‘ Cardiff City / The Stadium etc ‘
Sat Jun 06, 2020 3:31 pm
The sad realities of football's impending return and how Cardiff City have been a shining light
By Scott Johnson
Saturday 6th June 2020
It’s official; football, but not as we know it, will soon return and I don’t know how to feel about it if I’m honest.
For me, the normal ebb and flow of the football season goes as follows. Like everyone else, I’m very excited for the start of a new season. It’s sunny, there’s a new kit and some new players in that new kit.
Anything is possible too, and that feeling sometimes lasts longer some season’s than others. By the end of the season, like the players, I’m suffering football fatigue, but the break is always sufficient for that excitement to build back up again.
This break, although a comparable length, has felt nothing like the usual break, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there have been far more pressing concerns to occupy everyone’s thoughts. That aside, the break was not off the back of a satisfactory, certain resolution either.
Everything, on and off the pitch, is up in the air. I appreciate that football is an industry that needs to be back up and running as soon as possible, but it just feels too soon.
As a society, we’re still in a comparable situation to the one that necessitated a lockdown and the halting of sport in the first place. We may be on the way down rather than on the way up and have a better understanding of Covid-19, but I assumed we would be further down the road before considering a restart.
I guess I’m with Watford captain Troy Deeney, who refused a return to training by reminding everyone: “I can’t get a haircut until mid-July, but I can go and get in a box with 19 people and jump for a header?” It’s hard to question his logic.
Footballers are treated differently because they earn so much money, but that money is generated by these same players. Without players, there is no show, so looking after them should be a priority, not satisfying television deals.
The return of football has less to do with sporting integrity than it does about money and the reality of that is pretty grim. The idea of a football family has been laid bare too, with the Premier League ploughing on without a care for teams further down the football food chain.
I appreciate that it must be hard to look out for each other when everyone stands to lose so much, but the self-serving way clubs have conducted themselves has also made for grim viewing. League Two clubs want promotion, but no relegation, while League One are pushing for the play-offs to be expanded. Making it up as they go along to suit themselves.
It should be noted that Cardiff have conducted themselves with great dignity and class during this period. They have been a positive influence in the community and enthusiastic regarding proposals to complete the season.
Mehmet Dalman is on record stating that failing to finish the campaign would be a “travesty,” while also understandably criticising the complete absence of leadership from the authorities responsible. “They’re all making a lot of noises and we’re getting lots of e-mails,” he told the Sunday Times,“ but at the end of the day, the only thing they came back with is ‘it’s up to you guys to handle it.’ I don’t call that great leadership.”
By Scott Johnson
Saturday 6th June 2020
It’s official; football, but not as we know it, will soon return and I don’t know how to feel about it if I’m honest.
For me, the normal ebb and flow of the football season goes as follows. Like everyone else, I’m very excited for the start of a new season. It’s sunny, there’s a new kit and some new players in that new kit.
Anything is possible too, and that feeling sometimes lasts longer some season’s than others. By the end of the season, like the players, I’m suffering football fatigue, but the break is always sufficient for that excitement to build back up again.
This break, although a comparable length, has felt nothing like the usual break, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, there have been far more pressing concerns to occupy everyone’s thoughts. That aside, the break was not off the back of a satisfactory, certain resolution either.
Everything, on and off the pitch, is up in the air. I appreciate that football is an industry that needs to be back up and running as soon as possible, but it just feels too soon.
As a society, we’re still in a comparable situation to the one that necessitated a lockdown and the halting of sport in the first place. We may be on the way down rather than on the way up and have a better understanding of Covid-19, but I assumed we would be further down the road before considering a restart.
I guess I’m with Watford captain Troy Deeney, who refused a return to training by reminding everyone: “I can’t get a haircut until mid-July, but I can go and get in a box with 19 people and jump for a header?” It’s hard to question his logic.
Footballers are treated differently because they earn so much money, but that money is generated by these same players. Without players, there is no show, so looking after them should be a priority, not satisfying television deals.
The return of football has less to do with sporting integrity than it does about money and the reality of that is pretty grim. The idea of a football family has been laid bare too, with the Premier League ploughing on without a care for teams further down the football food chain.
I appreciate that it must be hard to look out for each other when everyone stands to lose so much, but the self-serving way clubs have conducted themselves has also made for grim viewing. League Two clubs want promotion, but no relegation, while League One are pushing for the play-offs to be expanded. Making it up as they go along to suit themselves.
It should be noted that Cardiff have conducted themselves with great dignity and class during this period. They have been a positive influence in the community and enthusiastic regarding proposals to complete the season.
Mehmet Dalman is on record stating that failing to finish the campaign would be a “travesty,” while also understandably criticising the complete absence of leadership from the authorities responsible. “They’re all making a lot of noises and we’re getting lots of e-mails,” he told the Sunday Times,“ but at the end of the day, the only thing they came back with is ‘it’s up to you guys to handle it.’ I don’t call that great leadership.”
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Re: ‘ Cardiff City / The Stadium etc ‘
Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:05 am
Great to hear our club being talked of in a positive light,for a change 
as I have stated previously,I believe the timing to restart is wrong,and what troy Deeney says is absolutely how I would feel as a proffessional footballer tbh,can't be one on one with his hairdresser, but ok to mix shoulder to shoulder with so many others? ? It doesn't seem right to me? I have also said a few times,that money is being put before the safety of playersand staff,here we have mass gatherings for a guy(rip) in the states,football crowds in eastern Europe, if nobody gets a grip,the world will be shutting down again through the winter,then ALL the people who have done their best to abide by the rules set out,will be locked back up,before being let out!! I dispair at modern man sometimes 
as I have stated previously,I believe the timing to restart is wrong,and what troy Deeney says is absolutely how I would feel as a proffessional footballer tbh,can't be one on one with his hairdresser, but ok to mix shoulder to shoulder with so many others? ? It doesn't seem right to me? I have also said a few times,that money is being put before the safety of playersand staff,here we have mass gatherings for a guy(rip) in the states,football crowds in eastern Europe, if nobody gets a grip,the world will be shutting down again through the winter,then ALL the people who have done their best to abide by the rules set out,will be locked back up,before being let out!! I dispair at modern man sometimes