The big COVID-19 Shutdown


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Putting aside the short term Covid impacts, will we come out of this stronger or weaker than our peers? Given we have cut right back on the non playing staff, I'd imagine while we will have significant losses this year, it will be covered by the c£2m rainy day fund, but I cannot imagine other clubs will be in the same position.

Off the pitch, will crowds come back to what they were or be down?

Equally, given we will be in an economic downturn, could saints be relatively well placed to maybe make some infrastructure changes at a lower than pre covid cost? For example, can we make cheaper improvements to McD or even relocate to a more appropriate stadium, say the other side of the bypass? 

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Interesting that when asked about the games on Saturday the FM said she would talk about that on Thursday, s when she is predicted to reign in on some of the things that were to be reintroduced from 14 September. 

The rules for fans on Saturday are strict - Face mask all the time, no shouting, no singing, sit in allocated seat only, 

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3 hours ago, mainstand said:

Interesting that when asked about the games on Saturday the FM said she would talk about that on Thursday, s when she is predicted to reign in on some of the things that were to be reintroduced from 14 September. 

The rules for fans on Saturday are strict - Face mask all the time, no shouting, no singing, sit in allocated seat only, 

What? No pie and bovril.

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4 hours ago, mainstand said:

Interesting that when asked about the games on Saturday the FM said she would talk about that on Thursday, s when she is predicted to reign in on some of the things that were to be reintroduced from 14 September. 

The rules for fans on Saturday are strict - Face mask all the time, no shouting, no singing, sit in allocated seat only, 

Aye can just see aw the fans just sitting there on there hands, wae a wee shout of Play up County* ( Auld anes will know )

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17 minutes ago, Bruno Strasser said:

Unless the Covid figures start trending downward I think it might be next year before we are back at McDiarmid Park. Have a feeling things will be put on hold on Thursday.

Agree. Also, probably an unpopular opinion, but really, sports grounds should be almost one of the last places to reopen. Open air terrace possibly, but seated semi enclosed stands should be a no no until vaccine found.

 

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1 hour ago, Cagey said:

No fans allowed before 5th Oct but2 300 crowd games can go ahead. Not sure what a crowd of 300 at a game will tell us.

All they can do is behave themselves.  Bit like a tackle in the box, don't give the referee a chance to make an adverse decision.

Still, surely Aberdeen and RC will do their best to ensure only good boys and girls attend, ones who can be trusted to answer health questions honestly.

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On 9/9/2020 at 3:26 PM, TheYellowBox said:

Putting aside the short term Covid impacts, will we come out of this stronger or weaker than our peers? Given we have cut right back on the non playing staff, I'd imagine while we will have significant losses this year, it will be covered by the c£2m rainy day fund, but I cannot imagine other clubs will be in the same position.

Off the pitch, will crowds come back to what they were or be down?

Equally, given we will be in an economic downturn, could saints be relatively well placed to maybe make some infrastructure changes at a lower than pre covid cost? For example, can we make cheaper improvements to McD or even relocate to a more appropriate stadium, say the other side of the bypass? 

Are you genuinely suggesting we save money by building an entirely new stadium, and presumably the 3 training pitches either side of rhe stadium?

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1 hour ago, Cagey said:

Second StMirren player positive. Not sure we will see the end of this season.

Saints should hold off any new signings til January.

But still allowing the games to go ahead, Aberdeen had 2 and goit the games off and Celtic had one that did not even test positive yet had 2 games called off. 

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1 hour ago, mainstand said:

You have made an assumption there Random. How did he catch it? You don't know he got it. 

Still does not make sense

Correct, it seems that the two players concerned who tested positive are goalkeepers.  St Mirren's 3rd goalkeeper also has to be ruled out as not surprisingly he has been in close contact with the other two.  Therefore, if St M have done nothing wrong why isn't the game being postponed as they have no recognised goalkeeper available through no fault of theirs?

The SPFL say there is not enough evidence to support postponement which would suggest at least one player is at fault. As you say it does not make sense.

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1 hour ago, south inch said:

Correct, it seems that the two players concerned who tested positive are goalkeepers.  St Mirren's 3rd goalkeeper also has to be ruled out as not surprisingly he has been in close contact with the other two.  Therefore, if St M have done nothing wrong why isn't the game being postponed as they have no recognised goalkeeper available through no fault of theirs?

The SPFL say there is not enough evidence to support postponement which would suggest at least one player is at fault. As you say it does not make sense.

That could be a problem for most teams as the goalies train together.

You would think if 2 goalies were down with the lurgie ,the SPFL would allow a game to be postponed.

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On 9/10/2020 at 7:06 PM, RandomGuy said:

Are you genuinely suggesting we save money by building an entirely new stadium, and presumably the 3 training pitches either side of rhe stadium?

Erm no. I'm suggesting that at some point, Saints are going to have to do some serious maintenance at McD, be it structural, internal or seats etc. All I'm saying is that it might be now cheaper for us when the time comes had it not been for covid-19. 

Equally, at some point in the not to distant future, a decision will need to be made around whether Saints would be better to redevelop/replace stands or look to move on. I'm guessing the shelf life of a football stand is probably 40ish years.

My overall point being that should we need to do anything, builders and trades people will be looking for more jobs, which might reduce costs. 

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The unspoken rule now seems to be everywhere that if you can field 14 players including a goalie, the game goes ahead, so I assume St Mirren must have access to a goalie of sorts. There isn’t any other choice: this season won’t be completed if games are postponed every time a couple of players have to isolate. It might, of course, not be completed anyway.

I think what’s rightly confusing people is the cancellation of the Aberdeen and Celtic games, clearly as a punishment. Now the punishment (or unfortunate consequence if you were blameless) seems to be you play on regardless.

The bigger picture is that politicians, and increasing numbers of ordinary folk, don’t really give an enormous number of feks if football is on or off at the moment. Getting crowds back into sports grounds is just not a priority - thousands are about to lose their jobs. Some will lose their lives. And the UK Government seems to have gone completely bonkers on all fronts.

Basically, I’d enjoy it while you can, as you can. It could soon be the least of our worries.

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59 minutes ago, TheYellowBox said:

 

Equally, at some point in the not to distant future, a decision will need to be made around whether Saints would be better to redevelop/replace stands or look to move on. I'm guessing the shelf life of a football stand is probably 40ish years.

 

On that point I’ve been thinking why don’t the fans have a redevelopment of McDiarmid themselves ? Starting with the seats  ?  How much would it cost to sort out the skinny east stand  white St Johnstone embarrassment, for a start not that much surely ?  I wouldn’t think it wouldn’t be more than £50 a seat ? Sure we could raise enough  even through the folk on here to do it ? New thread ? 

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25 minutes ago, Abernethy Saint said:

The unspoken rule now seems to be everywhere that if you can field 14 players including a goalie, the game goes ahead, so I assume St Mirren must have access to a goalie of sorts. There isn’t any other choice: this season won’t be completed if games are postponed every time a couple of players have to isolate. It might, of course, not be completed anyway.

I think what’s rightly confusing people is the cancellation of the Aberdeen and Celtic games, clearly as a punishment. Now the punishment (or unfortunate consequence if you were blameless) seems to be you play on regardless.

The bigger picture is that politicians, and increasing numbers of ordinary folk, don’t really give an enormous number of feks if football is on or off at the moment. Getting crowds back into sports grounds is just not a priority - thousands are about to lose their jobs. Some will lose their lives. And the UK Government seems to have gone completely bonkers on all fronts.

Basically, I’d enjoy it while you can, as you can. It could soon be the least of our worries.

Fair enough argument except it could be said that even at the best of times 80% of the population doesn't give a fek about football.  I wonder though if the SPFL have thought this through. Football is already on a yellow card so if as a result of this forced game 2 or 3 Hibs players test Covid positive next week does that not invite the red card which you would have thought the SPFL was trying to avoid.

Of course to the Rangers*' fan the answer is simple.  St Mirren are due to play Celtic next Wednesday so Doncaster will want to make it possible for the Bhoys to run up a cricket score.

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2 hours ago, south inch said:

Fair enough argument except it could be said that even at the best of times 80% of the population doesn't give a fek about football.  I wonder though if the SPFL have thought this through. Football is already on a yellow card so if as a result of this forced game 2 or 3 Hibs players test Covid positive next week does that not invite the red card which you would have thought the SPFL was trying to avoid.

Of course to the Rangers*' fan the answer is simple.  St Mirren are due to play Celtic next Wednesday so Doncaster will want to make it possible for the Bhoys to run up a cricket score.

The yellow card was for serious misbehaviour, a deliberate breaking of the rules. If staff or players follow the rules but still catch or spread COVID, it’s the rules that are at fault, not the individuals. My own view is that if football stops, it will be because of a general move further back into lockdown, not a specific action against football. Always assuming, that is, that some group of players don’t do something titanically stupid again.

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