egg

Footy, the elixir of life eh.

Good shout. I rushed to the shop just before closing last night as we needed stuff. Others did the same. Consequently it was like the rush for last orders at the bar. Longer opening hours can only help with that.

I think that's broadly correct. What we have at the moment is a Mexican standoff. The government are refusing to call the end of the season to avoid the financial backlash falling on them- indeed they've made (perhaps disingenuous) noises saying they'd like sport to carry on. Ditto the PL and Sky. Below that there are all sorts of people and organisations who need to be paid as per contract, not least the players. There has to be a resolution soon but Sky won't pay for a product they aren't getting, and clubs can't fulfil contracts without income from them and sponsors who aren't getting their advertising without TV footy. The government won't call it, the clubs won't as they need the income, the players won't as they want the dollars, and Sky won't as the buck will stop with them. Thus, I think it will inevitably be a fudged outcome with the season concluding to a fashion but as almost exhibition football. I'd prefer a null and void but for the above reasons I don't think that likely.

Flame

Player

Finished

This (bench included) but with Pelle over Lambert, he's just a bit better overall imo. That said, I can see the case for Pelle, Lambert or Ings up top but I'd want a 4231 and I think Pelle is the best of the 3 as the man in that system. The one selection that some have made that surprises me is David over Lallana. Davis was a great link man, loyal and hardworking, but at his best Lallana was head and shoulders over him.

Absolutely. That point keeps being missed - too many people are focusing on the benefit to them rather than others. Sign of the times methinks.

Quite. It's pretty obvious that the virus is spread on the streets and shops by people carrying the virus, and that if they were wearing a mask they'd be less likely to spread the virus. It's hard to see an argument against masks being worn - they protect all of us if they prevent transmission.

Wink

That is superb. The effort and detail put into that is unbelievable.

Locked down.

I agree, Germany testing & tracing gave them a huge advantage. They did that from the start. They also locked down, properly. We did neither. The simple fact is that we, at least, hundreds of thousands of people infected - any suggestion of getting back to something like normality any time soon is silly and dangerous. I'm not sure what your last paragraph is all about but this isn't "house arrest" and I'm not calling for it. We are where we are which is with a rampant virus. It's got that way despite this diluted lockdown. It's obvious that removing that will lead to more cases. We need a very slow and controlled return to normality.

Yep, the "lockdown" was too little too late. Something proper would have made a huge difference, proper and earlier would have been more effective. You only have to look at Germany to see how proper action can help. But even then, they've cancelled Oktoberfest, yet people over here believe they'll be having a cider in the pub garden in June. Nuts.

This is the mass complacency that we don't need. This virus has gone nowhere. There is no way 30-40% have had this, and even if they have, we're now told that infection may not give immunity. The next step is not what people want. It's what the people need. Despite this lockdown lite, thousands of people were tested positive this week. They all caught the virus during lockdown lite. If you add millions more people to the streets, businesses, transport etc, it's obvious that the spread will increase.

Agreed. Absolutely shocking performance. Just not interested at all.

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Test

This. He's massively underrated, as was Tadic. He'll be a huge loss.

Ranger

So what's happened to this missing ppe from Turkey? Commandeered by the US? All very odd.

To be fair mate I skim much of the sh:te you post so some of the detail gets lost.

What's the point given that you'd refuse to believe the existence of a goldfish if you saw it.

Do you have any hobbies Matthew? They are a great way of utilising time.

But you've said knowledge is a subset of belief. Make your mind up.