Dolman_Stand

What a game

I agree, think the long term batting solution is Sibley Crawley Root Stokes Lawrence Pope Buttler After that the bowlers are in unbelievable competition with eachother and there will be a bit of horses for courses at times

Just shows the vast number of options we have in the bowling department at the moment, could really do with Burns and Crawley (if it is him) making decent scores in the next test to show that the batting department is well stocked too.

Stokes' absence makes team selection very tricky for the next test, think we will go for: Burns Sibley Crawley Root Pope Buttler Woakes Curran Bess Wood Broad Alternatively Root could bat at 3 and Dan Lawrence slots in instead of Crawley but bats below Pope in the order, also Root could play himself as the main spinner to fit a fourth seamer in but also allwo Crawley & Lawrence to play.

Or we try and soldier through with Root as a second spinner and hope Stokes can bowl later in the match?

Don't need to bother with Man of The Match awards for the foreseeable just pick which of the 4 innings was his best.

I must admit I am waming to the idea of Mark Robins the job he has done at Coventry with all the turmoil they have surrounding them is an excellent achievement but he does have failures on his CV also. I think what gets missed by a lot of people on here is that whoemever is brought in to replace LJ will have to operate with the same sustainability restrictions i.e. bring in younger players with a view to making a proft at a later date, this wouldn't be to everyone's liking for example I'm not sure Chris Hughton would be up for that working arrangement. This does limit us somewhat in terms of attracting the "top" coaches available

Could you name a couple of potential alternatives?

I can see crowds being back before the end of this calender year, one option available to the club maybe that only season ticket holders (that have bought them to date or up to a maximum number of say 8 - 10,000) for next season could be allowed within the stadium as a starting point. You would then need to space those people out i.e. only one in every three seats are to be used, this would obviously mean moving people from the seats they have paid for in the interim and there would also need to be heavy distancing restrictions around the concourse areas but its a possibility.

Saw 17 and assumed all were Championship as I didn't think other leagues were testing. Agree 100%

EFL just reported 17 new cases in the championship

Don't think FFP or how much he puts in will come into it as surely they will have to relax ome of these regulation in light of what is going on. Either way the club will not be able to not offer a refund (or part -refund) as the customers haven't received the goods they have paid for.

With one of the richest owners going I can't see City not refunding, would be a bad look

A very good suggestion in principle which would overcome some of the current issues but also provide a whole host of new ones in that it would generally protect players more than the clubs, it may be something that is implemented in time although my gut feel is that it wouldn't be, ultimatley however that is not where clubs and players currently sit legally Whats happening at present is a 1 in 100 year occurence in terms of a global issue so its highly unlikely scrapping seasons are ever going to need to be considered in our lifetime again unless the aftermath of this leads to a war of some description.

That is a hypothetical situation though rather than the one we are faced with currently and a decision on it would depend on a number of factors i.e. At what point in the season are we when this second wave / new virus hits? Obviously the earlier in the season we were the greater length of time you have to play with in terms of condensing the remaining schedule What government imposed restrictions are we under? If its a new virus is it more deadly than this one and therefore a more severe lockdown required? Is it as easily transmissable therefore reducing the risk of passing it on between players and coaching staff etc? How long a shut-down period are we looking at? If its 1 month then probably not, if its 6 months then probably. Has the football league already been restructured by this hypothetcial situation to take into account the clubs that could be lost due to the current outbreak? If so there could be less games to worry about and make finishing in this instance more likely There would no doubt countless other variable's to consider so to say that whatever decision is arrived at in this pandemic (or wave of) would be the hard and fast rule for any future outbreaks is never going to be the case. My view on this current season is based on the known factors currently in play.

Nothing associated with whats going on at the moment and the impact its having on peoples everyday lives can be considered fun but with the information and consequences we are dealing with at this point in time I believe scraping this season is the best option, by August we would hope to be on top of the virus and have enough information and safety measures in place or available to avoid a second wave and a repeat of the current minefield the football world is trying to navigate through. Don't get me wrong if and when they do restart I will be watching whether I agree with it or not!

Its very relevant, if waiting was as simple as you suggest why aren't the authorities just sitting back with their feet up waiting for all this to blow over, why have the French, Dutch and Belgian FA's cancelled their seasons? The issue with contracts, loans, scheduling impact on future seasons and international tournaments mean there is a very short window of time to in which to get this season finished which is currently what the English football authorities are trying to accomplish, predominantly to minimise the financial exposure to all parties. The flip side in doing this in the timeframe they have to play with is that you are exposing players to more risk than if the season were cancelled, more risk than the Government are asking pretty much everyone else in the UK to be taking at the moment with social distancing measures (other than frontline NHS staff and other keyworkers) hence the likes of Danny Rose, Troy Deeney and others raising concerns. Thats why I believe it is too early, you would like to think that by August the risk of spread will be much lower and therefore we will be getting back to some semblence of normality at which time players could be reasonably expected to go back to work in a normal capacity and start next season from fresh but by which time it would be too late for the current season to be finished as contracts will have expired, the next two seasons scheduling would be to cock, transfer windows etc. As for it being "quite simple for players to have rolling contracts" I really don't think it will be each player will be different and have their own agenda to consider, look at Lee Bowyers comments on Lyle Taylor's situation from Charlton, he won't be the only one.

Any method used to simulate the result of anything is going to be easy to pick holes whether its this or PPG, it looks like the season is going to resume anyway so it may not come to it or we may be having the same conversation in a couple of weeks time when more players have tested positive and they make the decision then

Always going to be contentious in that you are effectively simulating a result but my personal view would be to take the result between the two sides earlier in the season as the result of the later game as at least it is based on a direct performance between each side rather than a PPG basis which would fail to take into account the strength of opposition yet to play. Different circumstances altogether but they do use the head to head basis in group stages of World Cup / Euro's to decide final positions so there is a basis of precedence for this. Ultimatley your never going to keep everyone happy with this whole Virus issue as there are so many "what if's" associated with it.

Exactly and what if a vaccine isn't available for another 12 - 18 months, do they then have to spend all of next season away from their families?

You can only wait so long before the impact on next season, Euro's, 2021/22 season, World Cup becomes too great to allow due to the backlog of fixtures. On top of this you have issues with player contracts, loans and the like which all expire at the end of June as well as a number of players which will not return to play in the current circumstances which then compromises the integrity of the competition if those players are no longer involved, you can imagine the arguments and possible legal challenges from clubs that are relegated from the PL or miss out on promotion from the Champ due to not having their best players available To me it feels too early and the authorites are trying to shoehorn it all in to avoid the commercial mess that comes if they don't finish the season which I can appreciate however if one player contracts the illness and either dies themselves or passes it on to a family member there would be massive consequences.

I get that point but surely you can only wait so long before the impact on next season, Euro's, 2021/22 season, World Cup becomes too great to allow due to the backlog of fixtures. On top of this you have issues with player contracts, loans and the like which all expire at the end of June as well as a number of players which will not return to play in the current circumstances which then compromises the integrity of the competition if those players are no longer involved, you can imagine the arguments and possible legal challenges from clubs that are relegated from the PL or miss out on promotion from the Champ due to not having their best players available To me it feels too early and the authorites are trying to shoehorn it all in to avoid the commercial mess that comes if they don't finish the season which I can appreciate however if one player contracts the illness and either dies themselves or passes it on to a family member there would be massive consequences.

I'm talking about the players health and that of their families, at the moment we are all being told to stay 2m away from eachother which isn't possible in football (and many other sports). By bringing football back at this time IMO is putting players at more risk than is necessary.

Unfortunately this runs into problems with player contracts and the longer it goes on it risks throwing next season into chaos with a knock on-effect on European Championships the following summer. If they canned this season now the authorities could then focus all their efforts into making sure next season can start on time when we should be further down the line in terms of knowledge, wider testing and tracing should be available and maybe less restrictions. The number of players willing to return would be lower by this pont too which adds a bit more sporting integrity to proceedings. As Troy Deeney said th eother day he can't get a haircut until mid July but they are asking his t go into a penalty box with 20 other players.

The health of those involved?