Kmcalpin

Good points. Its the lateness and suddeness of the call off. I'd like to know if Fir Park was informed well in advance. As far as Joe Public is concerned there was no hint of this at all until a couple of hours before kick off.

Pretty much it Allan. If a game is called off very late on, as this one was, there's clearly something wrong. I feel sorry for supporters who bought a one off TV game just minutes before the announcement. St Mirren should have announced the game was in some doubt far earlier. If delayed test results are the issue then the system is clearly failing. As I understand it, they also have some non covid 19 related injuries. I wonder if or when our club was first informed that the game was in doubt. It seems unlikely that St Mirren's infected players are all independent of each other. A "workplace based" incident again? No doubt, the rearranged game will coincide with us having an injury crisis and/or having to play 3/4 games a week. The SPFL and SFA really need to sort this out and quickly. Presumably St Mirren's next league game will also be called off due to self isolation guidelines. Why is this not a problem in England? Still no word of the SFA's investigation into Kilmarnock?

Lets use this to our advantage and get streetwise. Instruct our wingers/crossers to fire the ball into the Saints' box at chest /head height and our target man to get in front of the defender and duck at the last moment.

This will be his big chance..............................................if he is selected.

Good news about Carroll - he should be back playing by the end of next month.

Presumably thats why the outbreak was being investigated.

Professor Leitch mentioned that Kilmarnock's outbreak was "workplace based" which is a bit different.

Yes it’s Ian “Keeber Kennedy. A good player on his day.

If Big Dec played for the Dons he'd be hailed as one of their "best central defenders in generations". Russell Anderson was going to be even better than Miller or McLeish.

The SPFL/SFA guidance is at best unclear. In their defence however, its an almost unprecedented situation but yes, they have failed to show leadership and clarity. Also in their defence, the guidance provided by the Scottish Government (and maybe also the UK Government in England) is inconsistent and not totally clear; arrangements made between the Scottish Government and the footballing authorities are inconsistent and somewhat haphazard. I'm basing this opinion on an interview given by professor Jason Leitch who admits as much here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54408588 Its interesting that he rightly differentiates between the outbreaks at Aberdeen and Celtic, which were individual, and the one at Kilmarnock which was workplace based. In that case, why did the footballing authorities punish Celtic and Aberdeen? The issue of whether clubs themselves want to admit a small number of fans on the basis of financial viablity has been raised. Thats an entirely separate matter. The issue here is whether they are allowed to do so, irrespective of whether they want to do so or not.

There used to be a rule, maybe unofficial, that if a team had 3 or more players on international duty then they’d be granted a postponement. Injuries are another matter ie our cup replay in 1976 against Hibs at Ibrox (I’m still bitter about that). Were Shotts BA not involved in some controversy with the Junior FA a few years ago about a postponement due to injury/illness? It always has been very unclear.

A compelling case then for the long long overdue amalgamation of the SFA and SPFL.

Any update on the SPFL investigation? I see that Robbie Neilson has suggested that the SPFL draw up guidelines for games in which one team can't participate (he's suggested that the opposition is awarded 3 points). The silence is deafening. He is right though - this situation will crop up again.

Good post. I didn’t realise until this evening that bingo halls have been open, albeit with social distancing in place. Given that I really can’t see why lower league clubs shouldn’t be allowed to admit a limited number of home fans.

Yes, these figures can be misleading. How many who have tested positive had visited shops in the previous fortnight? That said, pubs are probably virus hotspots. Even the Covid19 mortality statistics are subject to considerable error and are probably overstated, although the number of those infected is probably understated. A major problem throughout the UK is non compliance with self isolation, quarantine etc etc. Mixing of households is also a major source of infection, and I suspect commonplace.

I seem to recall that in England the majority of infections were said to originate in households but have no idea of the figures.

I agree with you in that Governments face extremely difficult challenges and they won't get everything right, if indeed there is any right and wrong way to handle the crisis. These are almost unprecedented times. In general yes,the country should pull together but in reality there will always be dissenting voices; thats life. Even the UK Government's SAGE Committee of experts and scientists disagree frequently amongst themselves. In many instances, so called "scientific advice" is not agreed by all the experts. In terms of the crisis management there is no real right and no wrong approach, its all about balance. I would expect trade and industry organisations such as the SPFL, SFA, Homes for Scotland, Scottish Retail Consortium and trade unions to name but 5 to continue to represent their members. They have to because no government can be all seeing and hearing. Its not irresponsible though for various parties to air their dissension, so long as its not disagreeing for the sake of it , which yes does go on all the time in wider society. You cannot try to stifle or discourage free speech in a democracy. League officials are simply fighting their corner. As you probably know, I still favour some limited fan return to football games but I know others don't share that view, we'll agree to disagree on that. Government policy at all levels is riddled with inconsistency and thats not surprising given the complexity of the situation. There are "idiots" as you describe them but in all sectors of our society not just those "pressing on the gates", and in some places that would surprise you.

Germany has handled the pandemic very well but you can’t compare these specific figures are they are compiled very differently. The figures for the likes of China, Russia and Brazil, for example are nothing short of incredible. Some months ago the Italian government did not know if care home deaths were counted or not as each of its regions counted deaths differently.

Yes I was there and remember it well. Really was some game and some football. We played like clockwork as almost everything fell into place. Dundee’s 3 goals have given generations of younger fans the wrong impression. We absolutely scudded them and 7 -0 wouldn’t have been unjust. Pettigrew and Graham were an amazing pairing but were probably overshadowed by Ferrier and Stevenson. Very few, if any, posters will have seen them in action; they were true giants of British football.

We can still sign out of contract players. I think Alan Burrows said somewhere that we may sign someone in the next few days.

Was he still under contract? Will we receive a modest fee?

Surely someone has something better to do with their time? Why just why do it?

Bobby Graham was a player I hardly noticed during games. It was only when we scored a goal or after we won that I realised how valuable he was and had a great football brain. He made others tick. He'd ghost about during games pulling the strings. On another tack your namesake was one of my favourite players. Not the best footballer in the world but wholehearted and a real asset to the team. My abiding memory of him was the photo of him holding his arms aloft after we beat Spurs in the Texaco Cup.

In the current climate there are people of all persuasions out to make mischief, Iain. In terms of inconsistencies I was referring to a wider context, but will not go into that as it involves other issues. We know very little of the Kilmarnock situation and how it will unfold. Things may become clearer after the SPFL investigate or then again they may not. We'll just have to wait and see.

Ok but you'd need to deduct more than 3 points, probably 6, from the guilty club as they could win the rearranged game and therefore cancel out a 3 points deduction.