ICTFC have also released a statement regarding one of their players having reported in with similar conditions to Corona Virus.

Read the article here

Well done that player and I hope he recovers soon.  

It is the correct decision to suspend fixtures, everyone’s health must come first.

Who knows how Alan Burgess knows before anyone else does, but apparently it's Kevin McHattie.

And yes, I do realise there's the possibility he works for the club, but if that were the case, surely he'd be sworn to secrecy until the club mentioned who it was.

It'll be interesting to see how long this suspension will last, reckon it'll be longer than people expect, could be in the very interesting situation of players who have been injured being fully recovered  countered against players at the end of a contract not being available. Club could be quite vulnerable financially as well if things go on for a long time.

I was booked to come up for what was the last game of the league season with my wife in May and to enjoy a bit of the loacl countryside....seems like a long way away now, and possibly a forlorn hope....but largely irrelevant now

Keep safe everyone

7 minutes ago, Jack Waddington said:

Who knows how Alan Burgess knows before anyone else does, but apparently it's Kevin McHattie.

And yes, I do realise there's the possibility he works for the club, but if that were the case, surely he'd be sworn to secrecy until the club mentioned who it was.

All the more reason to not have posted this then perhaps?

It’s a relatively easy decision to take to suspend the season, but it will be far  more difficult to decide how to proceed when the suspension is lifted. When will that be? If the epidemic peaks in May as suggested then it is unlikely the suspension would be lifted before the end of June. 

It would presumably be too late to complete the current season before the start of the next. So what are the alternatives?  

Make this season null and void?  In which case we would still be in the 2nd tier with Dundee Utd. 

Use current league positions as final positions?  That would mean Hearts being relegated and us having a play off with Hamilton. 

Or using the results of the 1st 2 rounds of matches as the final positions so that it would reflect each side playing everybody else home and away?

There would be arguments for all these options and clubs would favour the one that suited them best. 

It’s not going to be easy. But what may be an even bigger problem is the financial implications for clubs (like ours) with very tight budgets. No doubt we will hear more as the implications of the suspension become clearer, but I fear that this crisis may well threaten the viability of a few senior Scottish clubs. 

44 minutes ago, Jack Waddington said:

Who knows how Alan Burgess knows before anyone else does, but apparently it's Kevin McHattie.

And yes, I do realise there's the possibility he works for the club, but if that were the case, surely he'd be sworn to secrecy until the club mentioned who it was.

I don't work for the club it's common knowledge if you know where to look... You'll have it confirmed in a day or so 

You couldn’t reasonably just use current league positions when teams have not played the same number of games, more realistic would perhaps be for all unplayed fixtures to be declared 0-0 draws, similar to the way other sports consider unplayed matches to be draws eg in rugby and cricket World Cups.

That doesn’t work for the playoffs though. I fear we will just end up with a decision of no relegation or promotion from the playoffs.

Or maybe they could be decided by an anonymous 3 person panel, to include a couple of people who know nothing about football.

A lot of people are self isolating but only a minority actually ha e the virus. 

I’m sure most clubs would want to get the season finished, but unless you get it finished by 30th June then there will be all sorts of contractual difficulties. This is going to get very messy indeed.  

You could use current league positions on a points / goal difference per game but it could be considered unfair because some teams will have played stronger teams more often than weaker teams. It is difficult to see any proposal for resumption which would not be open to legal challenge. 

Just an observation but I have just watched a live Super League match between Salford and Wigan. It seems that the rugby league powers that be have decided to continue with their fixtures for the time being. The crowd seemed to have enjoyed the fixture and there is another live match on Sunday. 

No relegation and promote all teams currently sitting in promotion/play-off positions....added benefit of giving us a 16 team top league going forward

28 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

I’m sure most clubs would want to get the season finished, but unless you get it finished by 30th June then there will be all sorts of contractual difficulties. This is going to get very messy indeed.  

You could use current league positions on a points / goal difference per game but it could be considered unfair because some teams will have played stronger teams more often than weaker teams. It is difficult to see any proposal for resumption which would not be open to legal challenge. 

Maybe the methodology should be decided at UEFA/FIFA level to reduce scope for allegations of favouritism towards certain clubs by national leagues?

Still, there’s no formula to resolve playoffs without actually playing them, and the “safest” option may be to just leave eligible teams in the league they are currently in. 

2 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

Who knows how Alan Burgess knows before anyone else does, but apparently it's Kevin McHattie..

I would have guessed it was Ridgers- he catches everything! 

On the positive side, we will remain unbeaten between now and the end of May.

Caley D's suggested resolution is a fair and sensible one. Unfortunately, far too fair and sensible for the Scottish football authorities to implement.

According to Sportsound Caley/Thistle are at this moment  holding a board meeting to discuss the situation 

27 minutes ago, Downinthedumps said:

According to Sportsound Caley/Thistle are at this moment  holding a board meeting to discuss the situation 

Id be more worried if they were not meeting to form an action plan tbh 

35 minutes ago, old caley girl said:

Id be more worried if they were not meeting to form an action plan tbh 

I just hope there is an answer but having to pay wages without any income is a challenge to any business never mind one without reserves.

As yet Liverpool or Celtic or DUtd or any other club in Europe has not mathematically won their league or been relegated. If (for arguments sake) Liverpool were awarded the title then what would stop Man City and/or others going to court to contest, similar with relegation's and in the case of countries like Spain/Germany/Italy there are some big clubs to contest that had the games played out they could have won. National FA's & UEFA & FIFA wouldn't want this and how long that could all drag on for - it would leave decisions like qualifiers for next seasons CL/EL undecided and the next season competition in limbo.

Depending on how long the 'break' is (anything more than a few wks) then expect the season to voided worldwide . For 20/21 see this season reset to game zero (kind of like Championship Manager when it all goes to ****)

Going a tad off track, but is there any update on Kevin McHattie?

1 hour ago, bdu98196 said:

As yet Liverpool or Celtic or DUtd or any other club in Europe has not mathematically won their league or been relegated. If (for arguments sake) Liverpool were awarded the title then what would stop Man City and/or others going to court to contest, similar with relegation's and in the case of countries like Spain/Germany/Italy there are some big clubs to contest that had the games played out they could have won. National FA's & UEFA & FIFA wouldn't want this and how long that could all drag on for - it would leave decisions like qualifiers for next seasons CL/EL undecided and the next season competition in limbo.

Depending on how long the 'break' is (anything more than a few wks) then expect the season to voided worldwide . For 20/21 see this season reset to game zero (kind of like Championship Manager when it all goes to ****)

Liverpool supporting mate of mine says it's in the Premier League rules to award the title if 75% of fixtures have been played, which is 28.5, and they have played 29 not sure about the other teams though...

2 hours ago, Downinthedumps said:

According to Sportsound Caley/Thistle are at this moment  holding a board meeting to discuss the situation 

Not another merger thread 

The Scottish Government has confirmed one case of COVID-19 in the Highlands. Is this McHattie or someone else?

1 minute ago, RiG said:

The Scottish Government has confirmed one case of COVID-19 in the Highlands. Is this McHattie or someone else?

If so, can it be added to our "First in the Highlands" list?