Football bubble, the app and key takeaway to look for tomorrow

With two St Mirren players, Jak Alnwick and an unnamed other, now confirmed Covid cases, it is highly probable the disease was transmitted within the St Mirren bubble.  Despite this, their game with Hibs goes ahead tomorrow.

While I regularly criticise the Scottish Government for following the Westminster Government’s idiotic pandemic polices, including allowing fans to congregate indoors at pubs, but not in easily policed, socially distanced, outdoor arenas – which ALL the scientific evidence suggests is safer, I don’t think the Government have good options here.

With players’ kids now at school, it is impossible for them to live with their immediate family and keep all interactions within the football bubble.  Infection will happen, we have to hope that the twice-weekly testing procedures keep contagion low.  Where testing and responsible actions are taken, normal business practices should continue.

On this subject, download and use the Protect Scotland app.  If we all used this, we would be living normal lives very soon.  No personal data is harvested, you will protect those close to you and play your part in the wellbeing and economic recovery of the country.  This is not a partisan SNP thing (although they have thankfully not followed Westminster on this occasion), it is a clear ethical imperative.

Get the app, save a life/save a job/just do the decent thing.

Onto even more important subjects, Celtic play their first competitive game in front of paying spectators in six months tomorrow.  Ross County are fifth in the table, an impressive five points clear of the playoff place, but this flatters them.  County opened the season with wins against Motherwell and at Hamilton, the league’s bottom two clubs, but they have collected only two points in their four games since losing to Dundee United and Livingston.

They have scored a single goal in every game, apart from against Kilmarnock, when a late penalty saw them score twice.  Considering they have yet to face a team higher than sixth in the current table, I don’t think we can expect them to do much attacking tomorrow.

The major takeaway from this game will be whether Celtic improve their conversion of possession into chances and goals.  For me, this issue has anchored more on our shape, than personnel, this season.