Premier League captains ‘unimpressed’ and demand clarity before agreeing to Project Restart

The Premier League is facing a race against time to meet its restart target of June 12 after managers and players expressed doubts about the viability of the planned resumption date.

In video conferences on Wednesday, chaired by the Premier League’s medical officer Mark Gillett, both groups gave tentative backing to resuming training next week, but did not endorse any other phases of the return to training plan, never mind playing matches.

Although the overall tone of their meeting was positive, the managers in particular are understood to have questioned whether they would be ready for a return to action on June 12, highlighting concerns over their players’ fitness and as a result the quality of football they would be able to produce.

The most likely date for a restart is now a week later, June 19.

With the clubs not due to meet again to approve returning to training until Monday, several managers pointed out that the earliest they can begin coaching players will be the following day, and even then the work they will be permitted to do will be extremely limited.

Most Premier League players have been restricted to individual training at home since the middle of March and they will remain subject to social distancing rules if permitted to resume working with team-mates on Tuesday next week.

Source: Daily Mail