Northern Red

We look a better team with him in it, that's the main thing for me.

They might as well ring him anyway and let him rant down the phone for 10 minutes even though it won't be broadcast. Keeps him happy and means no one else has to suffer it.

Considering the half time score, 6-2 seems almost respectable... Put it behind us and move on.

**** off

From memory it kicked off a couple of hours before the senior Italian team beat England at Wembley, the game where Zola scored.

He has a "niggle". Whether it's genuinely sufficient to keep him out is open to debate.

SA are over here in the summer, so it's unlikely.

Have a day off FFS

Ref in the Tunisia-Mali game has had a shocker:

Or do a Ron Atkinson and say "I never comment on referees and I'm not going to break the habit of a lifetime for that prat".

December's postponed match against Stade Francais will not be rearranged, with the result declared as 0-0 and both teams getting 2 points. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/59956566

Buys them a bit of time. The next home game after Saturday isn't until 5th Feb and I think the hope is that Welsh restrictions on crowds will have been lifted by that point so there'd be no immediate issues. Scotland have announced today that crowds there can return from Monday. They do need to resolve it long term though.

Sky have now confirmed their fixtures for that weekend and the rest of Feb:

A Wrexham supporting journo with too much time on his hands, to be precise.

Only the last few minutes when they were already 3-1 down.

That's the spirit, you utterly joyless contrarian.

Maybe he isn't. The point is that I don't see what recalling Burns would achieve.

If Stokes is even slightly fit he'll play as a batsman. Similarly you'd like to think Bairstow should be okay but it might involve Pope or Billings keeping. Hameed will probably drop out for Burns. Personally I wouldn't bother, if Burns wasn't the solution 2 Tests ago then he isn't now just because Hameed is out of form. Let Hameed have this game then change it for the Windies tour if he fails again.

It is.

Man City have been doing it in the PL for weeks. If it's good enough for them...

Whereas if we'd played badly and won, you'd be absolutely fine with it? Yeah right....

The "glass houses" comments are somewhat ironic given the number of people who were justifying our lot doing it a few weeks ago.

I really hope they do put a screen in the car park if they have to go behind closed doors, just to highlight the absurdity of the situation.

Blackpool has always been full of Scots whenever I've been. Mancs and Scousers tend to head to North Wales.

What complicates things further is that, whilst Cheshire West council own the ground and issue the safety certificate, business rates are paid to Flintshire council, who also issue the premises licence and at the last couple of games the Blues Bar at the ground has operated under Welsh laws - rule of 6, table service, no standing etc. It's also impossible to access the ground directly from Wales, unless you come along the river path, cross some fields and jump over a hedge.