Pre-Match Thread ❌POSTPONED❌ Southend United v Bromley, Sunday 2nd January 2022, 3.00pm ko, NL

[Shepshead]

I suspect with a bumper attendance expected the club are reluctant to see this one go particularly having lost revenue from the Christmas home fixture.

This is massively optimistic but I am hoping the reason this has not been called off already is there is a shred of hope of the embargo being lifted and a couple of new faces coming in.

Also I would have thought a lot would depend on the players who have tested positive. If we lose any more central midfielders for example we will literally have none left, whereas if it's a few fringe players it might be more likely the game will go ahead. It shouldn't be like this and every club is probably guilty of shaping the situation to their advantage (Maidenhead a few weeks back springs to mind) but at the end of the day the league has brought this on themselves by being inflexible with the fixture calendar. There should have been far more scope to extend the season into late May and June, it's not like this situation wasn't foreseeable months in advance.

This would have allowed for a couple of weeks winter break.

I think the chances of the embargo being lifted in time for a couple of players to come in for Sunday’s game, is very remote, hardly time to register said players. I think there no hard and fast rules regarding how many covid positive players constitutes a game being called off. I suspect the NL will treat each situation on its merits. Bromley for instance had 7 maybe even 8 players with covid just 2 weeks ago in the cup and decided to play a number of under23 players at Dover.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

I’ve put off writing and publishing the pre-match thread as I thought there was every chance the game would be postponed due to COVID in our squad. Given the explanation by Mark Ives of the parameters that would lead to a postponement and the fact that our scheduled game on Tuesday met the criteria, I still think there is a strong possibility we’ll have to wait a little longer for our first match of 2022, but given we’ve come this far I thought we ought to have a pre-match thread.

This is a bit of a weird pre-match report as, due to the traditions of non-league football and the postponement of the Barnet game, the team we’re due to play next is the same as the team we played last - Bromley. Given that 800 of us travelled to Hayes Lane last weekend and the game was shown live on BT Sport as well there seems little point in telling you much about them, their squad and their style of play as you saw it for yourselves and hopefully read the last pre-match thread.

It’s also a bit of a weird pre-match report as there seems every chance that between me writing this and the game itself, we may have some new players. I’ll leave some space for these in the poll and will update it as necessary so you may have to come back in and change your votes.

The injury situation in the squad would seem to suggest that Dunne, Akinola and Bridge are definitely unavailable. It remains to be seen if White has recovered from his visit to the advertising hoardings or if Kacper is fit again for what would be the last match of his current loan spell. The COVID situation has been kept under wraps by the club, with the exception of Ferguson, but Mark Ives’ statement that if 15 registered players aren’t self-isolating then the game goes ahead (even if some of those are injured) would suggest it’s pretty rife around the squad and their families/friends due to the fact that the Barnet game met that criteria.

Of course, new signings and players coming out of isolation could mean that we have sufficient resources, on paper at least, for the game to proceed. So on that basis, despite not knowing for sure who is available and who is not, what’s your preferred starting XI and predicted result?

 

[Westcliff DGS]

This is why I asked the question earlier!
You can test on the 6th day and 7th day if both negative you can carry on (but only if double vaccinated) if not its 10 days.
There are alot of professional sportsmen and women who are not vaccinated.

I get so confused, my sons girlfriend has tested positive, she hasnt been jabbed at all, but was told she only needed to isolate for 7 days from when the symptoms started. She got a text from the NHS saying this.

Agree there are a lot of sport people not vaccinated

 

[Barling Magna]

I suspect with a bumper attendance expected the club are reluctant to see this one go particularly having lost revenue from the Christmas home fixture.

That is a very good point. With our precarious financial position maybe it is more important that we fulfill this fixture rather than be too worried about the result, so play 11 fit players whoever they may be. Only our accountant would know how crucial the income from this game is.

But I think the game will end up being cancelled I'm afraid.

 

[Fairport]

Although we would get a decent crowd against Bromley the revenue would not be great at £5 per ticket. Also, the club have already received much of it in advance sales.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I suspect with a bumper attendance expected the club are reluctant to see this one go particularly having lost revenue from the Christmas home fixture.

This is massively optimistic but I am hoping the reason this has not been called off already is there is a shred of hope of the embargo being lifted and a couple of new faces coming in.

Also I would have thought a lot would depend on the players who have tested positive. If we lose any more central midfielders for example we will literally have none left, whereas if it's a few fringe players it might be more likely the game will go ahead. It shouldn't be like this and every club is probably guilty of shaping the situation to their advantage (Maidenhead a few weeks back springs to mind) but at the end of the day the league has brought this on themselves by being inflexible with the fixture calendar. There should have been far more scope to extend the season into late May and June, it's not like this situation wasn't foreseeable months in advance.

This would have allowed for a couple of weeks winter break.

I’m sure the club are telling the National League that if the embargo is lifted they’ll be able to play the game.

 

[stewart]

Embargo has been lifted

 

[Ricey]

And closed

https://twitter.com/x/status/1476840555527081987

 

[Ricey]

I expect we won’t see any new signings anytime soon then.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

This is getting stupid. Let’s hope Omicron peaks and disappears quickly as we can’t all live life like this isolating and cancelling everything for what is cold for 99% of people. It’s unsustainable.

 

[wiggy]

This is getting stupid. Let’s hope Omicron peaks and disappears quickly as we can’t all live life like this isolating and cancelling everything for what is cold for 99% of people. It’s unsustainable.

Absolute joke this is turning in to.
People testing with no symptoms, cough and a cold brings everything to a standstill.
People really need to get a grip, ruined by power crazy people like Jimmy Kranky and the Welsh windbag. Boris was going that way until his popularity was on a knife edge and now we’ve got fit professional footballers downing tools because a bit of plastic tells them they’ve got the plague, what’s next they are going to come out with?

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

Today, in answer to the original question. It's off.

 

[Blues4LifeDan]

Close thread. It's off. ?