‘Fantasy’ football not an option for Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber

The English Football League remain focused on completing the season, but chairman Rick Parry has warned that it must be finished by July 31 due to the huge number of EFL players who will be out of contract this summer.

Struber has echoed the thoughts of Parry in his views that the season must be completed by the end of July.

But he believes that if it is not, then it should be declared null and void and that there should be no promotion or relegation.

Struber, whose Barnsley side are seven points adrift of Championship safety with nine games remaining, said: “If the league is cancelled, my opinion is that all the results have no value and we must stay in the league.

“This is a ‘fair-play’ rule. For me, there is one answer – the season will have no value and there should be no ‘fantasy’ about what they do.

“It is difficult for many teams who have a big success this season and are going for a championship such as Liverpool. This is a very difficult situation for this big club.

“But if we (have to) cancel the league, this is the only thing we can do.

Struber remains committed to the idea of finishing the season and feels that it can be completed within a 56-day window by the end of July if it is deemed safe to do so and football gets the green light to return behind closed doors with all the relevant medical and social distancing protocols in place.

But equally, he feels that players must be allowed at least three weeks preparation in training before games resume.

The Austrian, who has agreed to defer 25 per cent of his wages during the Covid-19 crisis, added: “I think that 56 days is enough to bring nine games in this time.

“I think the bigger challenge is preparing the boys.

“When we come back and the training restarts, I think the minimum time that we need is three or four weeks for preparation.”

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