egg

I'd go with that, but Simeu has covid I think so I'd go with a back 4 and bring one of the youngsters into the front 4, either Olaigbe on the left or Ballard up top. Forster Valery Stephens Lyanco Perraud Diallo Romeu Armstrong Olaigbe Armstrong Tella

Lady

Cheers, my thoughts are similar. This obligation to vax by stealth doesn't sit comfortably with me, and personally I have no issue being around unvaccinated people who I don't see as a risk to me. The gym thing doesn't surprise me. At my gym I see people in the sauna, unmasked of course, then pop a mask on to walk along a corridor. To be fair to Boris, his reaction to Omicron has been sensible. Although the booster has been pushed, he's avoided sanctions for people who don't want it. Anyways, I'm off to the gym for a sauna.

Interesting, but what's the source of that thinking? I've not seen that idea anywhere. If the vaccine was a potential performance enhancer, surely it'd be on the banned list but with an exemption from sanction if a sportsman has it.

Newcastle are gonna tear other teams apart with Tripper feeding balls into Solanke when they get him. Or something. I'm not sure where Coutinho fits into Villa's team. Great player though and a big hitter.

On the first paragraph, I'm not sure that a principled concern equates to a medical reason to justify no vaccine. I get the point completely, but a concern and evidence of a negative impact on one's health are a world apart. On the second point, getting an exemption is one thing, but it's veracity must be capable of clarification. If the exemption is based on principled rather than actual health grounds, then he absolutely has circumvented the rules.

Where are you on vaccines and restrictions for the unvaccinated Weston? My kids don't want the booster and I'm cool with that. They're of the view that omicron will likely cause them no issue so don't feel the need for another jab. They also take the view that they're as likely to pass it on whether vaxed or otherwise so the booster would be for their benefit only, and I don't disagree with that.

I thought he was asked to confirm the veracity of his medical exemption. There's nothing wrong with that imo as it's reasonable to have doubt that an elite sportsman has a medical issue so serious as to prevent him from having a vaccination. I think it's obvious to anyone that Novak is hiding behind some bullshit to justify his principled stance and if the authorities have smelt that bs and investigated good on them.

Yep. He swerves any question that highlights the stupidity of his stance, then babbles on about North Korea and Nazi's. Pitiful.

Amen. Not complicated. His willingness to follow the rules of his chosen profession, but not the rules of a country where he wants to go and do his job, is a tad odd imo.

Medical exemptions aren't given to people without medical issues so I'm assuming he's unhealthy, or at least claims to be.

But it is the rule. Their nationals can show any feelings against the Oz policies at the ballot box, others have to accept them regardless of their views. C'est la vie. Back to my ignored question. The rule is in place - should the Oz authorities ignored the rule and waved him through? Yes or no.

Control to whom, for what purpose, and for what gain?

Man, you're scraping the barrel with your North Korea comparison. The rule is the rule. With that being so, are you saying that Oz should have just waved Novak through? It's a yes or no one.

This bollocks again. What is it about, spell it out. Explain what multiple governments around the world get from spending on vaccines, slowing down their economies, supplementing their populous, etc, etc. The answer is fuck all.

Exactly that. "Choice" ain't just about people doing what they want. It's also about countries and institutions having the choice to set their own rules. We could debate the merits of the Oz rules all day long, but they are what they are, and fair play to them for implementing them.

I see that Lemina and Aubemayang were caught partying 4 days before AFCON and now both have covid.

Garden

Noted, but your logic is flawed. You say that Jankewitz must be crap because a) Ralph didn't seem to rate him, b) he had to move to a lesser club to get games, and c) he's yet to establish himself at that club. If that logic was correct, it'd equally apply to Simeu and Small. The reality though is that all 3 of them are talented kids yet to prove themselves, and the fact that they haven't been given game time is not evidence that they aren't good enough or won't make it.

He's Catholic I think.

That's completely different to someone spending somebody else's millions without their authority.

As Dman says, I'm not sure what you're getting from digging out a young lad. He's decent, but I'm not wasting my time discussing the merits of an ex player with someone who thinks A Armstrong is a better prospect than Broja. On the Ralph point, he was shit for most of last year, and he was stubborn about this kid. Two separate points.

Wolf

I get the impression that Twar has no stats on the kid to assess him so has assumed that he must be shit because he's not forced his way into the team. Like you, I've seen him play and its clear that he's a very decent footballer who deserves some credit for wanting to play and improve himself.

I get that, and had he kept a lid on things it would have been very interesting to see where he could have taken us. There's no getting away from the fact that he oversaw one of the best periods of my time as a fan. Seeing us come back from the depths, flying through the leagues, signing players well above our status, and playing some great football was brilliant. It's a shame how it ended but we've survived, and these new guys seem like a step forwards from where we've been over recent years.