Coronavirus: Gary Neville launches 5 point plan to save Premier League season

The Premier League has been suspended since 13 March due to Covid-19

Gary Neville has shared a five-point plan to save the Premier League season.

The coronavirus outbreak forced the Premier League to suspend games from 13 March with confirmation the league will not resume until May at the earliest.

Debate has been raging for weeks over the handling of the current season and whether it will be finished or cancelled altogether – as is the case now with leagues below National League level.

The former Manchester United player’s idea comes in response to reports that players are upset at the prospect of playing three games in five days in order to complete the current campaign before the summer.

The Sky Sports pundit insists it is an inevitability that players must face a “9-10 game hit in an extremely condensed period” and that ”contracts should be temporarily extended”.

Neville then broke down his plan into five concise points on Twitter:

• Finish this season in a short time frame when safe
• Condense next season if needed
• Open transfer window from May and run it all the way through 20/21 to give clubs agility
• Extend player contracts to complete 19/20
• Financial packages for clubs in need including non-league clubs

Piers Morgan then challenged Neville on his plan, claiming: “None of this will work in reality. Nobody wants to see endless three-times-a-week games behind closed doors, at obvious risk of injury to players. Only solution is to void this season and start again when we can. A shame for Liverpool, Leeds etc, but that’s irrelevant given the crisis.”

But Neville swiftly snapped back, rejecting Morgan’s claim that “too much energy” was being spent on trying to save the football season: “Piers it will work and is likely to happen when and only when it is safe to do so. No one is expending energy on saving a football season. Staying home, staying safe, helping the vulnerable and NHS is the priority. However planning ( including football ) beyond CV is vital also for 99% of the population that require income and employment in future.”

The Premier League’s latest update revealed their admission that they face some “difficult decisions” in the coming weeks.

A statement said: “The Premier League, EFL and PFA met today and discussed the growing seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was stressed that the thoughts of all three organisations continue to be with everyone affected by the virus.

“The Premier League, EFL and PFA agreed that difficult decisions will have to be taken in order to mitigate the economic impact of the current suspension of professional football in England and agreed to work together to arrive at shared solutions.

“The leagues will not recommence until 30 April at the earliest. They will only do so when it is safe and conditions allow. Further meetings will take place next week with a view to formulating a joint plan to deal with the difficult circumstances facing the leagues, their clubs, players, staff and fans.”