'We were all taken aback' - former Leeds United boss Garry Monk critical of Championship restart plan

The former Leeds United boss, now in charge of Sheffield Wednesday, acknowledges the difficulty of the challenge facing the EFL in resuming the season and all that entails, but he is critical of the lack of consultation with clubs over the June 20 restart date that was announced at 9pm on Sunday night.

Echoing what QPR chief executive Lee Hoos said on Monday morning, Monk told the press today that the announcement took the Owls by surprise and that they had been expecting to return a week after the Premier League and not a mere three days later.

Second tier clubs including Leeds began to receive the green light for full contact training yesterday, giving them 18 days of 'normal' training before games could be played.

"We all understand how difficult it is for the EFL to put this all together and send it out to the clubs and give those guidelines. It is an extremely difficult situation for them," said Monk.

"In terms of the return date, if we are honest, we were all taken aback by that having spoken to other managers and people at other clubs.

"There was no prior correspondence or consultation to that return date, which was surprising, and when you have got the backdrop to that and I think it is well known that we have been working pretty much a minimum of a week behind the Premier League.

"We had a managers' meeting a few weeks ago with the EFL and the managers of the Championship. One thing that we all asked for and there was an agreement of we would have a minimum of three weeks contact training.

"Considering when that announcement came, contact training has not even been signed off and we didn't even know when it was going to be. It was only just signed off yesterday.

"Our first contact will be on Thursday so to then have the players ready in two and a half weeks when you have only just started contact training is a huge risk in terms of injuries and preparation.

"I think the general consensus among all the managers was that we working almost a week behind the Premier League. We kind of assumed it would be the week after the Premier League but they have obviously announced it is earlier than that and it is far from ideal."

Monk is of the opinion that no Championship manager will feel they have been given adequate time to prepare players, if they all adhered to the date set for a return to training grounds - May 25.

So while he is working to the date that has been announced, he believes 'commonsense' should prevail, with the restart pushed back.

“In my opinion from a welfare point of view and what we believed all the way through we were doing, we believed we were working definitely a week behind the Premier League so of course I think that should happen but it seems to those decisions weren't made with any consultation to us as clubs, so whether we have a say in that remains to be seen," he said

"You'd like to think that will happen but all I'm trying to do is control what I can control and now it's been announced trying to focus on preparing these players as best as possible to start on the 20th.

“But if commonsense and what we asked for in that manager's meeting and what has been the consensus all the way through that we would be a week behind... I understand the reasons why the EFL wanted to do that date but I think it's unfair on us when the Premier League are starting on that date and they've had longer in contact training, they started training before we did and of course we would like the same. That's always be the consensus.

“Hopefully commonsense prevails because it's not just about all of that, it's about the safety of everyone. Hopefully commonsense will come through. I'd like it to, but whether or not it will, we'll wait and see."

One of the main thrusts of Monk's argument is the potential for soft-tissue injuries, something he rejects as an acceptable outcome of the circumstances domestic football has encountered since coronavirus spread to the UK.

"The thing I have been hearing a lot in the past couple of weeks from various parts of the media, ex-players and pundits and the thing I don't agree with is very flippantly just saying soft tissue injuries or injuries are part of the game, it is to be expected in this period because of it," he said.

"I feel strongly against that because I have seen a soft tissue injuries and what might be a very minimal injury - a four to six week injury - ruin players' careers. It can be a start of a catalogue of injuries that ruins their careers.

"You have also got to understand from the financial point of view that a club playing a players' wages that isn't available for six to eight weeks is a lot of money as well so all those factors go into it as well. I don't agree with quite a bit of what I have been hearing of flippantly that 'injuries are part of the game and we just have to get on with it.'

"If we are talking about the welfare of players, then of course that is not looking after the welfare of the players.

"In a normal situation where you have had a full pre-season and the players are fit, injuries can happen regardless of any situation.

"But when you have the knowledge of a squad that is going to be under prepared physically, there is no way round that, especially if you have followed the guidelines and returned at the right date, which was the 25.

"To have 10 weeks off and do a week's training like we have and only just now have two and a half weeks of contact. If you follow that guidance and have done it like we have, I don't think there is any manager that can sit here and say that is the right preparation but it is what it is. The train is on the track and you have to deal with it as it and try and overcome that the best way we can."

Premier League clubs have been given permission to stage friendly fixtures as part of their preparations, if strict guidelines are observed, but Monk is not in favour of putting his players in contact with another club. The Owls' friendlies will more likely be inter-squad games.

"We’ll try to fit in in-house games, friendly games as much as we can, probably not so much friendly games from the outside because of the risk that comes with that," he said.

"I don’t think that’s been signed of yet for the Championship. With the health side of it, the risk side of it, we’ll probably do more in-house games. When you come to those games, that’s the acid test. There’s a lot of thought that goes into it now with this announcement. We have a week less than we thought and we’ve got to be prepared for either one, whether it’s rotate a lot of players or more minimal changes. We’ll see what happens.

"It’s such a short space of time and we’ve not had it clarified yet in terms of what you can and can’t do. Again, you probably don’t want to take that risk. What do you do with travel? Do you travel separately, do you travel by coach? It’s all these things I’m not aware of at the moment. I think from a health perspective, with this virus, why would you invite a group of people from outside into your sterile environment? I don’t see why you would do that. We’ll do it in-house, that’s the safest way in terms of player welfare and looking after ourselves."

Despite his reservations, Monk insists Wednesday's desire is to return to the pitch and finish the remaining nine games of the Championship season.

"We want to get back and play games," he said.

"It has been good to be back in. The players have come back in good condition and clearly followed their home programmes very well. The majority of them are in really good condition and we are looking forward to it.

"But in terms of preparation, it is inadequate for sure. If you follow the guidelines that you start on the 25th like we have, it is inadequate and no manager can tell you any different but we will have to deal with it in the best way possible."