Former Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has issued a strong statement of intent for the FA to follow in getting the 2020/21 season completed.
The Premier League, like other top-flight divisions around Europe, has been suspended for over a month now and we’re still not sure when the beautiful game will resume.
But the former Liverpool boss is adamant football will resume in England and we’ll get to see the final games played out in a satisfactory way.
“Everyone is in total agreement we need an end to this season,” he’s quoted as saying by football.london. “We don’t want artificial means of deciding who wins the league, who gets into the Champions League, who gets relegated and promoted.
“Ideally our players would have three or four weeks’ minimum to prepare for the first match back, but I accept there may have to be a squeeze on that time-frame.
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“It might mean extra restrictions at our place of work – the training ground – for example. It may also mean that we have to play our nine remaining matches in a shorter period of time than we normally would have done, and subsequently receive a shorter break between the seasons.
“But I think with all of these sacrifices – and I am uncomfortable using that word in such a context – everyone will be more than happy to go along with what it takes in order to get playing again as soon as possible in order to get the season finished.”
The Crystal Palace boss raises a valid point about “artificial” means of deciding who wins what. There has been so much talk from Liverpool’s rivals about us winning the title this season.
If we’re able to play out the last fixtures, there can be no discussions on the legitimacy of our title, even if being 25 points clear with nine games to go is surely enough.
If Hodgson gets his way, and it seems like he will, there will be no asterisk next to our Premier League title – we’ll just be getting it a little later than planned.
And amidst a global pandemic, that is a very, very small price to pay.