While the four League of Ireland clubs qualified for Europe return to collective training in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the wait must go on for now for the other teams.
Waterford FC is one of those awaiting confirmation of plans for the remainder of the season. But their forward (or more recently defender in his own words) Graham Cummins is not optimistic about all clubs agreeing to return to action when they convene at a meeting this Thursday.
"Thursday is a big day but I'm reading reports that there might be repercussions on clubs, it could be a case of six or seven clubs wanting to go back and the rest of them not willing to go back," he told the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.
"Then that's all over again [and] the next new plan and next phase just gets delayed longer and longer. I know the FAI have been coming up with plans and this and that.
"But I could come up with a plan - it's [about] implementing it. Until clubs are going to be guaranteed that money and they say, 'This will be in your bank account, don't worry about that. You play behind closed doors, we have that paid for you', I can't see a lot of clubs agreeing to go back because it doesn't make sense for them to."
And from the Waterford side, he added that he is "very doubtful that they will go back into the league again unless clubs are going to get pushed into it".
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In May, Waterford's players and staff found out that they were being temporarily laid off by email due to the effects of the pandemic and ensuing lockdown.
"What annoyed me a bit more is that they didn't contact the manager," said Cummins.
"You would think that would be the least they could do. You get one person to do it and then the manager can decide how he tells the squad because the manager knows us a lot better than an owner would know us."
When domestic soccer pressed pause in March, Cummins initially would have expected to have kicked a ball by the time the summer months came. But reality transpired differently.
"It was tough. I didn't expect it to go on this long. I don't think anyone did," he said.
"When we left the training ground the last day, we had a schedule to be back in 10 days and it's been a long time since then. I haven't actually kicked a ball since then.
"But I just had a daughter the week before the shutdown of the league, so she's kept me very entertained. So it's been really good in that kind of sense because I wouldn't have got that opportunity to spend as much time with her.
"I've definitely missed [the football] a bit but you do get used to it. Staying at home and getting into a routine is the main thing for me. I still get up and train every day and that's important for me. It just keeps you mentally focused and in the back of your head that there might be something to go back to because I think if you stop training, you're just giving up really."
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