With the EFL announcing that the provisional restart date for the Championship as June 20, many pundits and players alike have thrown their opinions out onto the different media channels for all to see.
Neil Warnock – always a controversial figure – spoke to Adrian Durham and Darren Gough on Drive on popular Radio station Talksport, and when asked during the interview whether QPR’s claims that the season would leave them unprepared (Manager Mark Warburton had said that the decision “beggars belief“), the ex Leeds, Palace, Sheffield United and Cardiff boss had sympathy for the Hoops, whom he took caretaker charge of in 2015.
“Yeah I do in a way”; he stated, after Durham had suggested they (QPR) had a point at raising concerns about the restart date. “I think because we are in that situation where we need good news, I do hope that we’re not bringing things back for the sake of it rather than the main reason which is that we’ve got to think about saving lives”.
However, despite understanding Rangers’ plight, Warnock was keen to state that he hoped the right decision – that of finishing the season when it is safe to do so – had been reached. “I just hope it’s the right decision”, he told TalkSport listeners. “I do think players at that level, they do need – especially with the time they’ve had off, they’ve had longer than the summer period… so I imagine they’d need a months preseason to get up to schedule.”
A fair point, perhaps, with the players’ fitness called into question – usually a month’s preseason would happen after a number of weeks off; however, with no football since mid-March, teams are likely to resume with their players having a two-week ‘pre-season’ to prepare them for their final nine games, in the Championship at least.
Overall though, Warnock was absolutely adamant the season should not be scrapped. “I think the EFL have got to gamble. They’ve got to finish the season. When they start talking about points per game or abandoning the league… however long it takes, they should finish the season”.
Championship fans – are the EFL right to bring the season back so soon? Or should the season just be ended?
