We need clarity from someone at the SPFL because if their stance is now that no Premiership matches can be postponed due to Covid because of fixture congestion then we’re on the Titanic heading for the iceberg.
Dundee manager James McPake has every right to feel aggrieved at the SPFL’s decision to force his side to play their Boxing Day Premiership game at Aberdeen.
I heard SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster say there was no further room for delays after clubs agreed to bring the winter break forward by a week due to Covid restrictions being placed on the numbers able to attend matches by the Scottish Government.
But it is hard to shake the impression the wellbeing of the players and coaches involved was a secondary consideration to the need to play the game at Pittodrie on Sunday.
Dark Blues boss McPake certainly feels that way. One of his players tested negative on Christmas Day, but then tested positive on Boxing Day.
The test ruled him and four of his team-mates out of the trip to Pittodrie. The Dundee boss says he cannot be certain everyone else within the camp was clear for the game.
Yet, with 13 fit and available players, the SPFL ruled there were sufficient numbers available to board two buses and travel an hour up the road to Aberdeen before playing a game of football against another team.
When you see games in the Premier League in England being postponed at the drop of a hat, no questions asked, it does make you question what is going on in the SPFL.
McPake’s assertion there were five free midweek dates when Sunday’s game could have been rescheduled for only adds to the mystery of why the match was not postponed.
Christmas is a time when families get together and that means more mixing for players too. I know there is a winter break now, which would allow any cases to hopefully clear before the top flight teams return – but that is not the point.
It’s the immediate threat of the players, coaches, staff, and their own families which has to be considered and it clearly hasn’t been here.
I’ll be fascinated to see whether further appeals for postponements due to Covid will be rejected. We know they will come at some point.
Player safety must come first even if it means extending the season.
Perhaps it is time for all the clubs to get back around the table during the winter break and come up with some contingency plans in case this scenario happens again.
If everyone sits idle as that iceberg gets closer then we know what’s going to happen – our season will be sunk.
Uncertainty about fans should not detract from the unfolding drama on the field in 2022
I hope the decision to restrict attendances to 500 is not a lasting one.
When fans cannot go to the football the game suffers. They lose their appetite for the game and it must be so tough for players.
It’s a shame this has had to be done again,, but as unpleasant as it is we understand the reasons for it.
But football is not the same without the roar of the crowd and I really hope we’re back to seeing fans in numbers back at games a few weeks from now.
Those who were lucky enough to attend matches on Boxing Day were treated to some cracking games and there is so much to look forward to heading into 2022.
Aberdeen are back in the top six following a hard-fought win against Dundee which featured three terrific goals and one goal of the season contender from Leigh Griffiths.
However, Malky Mackay has much to feel optimistic about heading into 2022 after seeing his side open up a four-point lead on bottom club St Johnstone.
It really is something special to see Dick Campbell’s Arbroath leading the Championship ahead of their full-time rivals.
Their resounding win at Dunfermline tells you they are not going to go quietly into the night – but Inverness are well placed.
Raith Rovers are still there and I expect Kilmarnock to come back strongly in the second half of the season, so it’s all shaping up to be a cracking run-in.
Cove Rangers are the team to beat in League One after moving five points clear at the top of the table thanks to their win against East Fife on Boxing Day, while Peterhead, who are mid-table, are well placed to mount a push for the play-offs in the second half of the season.
As for Elgin in League Two, who would dare predict what is going to happen there in the second half of the campaign?
Gavin Price’s side are ninth in the table, but are only eight points off the play-offs with a game in hand.
It’s such a tightly-congested league that the race for fourth spot is legitimately between six teams at this stage.
Last, but not least, is the Highland League.
Having worked there as a manager at Buckie I know how competitive the division is and this season is shaping up to be the toughest to call in years.
Fraserburgh lead at the moment, but it’s nip and tuck at the top. The head-to-head games between the challengers will shape the destination of this season’s title.
