CB Fry

So you are saying you want all football seasons to be null and void now. Yes? But earlier you were saying that the remaining season "was only nine games" so we can take the season as it is now and award all the promotions and relegations now because theres only nine games and that's nothing, right?

Honestly don't know what you are on about. We're pausing the season because there is a pandemic happening right now, not "because it protects the money flow of the elite teams" (what??) Can you tell me the names of "every other club" who want the season voided? Because apart from Karren Brady I haven't heard from many individual clubs. I don't think Saints have said that. Semmens said the opposite about 10 days ago. You then link to an article about the upset caused by voiding all the non league seasons which until that point I thought was what you wanted. You might want to try, slowly, to explain what your position is on this. In English.

Meh, sounds like a sh it idea and won't happen.

I don't understand why putting the matches on behind closed doors would be "just pure greed"? Don't people want to watch football on TV any more because this seems quite a big change in the UK from about three weeks ago when it was quite a popular thing.

There's a lot of sentences there but god knows what you're on about. But I think what I took from it is you don't like Sky or Liverpool so you just support any decision that pi sses them off the most because no one cares about them or something.

"Only the last nine games" is a quarter of the entire season, loads of content and at the business end of the season. Granted the title race isn't much but still plenty to watch. Loads of advertising revenue down the pan and loads of lost/paused subscribtions/NOW TV buy-ups etc. Plus sky are likely paying presenters, pundits, cameramen etc for doing nothing, either through obligation or goodwill. Of course there is a huge loss to be discussed. Not sure Sky have to be the ones "to take it on the chin" - why not the clubs, why not the Premier League taking it on the chin. There's a lot to be debated when the dust settles but it's nowhere near as straightforward as you are making out.

Jesus wept.

Agree with this. With him, and the rise of Sunak, it would be very odd for Raab to step forward now, even if he is the "official" deputy.

Interesting that Gove elbowed himself to the Press Conference gig today though.

Devolved to the assemblies/governments.

And here, for absolute clarity, is Prof Neil Ferguson telling everyone that their latest work is showing the disease is slightly more transmissable than previously thought; that the revised death rate is in response to the measures taken by the government; and that they still consider that 500k is the potential scale of death in a "do nothing" scenario.

Just listened to it. Yes, quite interesting but didn't say what your quote suggested. The contributors didn't make any judgement call about the earlier studies and neither of them said "the numbers had been over-estimated". And the main thrust of the conversation was that the measures being taken by the government is the thing that will reduce infection and deaths. Interesting you didn't take that from the section, just wanting to make some shi tty points about wrecking the economy which wasn't discussed. So I think the "they" are the voices in your head mate.

Yes but we definitely take over an exhibition centre and convert into a makeshift field hospital with 4,000 beds for the seasonal flu every year right? Because this is just the same as the flu or something.

As far as I know its owned by Mel Morris. If hes doing some financial gymnastics where he is renting it back to DCFC (that he also owns) then fine but it's all the same guy. I've not read the story so no idea what the plan is.

Not really. Derby would be cheaper, have a huge potential upside by achieving promotion, plus have plenty of infrastructure and potential - good stadium, good facilities, decent youth development, big fanbase.

Just watched Boris. All of us in the pub couldn't believe what we were hearing.

On the other hand he's probably really cut up about McDonald's shutting down.

I think he's at risk of getting the elbow from Sky if he carries on. He's only a few tweets away from saying something that could really blow up. Sky are a news-based organisation and they don't need to be connected with someone gobbing off mis-information.

I agree but the issue is that the Luftwaffe were a tangible conceivable threat and this isn't in the same way. There is on Twitter an excellent thread about the communication posters from the war and how they would apply now, so yes there are some lessons to learn. The biggest issue we face now is that the government comms plan is appalling, and this from the same people that rolled out a comprehensive "get ready for Brexit" campaign with no problem at all.

To be honest the constant comparisons with the bloody second world war are tedious and counter-productive. Not least because there isn't actually any knowledge and experience of what actually happened in the population, just heresay, folklore and facile characterisation. Forget "roll out the barrel" and start asking why the government can't just pump out text messages to every mobile user in the country.

Sticking my fully erect wanger into a large jar of harissa was one of the greatest thrills of my life, until I fell off the counter in the kebab shop.

If you give in to the virus, you're just letting it win. I'm off down the pub.

I think this is due to appalling communication rather than the fault of those people. The messaging needs to be more aggressive because it feels like a huge amount of the population have just interpreted this as being a bonus early start to the Easter holiday. Genuinely I don't think people are understanding what to (not) do. The message needs to be on every ad break all day as of now.

Quite. What he's said makes a lot of sense. There will obviously be a way, in a couple of months time, to put on football matches. The nation, by then, will need entertainment, things to look forward to and talk about. Sport can do that. In mid-May, after two months of everything shut and weeks and weeks of daily news about deaths, children climbing up the walls at home, people without purpose or work, the country is going to be at breaking point. If in June there are tests to test the 50 or so people required to put on a behind closed doors football match then I think they will start doing that. If the widespread national testing of people is underway then it would be completely appropriate. The fragile national consensus of "let's all stay in forever" will be straining and some entertainment/news/focus/collectivism may help to keep it going. The idea that we can beat this virus by months and months of solemn purgatory at a national scale is misguided. Distraction will be required. I'm expecting the BBC and ITV to put on some entertainment events to bring people together, and Sky putting on a week of back to back Premier League football (for free) could clearly be part of it. This isn't China. You can't keep British people indoors with soldiers on the corner of the street. But you can with entertainment. It's the only weapons weve got.

What has been amazing to me is across the five daily press conferences, there has been a massive announcement or huge change every day. Illustrative of the pace of change and the response required. The whole thing inconceivable.