We’re well into the football shutdown caused by the coronavirus and still no clearer on what the future holds for Scottish football.
I don’t expect there to be a timescale yet on when things are likely to kick off again but I think it’s about time we had an indication of how things are going to play out if we run out of time.
Uefa gave until the end of June to get club seasons finished.
By my reckoning, that will leave things very tight to get leagues and cups completed.
The Government have talked about people being in self-isolation for the next 12 weeks – that takes us to the middle of June.
It could well happen that everyone takes heed of the health advice, stays indoors and we get to grips with the virus in this country within that timescale.
Judging by the way some people have selfishly ignored the advice leading to lockdown, that’s unlikely.
If we’re still in a crisis situation in three months’ time then there will surely be no way to complete this season before July.
Are Uefa going to dig their heels in and say 2019/20 must be finished by July, one way or the other, and the new campaign started in the autumn?
This is where it gets interesting for Dundee and Dundee United.
Do the current standings count as final? Is there an average points somehow tallied up? Or is it all scrapped and we have to forget it ever happened?
The last would be the cruellest choice for clubs like United – as a Man U fan, I have to say personally I’d quite enjoy that happening to Liverpool, to be fair. . .
For the Tangerines, they more than deserve the chance to win the title – not be awarded it.
They already deserve to have the trophy in the cabinet with the way they have gone about things.
And the fans certainly deserve the day in the sun when the trophy finally comes home.
The supporters and the players will be short-changed if they are just given the title or have to play behind closed-doors.
The Dark Blues, meanwhile, will definitely want the season played.
Their only hope of going back up at the first time of asking was through the play-offs – the likelihood of there being time for those is small I would think.
Where does that leave us?
Nobody really knows – this is where we need a definitive plan for how things will unfold in our game over the next few months.
Regular statements are all well and good but we need to hear something meaningful soon.
Robbie Neilson said this week he’s planning to have his Dundee United players back in for training on April 13.
I can’t help but think Boris Johnson’s announcement of a lockdown across the UK on Monday will put a huge spoke in that.
I understand the need to have a date to start planning from but I can’t see society as a whole being through the worst of this pandemic in just three weeks’ time.
I really hope I’m just being incredibly pessimistic.
There’s an argument to say we need some football on the TV to stop us all going doolally after being stuck in our homes for the next three months.
And I imagine the huge TV deals clubs down south rely on for most of their income could well sway the Government to allow English matches to start again behind closed-doors.
Money always talks but surely the health of the players has to be brought into consideration.
I sincerely hope United do get the players training again in a safe environment soon – can’t see it happening in three weeks, though.
I understand the SPFL taking time to decide what to do with the end to the season.
However, they can surely do more to help every club’s finance across the leagues right now.
At the end of the season, clubs get money for the position they finish in – two years ago Celtic got £3.35 million for top spot while bottom got £1.125m. Bottom of the second tier got £175,000.
Could they not pay out the minimum to everybody right now and decide the rest later?
Welcome to lockdown everybody! I’ve now been working from home for over a week and getting used to it. It’s going to be a tough few months but stay strong – get a good book or boxset going.
Above all, stay home and keep healthy.
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