Pearson ‘underwhelmed’ by PM and hopeful Premier League will take ‘positive action’
Watford boss Nigel Pearson says the “Premier League will take a lot of credit if they came out with a positive action” in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
All elite level football in England has been suspended until at least April 3 due to the outbreak.
For now, the prospect of playing games behind closed doors is off the table and Pearson feels that is the correct decision to protect the welfare of the players and members of staff.
Pearson hasn’t been impressed by the UK government’s response to the situation and stated he was “totally underwhelmed by the lack of leadership” shown by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The decision to suspend the top flight was made by the Premier League, with the government expected to make their own move by banning mass gatherings next week.
Club statement on the @premierleague‘s decision to suspend all matches until April 4.
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) March 13, 2020
It remains to be seen how the current season will be resolved. There is the possibility it could resume at a later date and the remaining games are played over the summer, the idea of declaring the league finished as it stands has been suggested and some have called for the campaign to be declared void.
The Watford boss feels the response from the league so far has been correct and he is confident that in terms of a wider resolution the right call will be made, with an emphasis on protecting the wellbeing of everyone involved in football and indeed the wider community.
“I think the Premier League will take a lot of credit if they came out with a positive action, rather than wait to be instructed by the government what to do,” Pearson said. “We will only see more cases emerging I’m sure and what is very important is that we protect the interests of everybody.”
He added: “For me it’s about the wellbeing of people and we have to be mindful this worldwide problem is not going to go away. It is going to run its course, it’s not something we can stop and we, in the football industry, have a responsibility to ourselves and each other to make sure the wellbeing of everybody concerned is taken care of first and foremost.”
