Sketchy Explanations: More Confusion Surrounds Bristol City Match Suspension Journalist, Jim Levack, digs a little deeper into the sketchy circumstances that surrounded last weekend’s match suspension with Bristol City. Injury-ravaged Bristol City could still face sanctions over the controversial postponement of their clash with Brentford despite the rearrangement of the fixture for next Wedneday. Medical experts from the EFL are “actively examining” the timeline that led to the game being axed just over 24 hours before kick-off. The Robins prompted raised eyebrows and allegations of “Sunday League” antics from Bees fans after claiming some of their players were showing COVID symptoms during training. The anger came against a backdrop of injuries to 11 first team regulars and looks unlikely to disappear now the Robins have recalled a flurry of loan players and welcomed back several first-choice starters. It will be fuelled further by the fact that only one positive coronavirus test has been returned for Kasey Palmer, who was out on loan at the time of the ‘scare’. City claimed they were unable to get the players tested because the EFL-appointed laboratory was shut on New Year’s Day, however, medical experts from the EFL have asked for a “step by step account” and that a robust probe into the incident is still very much still ongoing. The EFL spokesman said: “There will be conversations between our medical advisors and those at the club to determine the exact details of what happened, and that investigation is ongoing. “If there is something that the club needs to answer, then they will have to answer it and there will be transparency.” And said investigations always take place for any situation such as a frozen pitch, but added that “injuries or loss of form” were also significant factors that are looked into. The spokesman said “a safety first approach” would be a major factor in any inquiry, sparking fears among supporters that this may be a get-out clause for City and any other club to use going forward. The spokesman revealed that the request to postpone came from Bristol City, whose CEO also sits on the EFL board, something that Robins boss Dean Holden contradicted in his Press conference on Wednesday when he said; “The EFL made the right call to call the game off. It was a disappointing and we were fully prepared to play the game.”He went on to say that his squad was en route to west London when the game was called off and outlined a timescale of events to the press. “We came in on Friday for a normal preparation day to do some video analysis and some out on the grass training, and it was clear that out on the grass there were some symptoms in the squad. “We weren’t able to do any tests on New Year’s Day ahead of the game on the Saturday. We carried on as normal – we got about 55 minutes into the journey and I got the phone call that the game had been postponed.” He said the club coaches headed back to Bristol, where the players spent some time in isolation until the negative COVID tests were returned. The phrase ‘match suspended’ was originally used but the EFL spokesman insisted this was the same as postponement, but stressed that the normal investigation would be undertaken. Everyone agrees that the safety and wellbeing of footballers, as well as club staff and their families, is of paramount importance, and nobody is suggesting for one split-second that Covid isn’t serious and a very real risk to us all, however it is not irresponsible to ask for clarity in this instance based on the sketchy information. https://beesotted.com/sketchy-explanations-more-confusion-surrounds-bristol-city-match-suspension/
What ever is going on at our club at the moment, players having problems with our medical department, players refusing to sign contracts, loaned players have been recalled to make up the numbers because of injuries, now we are being actively examined because we called off a game in sketchy circumstances. Mark Ashton, you are the CEO, get a grip.
And there was me thinking that with all the comments and posts from the anti-LJ brigade, that once he was gone, so would all City's problems...... Funny old thing....
Let it go mate, the man love thing cannot carry on, I thought the consensus was that LJ and now Holden had/have zero power at AG, they just do as they are told and spout the company line, he's gone and to be honest he is at a club where the fans will be far more demanding than ours and we might actually see if he can 'consistently' walk the walk. I wish him every success apart from against us (should our paths cross). Ashton wields the power and SL enables him, there is a rumour that Ashton is in the dressing room pre, halftime and post match.
No man love here, I didn't want LJ at the start, and think it was probably right to let him go in the end, but unlike others, I always wanted him to succeed, and respect what he did for us. I only keep raising it, as everything was LJ's fault when he was the HC, but know it's DH, more and more people are blaming MA..
I want any manager of BCFC to succeed even Tony Pulis when he was with us, the phenomena of people fans disliking certain managers and players will never change. I have met fans who disliked Brian Tinnion and Louis Carey for some reason. For me the issue is if LJ and now Holden are weak enough to allow Ashton to call all of the shots, then they deserve the flack that goes with that stance and shouldn't have taken the job in the first place, I believe that is why no manager worth his salt would touch us, unless the current state of affairs changes.
100% agree Ashton only wants yes men who will bow to his agenda. He needs to go, but I don't think SL will do it.
The club is dysfunctional and one mans fingerprints are all over it, but the owner doesn't seem to see it that way. My son said yesterday if history is to repeat itself, SL and MA will try to deflect this latest mess by bringing say Joe Bryan back on loan or some such stunt.
My thoughts exactly - one of the reasons why I supported LJ for so long - particularly around the in's and out's.
How is it that the rugby club is run seamlessly?, the players seem happy and committed, the fans are treated as if they are part of the club and that they matter and social media wise they are spot on. And our football club seems to be the total opposite.
Thinking about it the rugby club don't have Ashton and lucky for them and him, somebody in the rugby club would have twatted him by now.
On the times, I’ve been in the box (been there quite a few times) , I can say that he did not go down to the dressing room at half time. I saw him once going downstairs with SL after final whistle. But other times he was floating round upstairs.
As I said it's a rumour, as was the Williams situation until now. Floating around seems about right, a lot bad things float around.
