Stuart Rayner - No ‘golden answer’ to measure how Covid affects footballers

You never do so with the full facts, though. This season that is truer than ever.

It is often rightly pointed out that whilst managers see the players every day in training, we base our judgements only on what we glimpse on a matchday. But there is more to it than just that.

Sometimes players are held back by off-field problems which are, and ought to remain, private.

England’s Jesse Lingard has not been the same player since the World Cup semi-final two-and-a-half years ago. His form has collapsed and he has been linked with a move away from Manchester United.

Last summer Lingard revealed he had been helping to care for his 14-year-old brother Jasper and 11-year-old sister Daisy-Boo, as well as his one-year-old daughter, even attending parents’ evenings because his mother was ill. His grandfather Ken was suffering prostate cancer.

It is asking a lot for anyone to do their job to the best of their ability in those circumstances, let alone someone who at the time was 27.

Now there is a new factor to consider and none of us, not even the scientists, fully understand yet how Covid-19 affects sportsmen and women. Unhelpfully, all we can say with much confidence is it appears to differ from case to case.

Some seem to catch it and return a fortnight later in remarkably good shape but then there is the case of Allan Saint-Maximin, the Newcastle United winger who contracted the virus in November and is still to play. His uninspiring team would have him back in a heartbeat.

Harrogate Town’s Ryan Fallowfield made his comeback from the virus at home to Exeter City on Tuesday. Whilst team-mates Brendan Kiernan and Aaron Martin were considered fit enough to start after their illnesses, the defender was only able to make the bench.

“I was in bed for eight days and I’m still short of breath now,” he explained after the game. “It really did take its toll on me.

“The gaffer (Simon Weaver) kept asking me how I felt. I was just honest and said, ‘Look, I’m not sure what I’m capable of,’ but Thirls (assistant manager Paul Thirlwell) turned to me (during the game) and said, ‘You need to come on, Jay (Williams) is feeling it.’

“Just as I was about to, Wazza (Wayne Burrell) got sent off.

“I didn’t move further than about 10 yards outside the 18-yard-box. Because we were pinned in our own half it probably made it a bit easier.”

Sometimes we find out who has caught Covid, sometimes not. On Saturday Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier told his Instagram followers he was “recovering well” but nobody would say what from. Most will have jumped to one conclusion.

Last week manager Chris Wilder revealed “four or five” Sheffield United players went down with the virus in the summer. More recently Billy Sharp and Phil Jagielka have.

“Is there a lingering effect on some of them? No one’s got the golden answer,” said Wilder.

“Has it affected some of the players at the start of the season? Are they back to full fitness? Nobody really knows.”

Chelsea’s Kai Havertz and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba had disappointing first halves of the season having contracted Covid but we do not know if they are connected. For some it could be a valid defence, for others a convenient excuse.

All we can say with much confidence is it is probably best to temper our harsher judgements in this season of unknowns.

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