, damage property, pull down some statue or just try and have a fight with the police.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Keep safe and well
Gary you’re too modest
:https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/14/premier-league-restart-fans-preview-manchester-city-wolves
Having just read the Grauniad piece I reckon that’s an assessment all us MFW readers and writers can happily agree with.
“Happily” is just a word, of course 🙂
Always nice to tickle the nationals! Well done Gary – and well done Dave B 2 for pointing it out.
Let’s hope the unfortunate player recovers quickly and it has no long term effect on him and his family.
Where has he picked up the virus? Surely as part of Project Restart there would have been rules about what you can and cannot do to minimise the risk of picking up the virus? What I also find strange is that when one player tests positive it does not affect the other players, who will have come into contact with him. Do the players have to report to the Test, track and trace programme? I understand in this round of testing there were two positive tests so another club must also be affected. It just feels unsafe to me to be resuming football at the moment. I wonder what the other Norwich players feel about this. It would be natural for them to be concerned.
I remember going to the Baseball ground in the 1974 to watch my home town team, Boston United play Derby in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. At the time Boston were the best non league side in the country and Derby were a top First Division club. Boston’s first choice goalkeeper was injured and they played a young kid from my old school. He had a blinder. The game was 0-0 and it was close to the end of the game. A cross came in and a Boston player got his head to the ball, which then hit the inside of the post and dropped on the line and stuck in the mud. It seemed like time stood still to see who reached the ball first, unfortunately the Derby goalie got there a fraction of a second before the Boston player. The game finished 0-0. The replay was mid week but played in the afternoon as it was during the 3 day week when there were rolling power cuts. Loads of us got the afternoon off work. Boston scored first but went on to lose 6-1. Memories, hey.
Given Norwich’s lack of luck this season the player out will be Pukki or Krul but it will give a chance for someone else to shine.
I have watched a bit of golf from USA played behind closed doors. Even that looks strange and there is no crowd roar for a great shot. It is clearly no where near as good. I hope I won’t be saying the same on Friday evening. There is more excitement on the Great British Sewing Bee. I never thought I would be saying that either.
Hope everyone keeps safe and Norwich pull off the little miracle.
Colin, as I understand it, it’s an airborne virus which means that regardless of how much we protect ourselves, anyof us can catch it.
In fact, it’s quite probable that a number of us who have not been tested may well be virus positive.
The problem comes if you become infected and the bl00dy thing decides to attack your respiratory system.
Lets hope all is well with whoever it is, and of course the rest of the squad.
O T B C
Thank you for your response John.
I do understand how the virus is transmitted. Unless you isolate completely then there is a risk of catching the disease albeit you can reduce the risk by social distancing, washing hands, etc.. The point is Project Restart was sold as being safe although what they meant, of course, is low risk. So knowing where a player caught the virus is important to understand the risk and to be able to mitigate it. It could be the player caught it from a child attending school, for example or he went food shopping. Little you can do to mitigate a child catching it at school but you can mitigate food shopping.
Track and trace not only warns people an infected person has come into contact with them but it can give clues in the reverse way about who the player may have caught the disease from.
Given that testing is not totally accurate as there are cases of false negative tests. There have been cases of someone only testing positive after two negative tests despite displaying symptoms. I am surprised that other Norwich players are not having to isolate to protect themselves and their families.
This all poses the question of what is an acceptable level of risk. I recall Troy Deeney being vocal about the risks, which I can totally understand, particularly as a disproportionate number of BAME people have died from the virus in this country. I do hope that the Premier League have taken that fact into account in their processes and procedures. Otherwise they are being hypocritical about Black Lives Matter.
I was tempted to get political in response to a previous reply but I’ll leave that for other forums.
I’m also shocked at the vitriol coming our way from supporters of other clubs. No NCFC official has said they want the season voided so that we avoid relegation. Playing the remainder of the games gives us a small chance of staying up; not playing them would almost certainly lead to our relegation on PPG. It’s not an ideal situation but at least the decision will be made by playing football.
As for players being au fait with the location of the toilets, it might have helped Gary Linekar at Italia 90 but is of little use to us.
This comment by Gary sums up everything that is wrong about the PL – ”What I missed least … That constant feeling of being unwelcome guests at a posh party. Norwich and the Premier League are not natural bedfellows”
It seems that fans generally are in agreement that they all miss the pre/post-match ritual of meeting their mates for a beer and ‘putting the world to rights!!’
Goodness only knows how long it might be before we can enjoy those times again.
As others have said, I’d prefer to be relegated ‘fair and square tghan by any other method!! 🙂
Very true Ed.
And as I understand it, we had to get “special dispensation” to play the Spurs friendly as it contravened their no more than 90 minute travel rule…..so, some people somewhere in FA authority have absolutely no idea where Norwich is…and obviously don’t care either!
O T B C
Yes, hope the player is ok but it shows you what a farce it is. He should have been tested before the game, not before he took to the field with many others. If it was me at work, all my workmates would be off for 14 days. Just a total farce.
He was tested before the game, on Thursday, but the results didn’t come back till Saturday. With testing being done on Mondays and Thursdays, that’s a situation that’s going to crop all the time, with games just about every day. Stupid system, operated by stupid people.
As I said in reply to Martin’s article today, everyone knows we had a player who tested positive, but there was another player from another club who also tested positive on Thursday. Since they haven’t published who this club is, we don’t know if it was a relegation rival “trying to get the season voided”, so we get all the Twatter vitriol from the pillocks from other clubs, who also have their own axe to grind. Maybe our problem is we’re too honest for our own good (though I suppose we had to at least let Spurs know).