What- no football today?

 What - no football today. 

You've got to be kidding. Surely not. Did we hear you correctly or is it just an unsubstantiated rumour? There's no Premier League football this weekend as is the case across the whole of Britain. Now usually there are valid reasons for its absence but then it occurred to you that football has come to its senses. The overabundance of football since Christmas has finally pricked the conscience of the FA and the game's authorities. Those poor, pampered footballers have finally been ordered to put their feet up today and just watch the rest of the world go by. It's sensible and has to be the right decision.

Within the last two weeks or so the Premier League has been bombarded with all manner of problems, complaints and criticisms. The truth is football needs a break, a time to recuperate, rub down those torn ligaments, cruciates, dodgy - looking bruises and awkward sprains. When all is said and done football is beginning to resemble an Accident and Emergency waiting room. Football is crying out for somebody to feel sorry for it, victims of circumstances perhaps but nonetheless worn out and groggy. 

There's the accumulation of Covid 19 related ailments and hundreds of players still either self isolating or just down in the dumps. Come on, we all feel that way from time to time but we don't start taking off weeks here and there just because we feel like it. And yet football needs to get away from it all and the persistent clamours for a mid winter break seem to have been heeded and not before time. Admittedly it's only a week but it's a week that football is in desperate need of. 

Throughout the rest of Europe, most of the weekly fixture list is normally given a couple of months off to re-charge its batteries, taking stock of its resources and recovering from the taxing exertions that have obviously taken their toll on them. But in Britain, we do things rather differently. We expect our players to run themselves into the ground, busting guts and playing until they drop. Eventually they reach the point of complete burn-out and exhaustion and then we wonder we simply can't win those big international tournaments such as the World Cup or the Euros.

Of course, this is the common faultline within the game and no matter how hard the impartial observer insists that the game be brought to a natural halt. those who think they know best just turn a blind eye. For years football has been walking into a thousand revolving doors blundering into its self- inflicted troubles as if they just didn't exist. Sometimes footballers, as cossetted as they are, still need a lie down in a quiet room if only for reflection on the season thus far and time to re-connect with the outside world. 

But surely this has to be a short period of  re-appraisal, looking back at the things that may have gone right or wrong so far. So today is the day for just laying back on the sofa indulging in a spot of transcendental meditation and searching for karma. This is the perfect opportunity to wind down and smell the coffee. Footballers, admittedly, are beginning to learn the art of moderation and whereas years ago they would think nothing of spending a great deal of their time in the bookmakers or a local tavern, now players drink the finest wines and then read a selection of sports psychology books. 

The fact is though that this weekend footballers have been given some gentle respite from the rigours of the Premier League. A couple of weeks ago Spurs had a treatment table that any doctor or surgeon would probably have been horrified to look at. Several of Tottenham's games had to be postponed owing to Covid 19 and the rest of the Leagues began to briefly panic. 

Now those near the top of the Premier League are also appealing for some quality time in the hope that the walking wounded can finally get some much needed help. Manchester City, currently top of the Premier League and heading inexorably towards back to back Premier League titles, will probably take themselves off to their owners Saudi idyll. Chelsea and Liverpool, for their part, will gather together for some leisurely warm weather training on some Mediterranean  sun-kissed island. 

So here we are the end of January and football has now taking a brief break from the pressures and expectations that have always made life extremely uncomfortable for them at times. But not for long. Next week the fourth round of the FA Cup makes its welcome return to football's already overcrowded schedule. 

The season is now in its second half and this is where everything becomes vital, crucial and critical. The teams at the top of their Leagues will be launching their armies into action hoping to be successful in their concerted bid for trophies and the adulation of their loyal fanbase. Relegation and promotion issues will be rapidly resolved and by Easter we should know who's been doomed and who's been crowned.

 Norwich and Newcastle are now rallying at the bottom of the Premier League while Manchester City should be handed the Premier League trophy sometime in early Spring. Chelsea and Liverpool will be battling it out for Champions League places while your claret and blue West Ham heroes would like to think that this could be the year of years for another European expedition. You would love to reserve your optimism for a glorious day in May.but then something tells you that this is simply wishful thinking. Of course the Hammers will blow their bubbles but this may have to be tempered with reality. Here's hoping for a grandstand finish at the London Stadium.