"This would have been one of those moments where you would have hoped for a bit of leadership from the authorities and... common sense," says St Mirren boss ahead of clash vs Celtic
Tuesday 15 September 2020 18:04, UK
St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin has accused the SPFL of showing a lack of leadership in their decision to force their recent Scottish Premiership game against Hibernian to go ahead amid a goalkeeper crisis.
Jak Alnwick and Dean Lyness both recorded positive tests for coronavirus, while third-choice goalkeeper Peter Urminsky was also ruled out as a precaution for Saturday's 3-0 defeat, with Hearts' Zdenek Zlamal signed on a seven-day emergency loan.
Goodwin insisted the absence of their entire goalkeeping department constituted "extreme circumstances" and the governing body should introduce a specific rule for such an eventuality.
"I can understand from the SPFL's point of view that they don't want to be cancelling games every single week but I think there needs to be, or should have been prior to Saturday, a rule in place that if this kind of thing happened to the goalkeeping department then there has to be special dispensation as far as I am concerned," Goodwin said.
"If the shoe had been on the other foot and Hibs were in a similar situation, I would have been very understanding of it and I would have had no problem whatsoever with postponing the game.
"I am aware of how difficult and congested the fixture list is as well but there was no issue with playing this game 10 days from Saturday and that is the disappointing thing.
"Although the rules are put in place by FIFA, I think every organisation has got its own [ability] to make its own decisions at the key moments in time. I think this would have been one of those moments where you would have hoped for a bit of leadership from the authorities and somebody to use a bit of common sense."
Aberdeen and Celtic both had two games postponed last month following high-profile breaches of coronavirus quarantine rules.
St Mirren host Celtic in the league on Wednesday after last month's fixture was called off when Hoops defender Boli Bolingoli broke government public health guidance protocols by travelling to Spain and not quarantining on return.
Both Goodwin and Hoops boss Neil Lennon believe positive tests could be an on-going feature of the season after Hamilton Academical revealed three employees were self-isolating after positive cases.
"Well, first of all, I hope that the people involved are OK," Lennon said.
"And it's probably just something that we're going to have to sort of live with as we go along.
"We are trying to do everything right but sometimes these things can happen and can be out of someone's control so we're just going to have to get on with things.
"It's a question of carrying on as best we can and hopefully getting through this and out the other side of it.
"I don't know what advantage would be gained by stopping things and starting them up again.
"I don't know how feasible that would be to start with, in terms of fixtures and the way the calendar is set out.
"I am hoping it won't be necessary - unless there is a deluge and it gets out of control.
"It seems to be, in conjunction with a lot of other leagues around the world, you are getting a few positive tests.
"But we've got to carry, we must keep it going, I think it's vital that we do."
