I'm with you Whiston. All the platitudes from the government about our marvelous NHS, fundraising for hospitals, rallying by the royal family and applauding every Thursday is wearing thin. Not because our public servants arent marvelous- they definitely are. But many of them are key workers who have been underpaid for years and having to work in increasingly difficult conditions because of unnecessary austerity while the rich have been getting richer. That's a fact. The gulf between rich and poor in our country has never been wider. It must be narrowed. Many of these workers are also people who many of the British people want to 'send home'. In some ways if we had to have this virus at all it is as well we had it now and not two or three years time. If it had arrived then, we would have been well and truly knackered. The NHS would have been 20-30% down on personnel compared to now. They face a huge recruitment problem. Hopefully what we have been through here will lead to a rebalancing and a fairer society, but I somehow doubt very much that will happen.
It's non-key workers this country wants to send home then this government it's got to make it harder for our own people to get benefits sat on their *rs* at home & fill these non-key jobs. Why are people still allowed to travel in & out of this country in their thousands while the rest of us can't step out of our own front gate unless absolutely necessary? Football government, whose running the game need to step in with Sky BT ect... to stop the gap between the top of pile widening to the further you get down. Over another 800 lost their lives today from covid-19 it's got to slow down soon or the confidence in this government will be going while top footballers earn more in a very short time than most people earn in a lifetime then you've got the likes of Carragher who shouldn't even be nowhere near a tv studio unless they've brought spitting contests back! when that act it's not advised during this virus + the rest are smiling all way to the bank.
There could be some relaxation of this lockdown come mid-May. The prem might get what they want and the football league will follow them like little lost puppies.
Some whiz kid will be working out how much they can make out of streaming matches they will not get a penny out of me.
We should have played donny yesterday if the match is eventually played behind closed doors you watch the usual wingnuts will turn up. Haven't the police got enough on their plate without having to deal with another headache. As they say what you wish for you get.
Your on the case again TH. Can you imagine Liverpool game to win the premiership title behind closed doors thousands of their fans with their history outside. Doesn't bear thinking about.
Football his trying for a June1st start not for me. We need some real leadership in this country I applaud the Dutch prime minister ordering no start before September1st not holding my breathe with the useless lot we have in charge. It has taken them 2 months to work out people coming in from abroad have to self isolate for 2 weeks after they enter this country.
Only sport were there's a minimal risk that could restart that I'd watch is snooker. Football won't restart for me till I'm back at the NYS. All contact sports can't restart while there's social distancing.
-- Edited by gwru on Monday 27th of April 2020 11:44:39 AM
I used to play doubles tennis with a guy called Sid Bloor. I also played football with him. He was an animal on the football field. He never quite got the concept that tennis is a non contact sport
Tennis it's not a contact sport as such only problem being at the top level allowing players from all over the world to travel to wherever the tournament is being played. Snooker same problem quite a few players from the far east, Robertson from Australia.
They've called the football season done in Holland and France, Today the Chief Medical Adviser at FIFA has expressed the opinion that leagues should forget about this season and make plans for next.
What will happen if they try to start playing games in June - even behind closed doors. Forget issues about many players' contracts being up at the end of May and other obvious problems. Let me run this one past you.
All players will have to be tested regularly. As soon as one player or member of staff at one club tests positive, all of the players at that club and at all of the clubs that they have played in the previous week or two will have to go into isolation, leading to fixture backlogs in what is supposed to be a tightly packed schedule.
Does anybody think that every club in the league is going to avoid a single positive test over a period of a month?Not going to happen.
Forget this season and prepare for next season is the most sensible thing I have ever heard anybody at FIFA ever say. To be honest, we will be lucky if the 20/21 season passes off alright.
smiler agree with what you've said. Fifa's chief doctor has warned against restarting the interrupted 2019-20 campaign & suggesting governing bodies prepare for action next season instead. Premiership should think of the risk to life still from covid-19 before money think the majority would agree with that.
-- Edited by gwru on Tuesday 28th of April 2020 07:46:46 PM
-- Edited by gwru on Wednesday 29th of April 2020 06:49:27 AM
IMO France and Holland have done the sensible thing and called an end to this season. The FIFA chief medical officer believes the current season shouldn't be restarted and warns playing football again early could unleash a deadly second wave. He went on to say a restart in September would be the earliest it should be considered for a restart.
However, English premier league is a different kettle of fish. Millions would be lost from Sky,B.T etc and compensation would be sort. UEFA have given the Premier League a deadline of May 25th to submit plans for restarting the season. The Premier League have said it will only restart if medical guidance allows. The Premier League went on to say that it is our objective to complete the 2019/20 season.
The Premier League are now talking of a world cup - style camp. Clubs gather in a neutral location to play out the remainder of the season behind closed doors, with only essential personnel attending. There rightly would be an outcry if this went ahead during a public health crisis and as Smiler said ' How could it survive with even one positive test'. There has also been a mention that EFL clubs would have a world - cup style camp with the top eight clubs fighting it out for promotion places. No mention of relegation. Crazy idea.
The big numpty in the room is i will take it on the chin Johnson. He sees the resumption of live sport on T.V as a key to boosting the nations morale. He will also do anything to get the economy moving and that includes taking a bit of collateral damage on the way. A final announcement is expected on May 7th where many believe a tentative vote to resume behind closed doors in mid June will be made. Lets hope the medical guidance wins out and sport only resumes when it is safe to do so. I wouldn't bet on it though.
After the EFL meeting this week and UEFA pushing it, it seems that the 'sporting merit' (points per game) method might be used for Leagues 1 and 2, possibly Championship too.
This would see us promoted along with Coventry, & no change in either League 1 or League 2 promotion spots from teams there now...
I'd take that !
Would suit Barnsley too as there is suggestion there will be no relegation, so two teams would go up to Premiership with no relegation us & Coventry filling the space left by WBA and Leeds. So two extra teams places next season in Prem.., I don't know what they would do in future seasons for Prem...
With Bury going out, they would promote the top 3 from League 2 into League 1
Note sure what they would do about League 2 numbers, maybe promote top 3 from National League with no relegation from L2.
I like many others don't know what will happen weather it will be fair or not but what are they going to do about the club's that have broken the rules,Bolton Wanderers will be praying the season is declared null and void with the position they are in.
I've not met anyone remotely interested in sport being kick started at the moment. I'm not sure that I'll be attending any sporting event in the future. The times I've witnessed people not washing their hands after praying at the urinal has put me off going to any pubs, clubs or sporting arenas. I'll bet some of those same people still don't wash their hands even after all the warnings about this dreadful virus. Maybe they don't know the words to 'Happy Birthday'? They could try singing their favourite football chant several times over for the recommended 20 seconds.
Meanwhile there are still ongoing discussions about completing the Premier League fixtures behind closed doors. If social distancing is now the norm for many people I reckon many professional footballers will be worried. On top of that, football is not an essential service. Never has been. Should footballers be able to jump the queue and be tested for Covid19? Not unless they are experiencing the symptoms related to Covid19.
As I have posted before, sport in general needs to be put on the back burner. There are more important issues to be addressed. As for the Thursday night clap for the NHS. It was very muted last night in my neck of the woods. I didn't hear the rattling of any pots and pans. Apathy is setting in fast in many neighbourhoods.
At the moment I can't even visit a council waste recycling tip. I'm stockpiling lots of green waste. I was going to set fire to it late at night but decided against it on account of the heap smouldering for several weeks. The fumes wouldn't have been too popular with my neighbours in a smoke free zone.
Keep washing those hands and singing your favourite songs.
Davidedin could be right reporting a similar story in the Yorkshire Post best result for leagues 1 & 2 there is no way that they can afford testing PPE etc also it is wrong when the NHS and other services need it more. I am not concerned if we go up or stay where we are look on the bright side we will not get relegated. Don't start the season while September at the earliest I want to go back to the NYS when it is safe.
We've been promoted to the Championship. Celebrations won't necessarily take place behind closed doors. What a relief!
As for the Premier League. They're still threatening to complete the remaining fixtures by playing the games at neutral grounds. If so, it would be a nice little earner for RUFC to host a Premier League game or two without the knowledge of supporters until matchday when the games would be broadcast live on TV. I'm sure Man Utd, Liverpool or Everton wouldn't mind playing their games at the NYS. What's not to like? TS ought to be bidding for a piece of that action. The Premier League ought to be helping newly promoted lower league clubs like RUFC during this difficult time. Pie in the sky perhaps. Stranger things have happened.
wotsisname how our pitch looks in the tizer from this week it's too good for the premiership anyway Rotherham the area itself would be a risk. Health minister admitted when asked yesterday deprived areas are more at risk from covid-19 at the moment. Our town wouldn't be good enough for the gentry of the upper crust of football. Leave them to their own little world were it doesn't matter what's going on in the outside world they carry on.
Fair comment. I was having an aberration when I wrote my post. It wasn't consistent with the content of my previous posts. We do need to continue to stay safe until the dreadful Covid19 is well and truly defeated.
As for today I'll be at home tuning into Grimm and Co Rotherham at 2.00 p.m. ( YouTube Channel ) to check out some interesting works being read by some well known people.
There is still life out there beyond the football stadia.
wotsisname I'm in this recurring like nightmare. I left sky sports on money I'm saving from pubs being shut more than covers that. At bout 8 pm everytime I seem to put sky sports news something like called the Football show comes on fronting it think they call her Kelly Gates she's too obvious for me, I like presenters abit more deadbeat. She's Kenny Dalglish his daughter so that's got her a headstart. He's always there as well Carragher so it's not on long put snooker on instead usually Judd Trump past recent matches so I'm watching real talent. My opinion EFL shouldn't start back up without the crowds there. Without fans empty stadiums it's not football. I'm looking at September 2020 to be back at the NYS. Delay start of next season if crowds can't attend games then. Look at it this way if you play 2 games a week gives you 23 weeks to complete a league season, can't see a problem there. Also if you are going to sell season tickets for the next campaign fans need to know they can attend all the games.
Not sure many of us will see any live football until season 21/22 - assuming there are any clubs left to form a competition. The congestion in pre-match pubs, at the game and leaving the stadium is such that anyone who is concerned about catching the virus is not going to risk attending a match until a vaccine is available. Most optimistic predictions for a freely available vaccine are around this time next year - ie. the end of next season.
So, once it is decided that no further football can take place this year and the season is declared closed with the top two being promoted, and next season is played in front of minimal crowds comprising those who are either immune or not vulnerable, and because so many clubs will go to the wall on financial grounds we will probably finish in the top two, the next time the majority of us see a live game might be the opening game at Anfield in September 2021.
