Footballers and managers hugging and embracing on and around the pitch.

Mwelolo

Well-known member
There is guidance in place , for good reasons, and it is increasingly being breached.

I have heard at leat two Prem managers come out and say players are probably not able to stick to the guidance, goal scoring is so emotional etc...

What a load of rubbish.

They will get away with what ever they are able to and managers should be placing those expectations upon them, not justifying none adherence.

I believe that players have a social responsibility to set an example. Our country is in a very dangerous situation with Covid and they should be doing all they can to improve the situation, not exacerbate it.

Football should be pulled if they are not prepared to stick to the basic requirements. Assuming their behaviour doesn’t spread such infection levels that it becomes none viable anyway......
 
Easy targeting high visibility people - footballers - for a Government balls up of a "covid strategy" (???!!!!).

Yes - footi players should be mindful of their responsibilities!

Some clubs wont have much opportunity to hug and kiss each other:

Trees

Blues

Rams

Owls

Chair Boys

Rotherham

....... :love:
 
Players are perfectly capable of not celebrating when they score against former teams, they easily manage to fight the instinct to hug.

They could celebrate alone like players used to, a Mick Channon windmill celebration or a Shearer finger in the air.

There doesn’t need to be a massive pile on after a goal.
 
Doesn't really bother me.

They're in close proximity for 90+ minutes whatever happens, it's a close contact sport.

I can understand the arguments for stopping football entirely during the pandemic, I'd probably support them stopping the league now, but I doubt players who spend most of the week together being a bit closer for 30 seconds is going to lead to many new cases.
Especially not in the Premier League where they've been tested frequently throughout.

I'd guess it's their activities off the pitch that's leading to the growing number of cases amongst clubs.

But obviously it's the optics that are the issue.
 
Last edited:
We are currently dealing with more infectious variants. Increasing numbers of players and coaching staff are testing positive. Such unnecessary close contact will undoubtedly increase the risk of infection.

Not to mention high profile often idolised individuals publicly failing to adhere to clear safety guidelines and some of their managers seeming to endorse this.
 
It wants suspending for a month or two. If they are giving each other Covid it wants stopping. Eventually someone like an older manager will get it and die then we'll all be Captain Hindsight berating the league for putting money before health.
 
Last edited:
When football first started up again I was always surprised at this - yes they are together for 90 minutes but anything to reduce risk helps so I would vote for no celebrating together. I’m surprised it hasn’t been highlighted and dealt with long before now. As some have mentioned if kids see their hero’s doing this they will think it’s ok when they are with their friends so it does send the wrong message.

may be a moot point if the spread continues as we may have football taken away from us once again.
 
When football first started up again I was always surprised at this - yes they are together for 90 minutes but anything to reduce risk helps so I would vote for no celebrating together. I’m surprised it hasn’t been highlighted and dealt with long before now. As some have mentioned if kids see their hero’s doing this they will think it’s ok when they are with their friends so it does send the wrong message.

may be a moot point if the spread continues as we may have football taken away from us once again.

It was dealt with when football initially restarted back in June - July, players had to celebrate in a socially distanced manner and most did.

But it's gradually drifted back to normal, they definitely should have dealt with it earlier in this season, but I think football got as lax as the country did.
 
Doesn't really bother me.

They're in close proximity for 90+ minutes whatever happens, it's a close contact sport.

I can understand the arguments for stopping football entirely during the pandemic, I'd probably support them stopping the league now, but I doubt players who spend most of the week together being a bit closer for 30 seconds is going to lead to many new cases.
Especially not in the Premier League where they've been tested frequently throughout.

I'd guess it's their activities off the pitch that's leading to the growing number of cases amongst clubs.

But obviously it's the optics that are the issue.
Being in close face to face proximity when celebrating can have a big impact though, especially in a huddle of a few players. It's a contact sport, yes, but you don't generally get face to face. Clubs clearly should be doing more, I suspect actions around training facilities are causing the bigger spread, but no doubt plenty of it is just down to not following guidance.
 
This may be relevant, see parks and playgrounds being open too (where kids also get face to face).


I watched a Panorama recently that said you could have 80,000 in Old Trafford and hardly any transmissions (I mean I'm assuming spitting directly in someone's mouth when outside might cause transmission, but who does that?).

The reason its not allowed is purely because of infrastructure, getting people to and from the ground safely (buses/trams/car shares etc) without significant transmissions is basically impossible.
 
I don’t know if anyone has posted about why the managers feel the need to spit every few minutes apologies if they have, that alone should be cause for concern 😡
 
It was dealt with when football initially restarted back in June - July, players had to celebrate in a socially distanced manner and most did.

But it's gradually drifted back to normal, they definitely should have dealt with it earlier in this season, but I think football got as lax as the country did.
Yes it would seem to be the case!
 
Wasn’t there all sorts of measures when it first came back like no hugging, shaking hands, even shouting.
I’ve noticed a lot of managers shaking hands after games again, they can’t claim that’s due to the emotion.
 
Wasn’t there all sorts of measures when it first came back like no hugging, shaking hands, even shouting.
I’ve noticed a lot of managers shaking hands after games again, they can’t claim that’s due to the emotion.
I think a good number of them they believe they are above the requirements of ‘normal’ people and nobody seems to hold them to account.
 
Such a storm in a teacup this and a bit embarrassing that it's become a media-driven distraction.

The reason we've got 100,000 dead isn't because Jordan Henderson gives Mo Salah a cuddle after a goal.

It's because the government wasted the first lockdown by not setting up a functioning test and trace system and didn't bother with considering that borders might be an issue for an internationally transmitted virus, undermined their own guidance at every point from Cummings down, eased restrictions far too quickly over the summer, locked down far too late for the second lockdown and far far far too late for the third, and have failed on every metric of providing clear, consistent advice every step of the way - legal COVID guidance changed, on average, once every four and a half days during 2020.

Politicians getting all uppity at footballers, yet again, who to be fair are putting their family's health at risk to provide us all with entertainment, is a joke. Sort your own **** out before you start getting moralistic over young lads who are just doing their jobs in extraordinary circumstances.
 
Back
Top