maxjackle Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Can't see where this will get arranged for a while unless both teams are knocked out the FA cup and it goes in the slot for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 I think its the right decision but the Premier League have put themselves in a tough spot. Its one of the only leagues not to bring in forfeit and whats to stop the bigger clubs using this going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 3 hours ago, Zhan_Zhuang said: Maybe by the time we play these two extra games we will have some more additions to the squad? Or more injuries and the odd suspension, it's 50/50 at best. It will help Newcastle though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 From today's Times: It is thought Newcastle have at least six members of the first-team squad self-isolating and there are now concerns about their next game at St James’ Park, against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday week. The Times has learnt that the first-team players will face more tests this week and that the training ground will stay closed. The club will then wait to see if the number of players with Covid-19 increases and will consider whether they will similarly have to appeal for the West Brom game to be postponed. The Premier League and Newcastle officials have opened up an investigation into the outbreak, which it is believed has affected at least ten first-team players and members of staff. They will review their findings with Public Health England (PHE), which will decide when the training ground can reopen. Newcastle previously have operated a system whereby only one Covid-19 test was carried out for the first-team pool of players and staff at the facility but that will change, at least temporarily, in view of the seriousness of this outbreak. The Premier League board met yesterday and accepted Newcastle’s plea to have their fixture with Villa postponed after “a significant increase in Covid-19 cases”. The Newcastle training ground has been closed all week and on Monday officials from PHE held a meeting with representatives from the club and the Premier League as a thorough clean of the facility was undertaken. It meant that PHE gave their support to Newcastle on Tuesday when they approached the Premier League board to have Friday night’s game pushed back to a later date. “Several Newcastle United players and staff members are now self-isolating at home after returning positive test results in recent days and the club’s training centre site has been temporarily closed in order to contain the spread of the virus,” Newcastle confirmed in a statement yesterday afternoon. “With the Magpies’ first team currently unable to prepare for the match as a group, Newcastle United lodged a request with the Premier League to postpone the fixture at Villa Park, which has been approved by the Premier League board. The match, which was set to kick off at 8pm (GMT) on Friday evening, will now be rescheduled.” The Premier League added: “Newcastle lodged a request with the Premier League to rearrange the game following a significant increase in Covid-19 cases at the club which resulted in Public Health England North East (PHE) advising that their training facilities remain closed. “The Premier League board agreed, as a consequence, that the club are unable to train and adequately and safely prepare for their match on Friday. The decision has been taken in consultation with Newcastle United and Aston Villa.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted December 2, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 2, 2020 Whilst I understand the reason for the postponement and find it hard to be too against it, I do think it's made the Premier League look weak. Other leagues have forced clubs to play and the PL were so bullish early on about not postponing games and taking no shit that it's made them look like a pushover. I'm also worried by the precedent it sets. What's to stop teams claiming a covid outbreak if they start suffering with injuries. Would they have to test players themselves? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 17 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: I'm also worried by the precedent it sets. What's to stop teams claiming a covid outbreak if they start suffering with injuries. Would they have to test players themselves? Especially considering Newcastle are refusing to disclose how many cases they have. The whole thing stinks to high heaven. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 On a different note, considering Newcastle are the only team with an outbreak, I hope they'll face some consequences for not being able to contain it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post wilko154 Posted December 2, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 2, 2020 Why is everyone getting so angry about this? Really odd... I would imagine Newcastle have disclosed everything to the PL, number of cases etc. It doesn't mean they have to disclose this to the press or ring Bryan in Solihull to let him know why they are postponing the game. It's a global pandemic, people are getting the virus all the time through no fault of their own and it then spreads quickly. The games been postponed due to them having numerous players out with the virus, or due to players self isolating and unable to use the training ground. Villa have been mature about this and probably realised it could have been us. It works in our favour in terms of us having Barkley fit for the game; and also getting some of our squad back to full fitness, some of our players have looked tired the past few games after the international break. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Steve Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 2 hours ago, StefanAVFC said: On a different note, considering Newcastle are the only team with an outbreak, I hope they'll face some consequences for not being able to contain it? What if they are exaggerating figures? It seems the postpontment is contingent on them having to stay in a hotel. So, why not hold the game at a neutral ground? There's no fans anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilko154 Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 31 minutes ago, The_Steve said: What if they are exaggerating figures? It seems the postpontment is contingent on them having to stay in a hotel. So, why not hold the game at a neutral ground? There's no fans anyway. I'm fairly sure they have to give the PL the test results, they aren't that stupid. The postponements to do with the fact that their team is self isolating, their training ground is closed and they would have to travel halfway across the country with that going on to play the game. I would rather our players were no where near that. Imagine Grealish, Watkins and McGinn all pick it up during that game; next week we have to play Wolves without them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 It’s the correct decision. The whining going on in this thread is childish. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted December 2, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 2, 2020 Someone raised a good point that at least we could have some fans back at vp for when they come....and Barkley! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 1 hour ago, LondonLax said: It’s the correct decision. The whining going on in this thread is childish. Watch what will happen if we need to postpone and we already have two games in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smg Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 1 hour ago, StefanAVFC said: Watch what will happen if we need to postpone and we already have two games in hand. What will happen ? I have no idea what you are on about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 13 hours ago, wilko154 said: Why is everyone getting so angry about this? Really odd... I would imagine Newcastle have disclosed everything to the PL, number of cases etc. It doesn't mean they have to disclose this to the press or ring Bryan in Solihull to let him know why they are postponing the game. It's a global pandemic, people are getting the virus all the time through no fault of their own and it then spreads quickly. The games been postponed due to them having numerous players out with the virus, or due to players self isolating and unable to use the training ground. Villa have been mature about this and probably realised it could have been us. It works in our favour in terms of us having Barkley fit for the game; and also getting some of our squad back to full fitness, some of our players have looked tired the past few games after the international break. AVFC would look bad had they publicly griped about it, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 (edited) This thread man Edited December 3, 2020 by SuperTed Correcting format Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted December 3, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 3, 2020 1 hour ago, maqroll said: AVFC would look bad had they publicly griped about it, too. Agreed. And if we get a Covid outbreak in a few weeks we'd have our hands tied. There's no way we could go asking for a postponement if we'd been publicly against this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperTed Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 15 hours ago, wilko154 said: Why is everyone getting so angry about this? Really odd... I would imagine Newcastle have disclosed everything to the PL, number of cases etc. It doesn't mean they have to disclose this to the press or ring Bryan in Solihull to let him know why they are postponing the game. It's a global pandemic, people are getting the virus all the time through no fault of their own and it then spreads quickly. The games been postponed due to them having numerous players out with the virus, or due to players self isolating and unable to use the training ground. Villa have been mature about this and probably realised it could have been us. It works in our favour in terms of us having Barkley fit for the game; and also getting some of our squad back to full fitness, some of our players have looked tired the past few games after the international break. No! It’s a conspiracy. Alex Bruce in conjunction with the fan who threw the cabbage, have smeared Covid germs on all the bannisters at St. James Park to ensure the sale of oversized Sports Direct mugs go up! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 15 hours ago, wilko154 said: Why is everyone getting so angry about this? Really odd... Because the alternative is they make Newcastle play the under 14s and we get an easy win or even better they make them forfeit and we get a free 3 points And because its Newcastle and Bruce, I want to beat them 17-0, making them field a weakened side would go a long way to making that happeb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted December 3, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted December 3, 2020 (edited) 17 hours ago, wilko154 said: Why is everyone getting so angry about this? Really odd... Mainly just because we all want to see Villa get back to winning ways as soon as possible, and not have another weekend without (our) club football again so soon I imagine. But it will be interesting to see what happens in the future now this precedent has been set this early in the season, in terms of teams asking for postponements when it suits and fitting rearranged matches into an already tight schedule. Were it not for those factors I don't think anyone would argue that postponing this match is the right thing to do. We certainly don't want the outbreak to spread because of a football game, nor to the Villa team. Edited December 3, 2020 by fightoffyour 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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