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...after this quote in today's Daliy Mirror:
"The decision WAS FULLY SUPPORTED BY the independent Safety Advisory Group, who are responsible for ensuring that the club complies with the terms and conditions of our Safety Certificate." said the club's chief public relations officer Paul Tyrrell in a statement issued on Monday.
"Fully supported by" does indicate the SAG took part in any inspection. I've had occasion to work alongside the Cardiff SAG which comprises Police, Ambulance, Fire Service and the Local Authority. These groups are (perhaps quite rightly in today's politically correct world) notoriously cautious and if a quick call was made to them from the club, I'd imagine would "fully support" the decision which ultimately absolves them of any responsibility should someone, for example, slip on ice en route to the stadium.
From all that we know thus far, it seems DCFC took this decision alone because it suited their interests. The fact that the Mirror and other national media outlets are following the story on a slow Monday suggests to me this goes as far as CCFC are prepared to take it.
The Derby statement says it was a Conference Call you so can be safe in the knowledge they were not there to inspect. Therefore a Director has a look around, says it's a bit slippy and rings them to ask to support a postponement of a game. Seems a fairly trivial way of deciding something given the 10's of thousands of pounds loss to supporters in wasted time and money before any further costs are considered.
From this saga I am beginning to think any club could call off a game at any time for the reasons of H&S or security, and the SAG/OB and other bodies would dare to try and reverse the decision. The fact that very rarely would a home team not want a game to go ahead is the reason we do not see this happening often, if not at all over many years. In most instances Clubs pull the stops out to get a game to go ahead not the reverse. I am in no doubt Derby pulled one here and City have been pooped on big style.
Spedger
They were frightened to play us ,bugger em , we will see them soon.🤐
A Derby City Council spokesperson told WalesOnline on Monday: "Derby County Football Club took the decision to postpone the Sky Bet Championship fixture at home to Cardiff City on Sunday due to the weather conditions and the health and safety of people travelling to the ground. This was the club’s decision.
"As Chair of the Safety Advisory Group, the Council representative was subsequently informed.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...-city-14431023
So the Chair of the Safety Advisory Group was 'informed' after Derby County had made the decision!
The Council and police are stepping away from this one and DCFC may have to revise their story yet again. It seems clear that - despite attempts to get cover from Derby Council, the police, the SAG and any other organisation or agency that they would like to hide behind - the club made this decision (Safety Officer and board member) alone. They have been at best confused in their justification, and probably cynical and dishonest. But it is unravelling.
The EFL could set a dangerous precedent if they fail to punish Derby
The whole thing is a farce, and Derby County FC knew exactly what the prepared drill was before morning broke yesterday as they hoped for some snow to arrive.
When it did, it seems like someone has got a little too excited and has jumped the gun before all the other 'players' in the scene were briefed.
You are now seeing these backing out one by one.
Warnock is bang on in saying that the club were embarrassed to see us there, and to have an interview live on Sky with a fully playable pitch 2 yards away.
I don't believe in a points deduction / forfeiting the game however, but I do think some public penalty should be meted out to prevent this stunt being pulled again.
My realistic and possibly feasible solution is that Derby County should be made to reimburse any costs lost due to this, offer free tickets and travel to all those affected yesterday for the replay AND said replay date is agreed with us beforehand to best suit our schedule / requirements.
I think Derby should get a points deduction of between 3-10 points, and we still replay our game.
^ Agreed. It’s the least I’d expect but if they did this and issued an apology to all concerned I suppose that would help stop this happening again. Given the effect this type of skullduggery could have over the integrity of the league and this seasons championship, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the 3 points awarded to us.
https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/spo...ed-efl-1357282
This picture they keep using on the derby telegraph site - they do realise whoever took it is more or less lying on the floor to get that angle, there's barely a couple of inches of snow there that's been piled to one side - it's an embarrassing attempt to make it look like the stadium is snowed in
What i dont understand is why there was no attempt to delay the game
I believe if they do punish Derby they should award us a 2-0 win.
A points deduction punishes us too as we would fail to pull away from Villa and Fulham and the chasers as far down as Millwall in tenth all benefit.
A replayed game still gives time for injury's and suspensions to be available thus we lose that advantage that Derby cheated us of.
The EFL need to set this straight for the good of ALL the championship.
Did the local Tesco close it's doors in case the customers slipped? How about Wetherspoons?
Should be played at CCS.
Punishes derby and restores out advantange