mozo

1 hour ago, pillred said:

Yes they are guilty of a lot of things I will certainly agree on that. I don't read it to be educated or even informed as such but it has a certain charm in its own way and the sports coverage especially the football is pretty good. I actually read the Mail as my daily though to some that seems just as bad.

Yeah and I'm not having a go at you. Read what you want. I personally don't touch those papers, but you won't find much media that isn't tainted in some way.

1 hour ago, pillred said:

As I said I read it on Saturdays only and take most of it with a certain scepticism, yes calling it a NEWSpaper is a bit of a stretch, they were wrong in the way they reported Hillsboro but I have said elsewhere that was 24 years ago and the people working on it today can't really be held responsible for the actions of the people then, a bit like the war the German people today are not to blame for what happened 80 years ago, some people can never forgive them for it and I can completely understand that but it seems on here to admit you even read the Sun is heresy and I find that a bit strange, most papers if not all have printed things which are later proved to be false the Sun made a huge error of judgment and have apologised many times I personally have accepted that and moved on. 

To be fair though the behaviour of the Sun newspaper throughout the past 24 years has been dreadful. It's not like the Hillsborough issue was unique. It was just the worst example. 

12 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

Great point concerning playing with no crowd I thought, & echoes my feelings. 

I think the outlook for lower league and top two divisions will be different. Only the Prem and Champ can sustain a resumption in my opinion. 

2 hours ago, Super said:

The Bundesliga is ready to return on May 9 if the German government gives it the green light, league officials have confirmed.

Time to adopt a German team.

We should all take interest in this because it will be a case study in how a league can transition from lockdown to resumption. If any nation is able to do this in a sensible and reasonable fashion, it is Germany. 

10 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

In terms of our policy, I think we're somewhere in the middle.

We're not a Roma who have basically according to reports the other day, taken a 4 month pay cut- deferral not cut, as well as chipping in for the staff wages. Or closer to home though it's a deferral, in some ways a Leeds who have taken the hit without furlough, all non staff paid- albeit this must be paid back and indeed they've been rewarded with a 2% bonus for agreeing. So that changes that equation somewhat.

However, we're not also a Derby or Sheffield Wednesday who have furloughed staff, don't know if it's furloughed with taxpayer or otherwise, but have players on full whack.

Incidentally, what an irony it would be if we along with Leeds- two clubs who have to some level or another done the right thing had a signing embargo and Derby and Sheffield Wednesday didn't.

I digress, we're also not a Newcastle- a genuinely proftable PL club who have furloughed staff but still have players on full whack.

Nor are we quite a few PL clubs who have had nobody- players or staff- take a hit.

We;re bang in the middle IMO.

Would also add, to me Branson and SL differ somewhat. SL and his (well his and Peter Hargreaves) business ie HL has generated a lot of wealth and tax- in a way possibly that Branson's has not. Additionally, that cash he is investing, ploughing back into the city- and footballers in theory pay quite a bit of tax (though some at the higher end have come under significant scrutiny for seeking to avoid these obligations!)

I dunno it's a hard one- he certainly isn't asking for half a billion to bailout the business like Branson. I can't say I'm entirely favourable towards it but the players taking a 30% deferral too balances it a bit.

These comments incidentally are neutral as to his impact as an owner and a custodian of us- which I think has been very good, over the years.

I don't think we want City to be in the middle, we want to be the best, the shining example of how clubs can get their priorities right, and how players can be realistic about their extraordinary wealth.

Well teams in Spain will be training soon.

Some primary schools opening in France.

Italy likely to ease business restrictions in early May.

I'm not saying we're over the worst of it, but there's a trend among the countries affected earlier than UK of relaxation of lockdown. 

I still think football goes ahead this summer, maybe as early as June.

5 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said:

Read something earlier that suggested Championship and Premiership to play until the end of the season, with no relegation to League One from the Championship.

Leagues one and two to call it a day now with no promotion or relegation.

Not sure how I feel about that.

 

You probably feel a lot better about it than Swindon Town fans! They were a certainty for promotion, managed to get goal machine Doyle back off Bradford, probably for a hefty fee, and now this.

Now now, don't laugh...

Just think about the atmosphere of that first game back with crowds at Ashton Gate. Phwoar. 

48 minutes ago, Keep the Faith said:

Before I right this I will state that I am as conflicted about the place of sport during this situation as anyone is and don't know what the right answer is or really what my opinion is! My view seems to change every day. I miss football, professional cycling and as an amateur triathlete all my races have or probably will be cancelled for the foreseeable future. All these things upset me. 

However I will say that it is interesting how it has taken a crisis in the developed world to make people take the view that there are more important things than sport. There are international crises every single day. Right now east Africa is going to be consumed by a plague of billions of locusts which will wipe out crops for millions. Virtually nobody outside of the affected regions would even know about it let alone do something about it. The suffering of refugees in camps across the world is horrendous. We don't assume that we should stop sport until these issues are solved. I don't know why this is, perhaps because they aren't in front of us every day, or maybe because people don't think there is a solution. 

Perhaps sport helps us forget or ignore these thing by giving us something else to focus on. I include myself in this. Perhaps that is a good thing as there will always be things like this and if you can avoid it people don't want to think about it.

If this is going to be with us for years then are we just going to have to accept that and start things up again as normal with the acceptance that death rates will be higher and life expectancy a bit shorter. We have such developed healthcare systems in the developed world that perseveration of life at all costs seems to be everything. Should we just change our view on this? 

This situation gives you time to think about these things. I don't think my simple mind is really up to the task!

I think you have to remember there is a priority list of concern with one's self at the top, household second, then family, neighbourhood, broader community, and eventually our own nation and continent. Rightly or wrongly, Africa's problems are way down on our list. Death on our doorstep hurts more than death in the Middle East. Covid 19 was barely a concern when it ravaged Wuhan, but now we care about it deeply (so much so, we're willing to adjust our way of life).

Caring about sport is a weird one because it really shouldn't matter at all. I've often forgiven my wife for watching mindless crap on TV because, after all, I'm supposedly a grown man and yet I let my mood be dictated by a bunch of lads in red shirts who kick a ball around every few days. Objectively, it's a total waste of time, but subjectively we feel like Bristol City is integral to our community and our identity. It keeps us ticking over as we spend our time working jobs, many of which seem equally meaningless at times.

To bring those two paragraphs together, I should be far more concerned with the big problems in the world than whether Lee Johnson has what it takes to take City forward, and yet far more of my thinking time goes on the latter. And that feels perfectly normal.

I don't think there's any shame in lamenting the loss of football or sport in general. It's the kind of distraction we on this forum could all do with so that we don't spend all of our time worrying about family and friends and watching the death toll continue to rise.

10 hours ago, Malago said:

I can’t see how any football will be played until the safety of the players can be guaranteed and any likelihood of cross infection from players training with each other, or from opposing team players,  has been  eliminated.  That’s going to happen until there’s a vaccine or a drug which significantly reduces the severity of the virus.

I think there will be distancing rules off the pitch and testing prior to kick off.

6 hours ago, wayne allisons tongues said:

Games can’t be played behind closed doors. L1 and L2 sides would not survive, gate receipts is what keeps them afloat. If L1 and L2 can’t play rest of leagues can’t be decided for no relegation promotion. 
 

Hope we don’t get the situation where L1, L2 and NL are voided but championship and PL where more money is are played behind closed doors.

Think that would be the last straw for me and would stop me watching City. Would just watch more Non league with my son,

I fully expect this to be too difficult for L1 and 2 to resume which makes the Bury and Bolton situations a bit ironic. PL and Champ could resume though.

6 hours ago, weepywall said:

They cant even test key workers adequately at the moment, players will be way down the list of people needing tests and rightly so.

At the moment. That needs to be figured out prior to resumption. 

5 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

I can't help but think that watching football with no fans in the stadium is going to be seriously underwhelming. 

It'll be weird and half as entertaining. But better than nowt and a means to an end (literally!)

Will be a bigger shock for Leeds than us to be fair. It's not like the Gate is rocking every week!

3 hours ago, RedM said:

Yup it’s totally missing the point for me. I thought the sport of football was all about entertainment (or not!) and just not the end result of what happens at the end of the season, whether you are promoted, relegated or stay the same. It’s the getting there. 

I'm not disagreeing with you. But the closure of a season is pretty important. We were witnessing history with Liverpool, and plenty of clubs have a huge amount to play for. In the current economic climate, promotion and relegation matters even more. It would be huge for Coventry or Preston. 

34 minutes ago, Kid in the Riot said:

I genuinely can't see how bars, pubs, restaurants can reopen until a vaccine is issued or enough immunity has built up in the population (a minimum of 60% of the population, and best guess it's about 10% at the moment) and the same goes for sporting/public events. There's little chance of a vaccine or "immunity in the community" happening within six months, let alone three months. 

Restrictions will slowly be lifted but "pretty much back to normal" ain't happening for a long time I fear. Indeed, it's difficult to envisage fan attended football returning again this year.

No, that suggestion today really surprised me. Fair enough it might work for the economy but it won't help the NHS or the vulnerable if people start pouring into pubs again.

Football behind closed doors I find more rational, but even then the process would have to be very well executed. 

I would expect work from home to be prevalent until at least the end of the year, with social distancing etiquette in place for the duration. 

I know restaurant and pub owners won't like the sound of that, but I just don't see how sharing those spaces can be justified. 

Sports events, cinema, concerts etc shouldn't have crowds either. And of those, only sport can exist with a crowd.

7 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Couple of interesting stories about the PL TV issues.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8211063/Sky-Sports-not-ask-371m-rebate-Premier-League-season-cancelled.html

Bigger problem might be with the overseas broadcasters if voided- and interestingly, it doesn't mention BT either- whether for or against requesting rebates.

Also of interest.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8212395/Coronavirus-UK-Premier-League-block-Sky-Sports-BT-Sport-asking-season-resume.html

What's the summary Mr P for those of us who refuse to click on that site?

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-plan-includes-rolling-21843326?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

11 hours ago, phantom said:

So does that mean players receive their weekly wage for a longer period than initially contracted? I guess some players whose future was uncertain will take that as a bonus (a stay of execution for some).

It means Afobe could be involved in all our remaining fixtures 

Would've been City v Cardiff today... we would've smashed them...

5 hours ago, Abraham Romanovich said:

Earlier on in the crisis they showed live Italian /French league  games behind closed doors - like watching a better class of pub football without the passion.

Fans are part of the game and playing behind closed doors should be opposed at every level, it is even handed out as a punishment.

Imagine watching Liverpool celebrate winning the league at an empty Anfield .

Football is all about fans and without them really what is the point. 

Yes but if Liverpool have the stark choice of celebrating their title win in an empty ground or not winning the title at all, it's an easy choice. 

5 hours ago, 054123 said:

What annoys me is how everything is driven by money. Football isn’t important, it’s just a game, yet somehow we’ve let money and greed consume it. The truth is it really wouldn’t matter if we just stopped this season and started again in August/September.

It really doesn’t matter. 

When you pose arguments for why we should finish it, the truth is they always boil down to money.

Sad and depressing .

Welcome to capitalism! Rightly or wrongly, money will dictate everything. 

2 hours ago, robin_unreliant said:

I just don't see how governments will be able to maintain lockdowns for months on end. They seem to have got themselves into a postion where there is no way out. I can't see society sticking to this for more than a couple of months. So hopefully we can start again by July, maybe with empty grounds. 

 

Well they're talking about waves of the virus. So when the NHS can cope, we relax from lockdown to social distancing for a few months. The next wave of virus then overwhelms NHS again so we go back into lockdown. By now, most citizens have had the virus and we can ride it out til the vaccine comes. 3 lock downs would surely do the job, but they might just do 2.

7 minutes ago, pillred said:

Seems like the Premier League are going to donate £125 million to the EFL, not before time but still it should help a lot of struggling clubs.

Having taken so long for these clubs and players to part with their ludicrous reserves of cash, it feels like it is a reluctant gesture more than anything. Maybe that's just my cynical mind.

1 hour ago, weepywall said:

I personally think that this season must be finished, whenever that may be, we are too far into this season just to scrap it, imagine how we would feel if City were clear at the top of the league and it was cancelled, the remaining games of this season could be finished anytime over the next 18 months and the next season should start after the Euros in 2021.

I completely agree, but the season will always be tarnished. 

Say we beat Preston to 6th place, with a fit and firing Afobe playing in each of our remaining games. There would always be the claim that we'd benefitted from a pandemic. Some clubs would benefit from the extended break more than others.

More controversial than that will be the contract situation. Imagine a team become weakened by losing a loanee before the season resumes, or even an out of contract first teamer. Could departing players resume the season elsewhere?

I'm guessing there will be an agreement made by clubs to adhere to a particular code of conduct which safeguards the status quo until the season has been completed, but who knows.

Another curiosity is that there were probably managers out there on the verge of the sack, who have had the most dramatic stay of execution you could imagine. 

For tons of reasons, this season, if it finishes, will be a complete anomaly. Even Liverpool's almost perfect season will forever be caveated by the pandemic.

7 hours ago, RedorDead BCFC said:

How about this one 

The corona Virus travelled entire world from Wuhan but it did not reach Beijing and Shanghai... can anybody put light?

Looks So Logical....After all Chinese Stock Market didn't crash....American and European Markets did.

Destroy other markets and be ready to capture them in every way How to dominate the world quickly?

THE GREAT CHINESE STAGE

1. Create a virus and the antidote.

2. Spread the virus.

3. A demonstration of efficiency, building hospitals in a few days. After all, you were already prepared, with the projects, ordering the equipment, hiring the labor, the water and sewage network, the prefabricated building materials and stocked in an impressive volume.

4. Cause chaos in the world, starting with Europe.

5. Quickly plaster the economy of dozens of countries.

6. Stop production lines in factories in other countries.

7. Cause stock markets to fall and buy companies at a bargain price.

8. Quickly control the epidemic in your country. After all, you were already prepared.

9. Lower the price of commodities, including the price of oil you buy on a large scale.

10. Get back to producing quickly while the world is at a standstill. Buy what you negotiated cheaply in the crisis and sell more expensive what is lacking in countries that have paralyzed their industries.

PS: Pl read the book by Chinese colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, from 1999, “Unrestricted Warfare: China’s master plan to destroy America”, on Amazon. It's all there. Worth pondering..

Just Think about this... How come Russia & North Korea are totally free of Covid- 19?

Because they are staunch ally of China.

Not a single case reported from this 2 countries. On the other hand South Korea / United Kingdom / Italy / Spain and Asia are severely hit.

How come Wuhan is suddenly free from the deadly virus? China will say that their drastic initial measures they took was very stern and Wuhan was locked down to contain the spread to other areas.

I am sure they are using the Anti dode of the virus. Why Beijing was not hit? Why only Wuhan?

Kind of interesting to ponder upon.. right? Well ..Wuhan is open for business now.

America and all the above mentioned countries are devastated financially. Soon American economy will collapse as planned by China. China knows it CANNOT defeat America militarily as USA is at present THE MOST POWERFUL country in the world. So use the virus...to cripple the economy and paralyse the nation and its Defense capabilities.

I'm sure Nancy Pelosi got a part in this. . to topple Trump.

Lately President Trump was always telling of how GREAT American economy was improving in all fronts.

The only way to destroy his vision of making AMERICA GREAT AGAIN is to create an economic havoc.

Nancy Pelosi was unable to bring down Trump thru impeachment. ....so work along with China to destroy Trump by releasing a virus. Wuhan,s epidemic was a showcase. At the peak of the virus epidemic. .. China's President Xi Jinping...just wore a simple RM1 facemask to visit those effected areas.

As President he should be covered from head to toe.....but it was not the case. He was already injected to resist any harm from the virus....that means a cure was already in place before the virus was released. Some may ask....Bill Gates already predicted the outbreak in 2015...so the chinese agenda cannot be true. The answer is. ..YES...Bill Gates did predict. .but that prediction is based on a genuine virus outbreak.

Now China is also telling that the virus was predicted well in advance. ....so that its agenda would play along well to match that prediction. China,s vision is to control the World economy by buying up stocks now from countries facing the brink of severe ECONOMIC COLLAPSE. Later China will announce that their Medical Researchers have found a cure to destroy the virus.

Now China have other countries stocks in their arsenal and these countries will soon be slave to their master...CHINA. Just Think about it ... The Doctor Who declared this virus was also Silenced by the Chinese Authorities

 

You had me convinced right up to the point where you said Dr Who was behind the whole thing. Surely the good doctor is the one trying to solve the virus mystery?!

Great post though and you're always welcome on my conspiracy theories/dystopia thread!

20 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

A few surprising figures re current status;

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Unfortunately, France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland appear to be on a steep upwards curve and Germany are beginning to get hit a bit more.

I see that testing kits are to be rolled out here from next week which will identify if a person has had the virus or if they have it. That will be an enormous help - being given to NHS and front line staff first, vulnerable,  then the public. 3.5m in first phase then millions more via chemists (cue the panic buying of test kits).

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/uk-coronavirus-mass-home-testing-to-be-made-available-within-days

 

Thanks for sharing.

Well it's interesting that Germany still only have 2 dozen in serious/critical condition when France and Spain have 2,500! 

So no trades?

32 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

**** me, I didn't think you'd be right mozo. 

It is pretty rare, but these are strange times we're living in!

So if you have a hole in your roof, can someone repair it? 

If you have a car issue can you get it seen at a garage?

I'm thinking they'll go for a lockdown lite of some description. 

4 hours ago, gl1 said:

Can we just cancel 2020 now. I’ve had enough.

Here is mine so far...

January 3rd - brother diagnosed out of blue of having 3 aggressive brain cancers and has ‘short months’ to live

January 10th - paralysed down his right side he is discharged from hospital to die, where he lives with his girlfriend and our 90 year old mother 

January 20th - take over my mothers pension and bank account as brother is paralysed to find out they have extracted and spent over £50000 of her savings. I have no idea what is was spent on and they are not saying

January 22nd - I predict to my partner that now the raping of my mothers finance has stopped, so will her care so and mother will be dead in 6 months. Try to get her extra care, social services not interested

 

Feb 25th Get a call from brothers sister that mother had taken a fall and had been rushed into hospital

Feb 27th mother dies with fractured skull from the fall. Coroner refuses to release body for funeral as the body needs to go to autopsy due to ‘unusual  injuries’

March 9th  autopsy completed, cause of death obvious, how it happened open to interpretation. No further action taken

March 13th. Finally received death certificate and funeral booked for March 24th

March 19th funeral postponed due to corona virus

 

anyone able to ‘beat this’?

 

 

If life was fair you're due a year where the most unbelievable good fortune comes your way