Friday’s resumption with no fans will make the on-field chatter audible, while a lot of player moves make an open competition even more unpredictable
The Premiership returns on Friday, unplugged. After five months of inactivity comes a frenzy of seven rounds in 28 days, but there will be about 200 people at each match, all working, and their number will not include a citing officer or a television match officialwhile the two teams will remain socially distanced from each other until the whistle goes and the new world order ceases to apply.
It is a sanitised version of a game hungry for income, although not one penny will be raised during a game. Programmes will be supplied in digital form for free to supporters and season-ticket holders can watch games without paying a subscription to the broadcaster, BT Sport.