MarcusX

And pay some taxes while he's at it

Well the sick man tag was relative to our financial position before joining the EU, though if the government get this wrong (who by the way I have said I am trusting on this one despite not being a fan) then we could well be seeing more sickness than our neighbours I didn't bring it up, simply replying to someone why it's nonsense to say "we were ok before the EU so we'll be ok after" completely different times.

Do we really have to get into that? Pre-EU Britain was very different. I wouldn't call 2 world wars and being nicknamed the "sick man" of Europe (could be appropriate in a couple of weeks) something to look back on fondly and strive towards Or did you mean the British Empire?

Not sure, came across more conspiracy theorist than ITK to me

Worrying use of words like “will” rather than “could”

Euros are being postponed, sponsors have been informed

Yep agreed and to be honest at the time I’d probably consider what my partner had as a “bad” cold rather than flu, but it did last much longer than usual. Mine unfortunately was flu, like you say bed/sofa ridden for 4-5 days before I could even face stepping outside! didnt realise the flu jab percentage was as low as that

See I’ve heard lots of stories of this, it’s definitely seeing two completely separate family members in the same type of “at risk” category coincidentally getting the same nasty chest infection (put them both in hospital) that made me think. Happy to be shot down, like you say it’s winter and people get flu but I know people who had it despite having the flu jab so potentially a different strain to what they usually see? I’m also very rarely ill (like once every few years). Not conclusive at all I know. I agree with you logically that you’d think it would have been detected if it was around that much earlier

Does anyone hear believe the theories that this has been around longer than suggested? It now seems it can be traced back to November rather than end of December as first thought and the Chinese aren't exactly known for being forthcoming. THey could have sat on this for ages Lots of people seem to be saying they were ill over Xmas time, more so than usual for the time of year. Myself had a genuine flu that wiped me out for 4/5 days, cleared for a few days then came back again briefly. Shortly later my grandmother who I visited after I thought it had cleared was taken ill with some kind of chest infection. My partner also became ill around the same time (week or so after me) but with more of a dry cough, really snotty/sinusy infection which lasted a couple of weeks at least and her Dad then developed the similar chest infection issue that my nan had. We also had an elderly neighbour come down ill enough to call an ambulance which turned out to be a nasty flu. Potentially already been doing the rounds or did we all coincidentally catch something more "seasonal"

With respect, they are experts in their field. Not saying they can't be wrong, but I'd trust their ideas based on research and data over the general public

Listened to this guy on LBC earlier, very articulate and it makes sense I guess the concern is how do we know when the bottle overflows and is it imminent? If we plan for 4 weeks or so because we're that far behind Italy what happens if in 2 weeks its spread much quicker than anticipated? It at least seems scientifically led, so I'm willing to trust it and makes the point about us being different to other countries because of cultures and social behaviour

I have it from a good source that UEFA have cancelled the Euros. Sponsors have been informed ahead of an accouncrment next week. The plan is to play it in 2021

Didn’t help that the PSG players then went outside on balconies and celebrated with the fans that turned out, almost condoning it

I was thinking more about the money. You’re right they probably wouldn’t, I think what I was suggesting is some money should filter down so save the smaller clubs. I said Sky but meant all broadcasters, BT cover some non league football so do have an element of interest

Looking at the bigger picture, there needs to be some help given to non league clubs from Sky/Premier league etc. I know of clubs that have already gone 6 weeks without a home game because of the weather. That’s a long time to have no income, do players still get paid? Club staff? Easy to say no but even at that level footballers are paid a not insignificant amount of money and could need that to get by - especially as you tend to get a lot of self employed / tradies at that level so that’s a double hit. incidentally this is obviously outdated but for example Bradford towns schedule before the cancellation announcement 17 games in 40 days. No one can be expected to perform (and avoid injury) almost every other day for over a month. Add to that family and work commitments

I think it would be pretty logical that the transfer window wouldn’t open until the end of the season

A proposal from German FA is to increase the number of Bundesliga teams to 22 next season and promote the top 4 teams from below with no relegation. Slight difference there is usually the top 2 teams go up and then the 3rd play against 16th in a playoff for promotion/survival so lower teams will benefit. One idea here could be to scrap the play off system and just do two up / two down? Still probably have teams that feel hard done by though.

I tend to agree, I still cant see it being outright cancelled there are just too many complications. I could possibly see a situation where players and staff have been isolated for a period of time (assuming thats what they intend to do) and then remaining fixtures played behind closed doors from the end of april in the safety of knowing the players are all clear) I can't see the Euros going ahead now with all the travelling across Europe. That will have a huge impact the economy though especially with the number of countries involved expecting increased travel, tourism, bar and pub sales etc

The FA should show the same disregard for player's wellbeing that they do with non-league players and make them play every other day, or in some occasions on consecutive days

Football's been suspended for the player's / staff though, not specifically the crowds. I agree though and I've said this all along that it seems insane we can see football matches postponed while that huge gathering is going on in Cheltenham

They've also said if we go to soon with school closures it will immediately weaken NHS, care services etc as parents stay home to look after children. OR they go and stay with grandparents who are more at risk? Also if we lockdown like Italy, people will get "bored" of it and revert back to normal behaviour too soon and right in the peak of the situation

This is one of the issues with doing it now, come 3rd April (according to government) we wont have reached our peak so if they start playing again there will still presumably be a substantial risk if not more so if more people are infected. Personally I think they should have took steps to isolate players with potential symptoms and confirmed contacts, then postpone individual games but allow others with no known complications to continue for now.

Not necessarily. Players and management have tested positive, therefore teams are in isolation so obviously those games would be postponed. I don't think it's defying government policy unless they say they will postpone / cancel games because of the crowds/fans gathering

No one has said young people can't catch it. In fact most people's arguements are that young people will catch it but show few / mild symptoms and then pass it on without realising they had it. Your statement that young people are just as likely to die seems to be scientifically and statistically incorrect.

Not particularly a fan of this government (that’s probably an understatement) but they seem to be acting on medical and scientific experts advice about the right time to make certain decisions. listening to them earlier it seemed to make sense, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now and hope their plan is the right one.