Loco Rojo

Really, really hope the EFL don't reverse the decision out of sympathy.

What this says to me is clubs can now knowingly break the rules for £100k but they don't need too worry about points deduction or relegation. Precedence has been set now.

Tell you what, this game shows just how much of a difference the fans make. Infinitely better than the fake sound.

I hate modern day footballers - absolute pandered snow flakes completely out of touch with reality. Can't wait for some of these wastes of space to find it difficult to get their next gravy train job. I know some will disagree with my view but I really do think the vast sums of money they earn and the way they are pampered by a Club/staff is part of the cause of what we're now seeing here. Players thinking they are above the rules/law and thinking they're 'gods' and can do what they want with zero consequences. Would love it if football introduced performance based contracts. I suspect we might end up seeing footballers actually earning their money then.

Hell of a Rotherham goal there! Wow.

I expect she did it to try to experience what a match day could feel like being in a proper ground ? Can't be angry at her for that. Must have felt very emotional for her bless.

I hate it when the little sister gets beaten up at school..... Mind she'll feel much better when the older brother gets his head flushed down the toilet tomorrow night!

I'm colour blind. It's red. It's fine. Nothing wrong here. Nothing to see.

If COVID did football clubs, I feel like it would be us at the moment. I don't know if it's because it's January, Christmas is over, we're back in lockdown, too many people in society just don't care about COVID or what but nothing positive seems to be coming out of our club right now - from top to bottom. Even the great news about the Vaccine rollout is tainted because you just know this Government will funk it up and take 10 times as long to do it. I did think hearing Mawson nearly back would be a big boost, but I just feel like it's pre-emting his inevitable next long term injury during his first game back. Any positives I might have missed? Maybe I should just make like a bear and hibernate until Summer.

Spot on, completely share your concerns. I think more people need to be making responsible, sensible decisions here. Appreciate there are lots of people who have lost confidence in the Government and will happily stick 2 fingers up to whatever they announce but this is different and impacts everyone. Society needs to do more. It's not a difficult decision to make. If the experts (and I mean scientists and doctors not politicians) are advising to reduce Christmas to 1 day (and i'm sure they would prefer to stop that), then the question of attending a football match shouldn't even be in people's minds as a sensible thing to do.

Yes. My opinion. We'll see how things evolve over the coming days and weeks.

My point is I don't think they'll be able to contain it (en mass) to just the areas in T4 (hope they can) and it'll spread further resulting in more infections. Fingers crossed the research going on confirms the vaccine can also work against this new strain.

Realistically though Bristol won't be returning to T2 if this new strain is as concerning and spreading as quickly as they are making out. Suspect Bristol will be back in to either T3 or 4 in a few weeks. Especially when large numbers of people are going to pay no attention to these new rules and travel/stay with family and friends over Christmas regardless.

Surely these new announced measures are an indication that no fans will be returning to games? And if football still allows it, why would people want to risk it? Zero chance of containing this new variant of the virus by verbally telling people to stay in their area especially if they spotted signs of this back in November. Very worrying and hopefully the Vaccine works against this new strain.

Whilst the Government have been a complete joke and definately incompetent during this, I am equally disapointed at (some) of society who have shown incredible levels of stupidity and selfishness during this pandemic. All too quick to blame anyone else (mainly the Government) whilst themselves ignoring social distancing rules and mixing with whoever they want. Unfortunately we live in a world where it's always someone else's fault and we can no longer take responsibility for our actions. These are the idiots that will cause further restrictions for all.

And unfortunately there are too many of them.

It's good that smaller clubs have been testing and trialling it but I'm still not convinved it's safe enough to justify the risks (or the costs to the club). Clubs might be able to stagger entry times and check IDs but that doesn't completely remove the risks of the virus spreading as per some of my examples. I'm not convinced it can be policed safely throughout. This isn't a model where every club is the same and therefore testing it at a few clubs lower down the pyramid means it'll work and deliver the same results at every club. I know you could argue the risks are the same as walking down the street or through Cabot Circus where there are lots of people not socially distancing (which is probably already a contributing factor to the numbers increasing in itself) but the difference here (imo) is for the sake of entertainment, the Government and Football authorities are willing to turn the tap on to increase the spread of the virus. Feels wrong at this time when a vaccine hasn't yet been rolled out.

I'm not comfirtable with this idea at this stage. Allowing large groups of people to gather just doesn't seem sensible until they are rolling out the Vaccine and just opens up a whole load of risks that just aren't worth it. This feels like another Government initiative badly thought out and no doubt will be badly implemented, leaving it to the clubs to interpret and pick up the pieces. - Creating safe distancing when in your seat is possible in principle but this is heavily dependant on fans being robots sitting in their seats and not mingling - but then how and who polices this during the game if some fans decide to mix or walk about? Can you imagine the reactions towards stewards approaching fans asking them to sit in their seat and keep apart from each other. Or even some fans challenging other fans - i can imagine there would be carnage. - I don't believe distancing is possible moving to/from your seat, e.g. under the stands for example before/after the match, at halftime, to go to the toilets/food/drinks etc- again, who/how would this be policed? Can you imagine the cost/risks to do this? And as per the above, the fan reaction at being policed? - If facilities are open, how do the club manage the staff working on match day to ensure they are also safe and tested and have sufficient staffing levels? What does the club do if staff are tested positive on match day, e.g. replacements? - Again, with facilities, who is going to police the queues to make sure people keep apart? not going to happen or happen well. We've all seen how busy it is at half time, even with reduced numbers it would still be too busy when you factor in the amount of space needed for a queuing system. - It's one thing trying to manage some fans turning up on match day having been on the pre-match lash in pre COVID times - can you imagine the poor stewards/Police that have to do that plus factoring in safe distancing rules once in the ground? No chance. - Then you have the process of chosing who attends/making it fair/policing fans coming from different Tiered areas - oh and the big one - relying on fans to stay away if they are feeling ill on match day (but they've 'won the lottery' being selected to attend the match). Guarantee there will be some selfish **** that still goes to the match whos ill becasue they'd prefer to take the risk just to watch live football. Thats all it takes. I'm sure there are lots of other risks (and extra costs i'm sure the club don't need) too but you have to ask if it is all worth it? Personally, as shit as it is not being able to see City live and how having to make do with horrible emtpy stands during games, i'd rather stick with this approach at this stage with a Vaccine possibly just around the corner rather than risk peoples lives. (Apologies if my spelling is really bad)

If we're going to do a lockdown properly and try to tackle the Virus seriously then it has to be suspended - as does all sport. Unfortunately this Government couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery and if its true that schools and Universities stay open regardless then this next lockdown is only a half measure and won't work.

I feel sorry for the clubs and the lengths they have had to go to to prepare implementation of standards which are intended to keep fans safe only for this Government to scuper their plans. Unfortunately, while the efforts Colchester have gone to are commendable, they aren't able to account for the actions of the fans who do attend. While most fans probably will adhere and are careful, there will always be some that just don't care and and don't stick the Colchesters measures putting others at risk. I don't think pushing ahead with plans to allow fans back in is the right thing to do given the increase in rates right now. The questions then become how are some clubs saved from total collapse or should they be? It's a mess made even worse by the Governments inconsistent decisions causing so much confusion. Give it another 2 or 3 weeks though and we'll be in even strong lockdown rules when the Government see these latest (pitiful) measures won't slow this second wave - largely because so many people have given up being careful already. By that point the question of whether some fans should be allowed back in will be a much easier one to answer.

This is hugely frustrating (and damaging to clubs/sport) but i understand why given the numbers are increasing. I agree it's the right thing to do, however the situation is made harder to accept when there are so many inconsistencies from the governments rules. Unfortunately though we're in the middle of a pandemic and now in a second wave, so it would be crazy to encourage fans back in - even if in smaller numbers. Clubs might be able to demonstrate they can sit fans apart in the stands but unfortunately people aren't robots and some just don't get it and are likely to move around to sit closer to each other (I doubt the club will pay marshal's to police it so therefore i don't beleive it can be managed safely). Add in getting to and from the seats where clearly some fans won't (or can't) socially distant and suddenly the ability for this to be done safely reduces even further to the point where actually this could make a situation worse. Unfortunately there are too many people that have taken the piss since lockdown relaxed and the reality is this has contributed to making it worse for everyone (it's so frustrating for those that have been careful). Yes, I know the Government have made a shambles of this too but bloody hell, most people know what socially distance means and should take responsibility for their actions and not blame others. Unfortunately we live in a society now where people need to be handheld through life and it's always someone else's fault.

In the context of our recent form and his tactical choices, absolutely. He can't use this result in isolation to defend himself if he is sacked. However, he can use those 2 incidents as an excuse as to why we might not have got more from tonight.

It's a pretty decent excuse when you're 1 down and then go down to 10 men. Give Lee a break tonight. Mistakes from 2 players that have nothing to do with Lee.

I'd struggle to get that past the die hard OTIB LJ out brigade. Mind if they don't like that idea, I can always blame Lee ?

Hang on a minute. That moment from Weimann wasn't LJs fault. Players need to take responsibility for their mistakes.