Trout-Tickler

As much as I'd like to win the cup there's no way our threadbare squad could cope with a European campaign!

Where's all this 'I'm embarrassed' shit come from? I was proud to call myself a Saints fan before Tuesday and still am today. I don't how old the posters are on here but in our previous time in the top flight I can remember shipping 7 goals at both Goodison and Anfield never mind the fateful 3 nil up at half time against Tranmere only to lose 4-3. Sadly shit happens but through all our travails (and there's been plenty) I've never been embarrassed to say I'm a Saints fan.

Watched Ralph's MOTD interview, he's clearly embarrassed and hurting after that (quite rightly). Only the players and him can turn it around, they've got to come out fighting from Saturday onwards!

Certainly a performance you won't forget!

Was Ralph asked about the status of our injuries in the lead up to tonight's game? I've not read anything about the nature of the injuries sustained against Villa or an update on Vest & KWP's recovery.

Can't afford the electricity bill?

https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/ralph-hasenhuttl-aston-villa-southampton-4948892 Ralph saying that we could definitely do with a few. Doubt it'll happen, we haven't got a pot to piss in.

The problem is that VAR has turned offside into a binary choice, you're either onside or you're not. The previous situation of the attacker getting the benefit of the doubt has gone completely. The way it's going we'll be using electron microscopes to see if the attacker is a nano meter in front of the line!

Given our injuries, it might be more cost effective to buy a hospital ward than a new player.

The treatment administered is the same whether someone is infected with the N501Y mutant or wild type SARS-COV-2. As to identifying whether an infection is from mutant or wild-type virus that requires full genetic sequencing of the sample, the PCR test only gives a positive or negative result.

Every time I go out I'm always staggered by the amount of people wearing a face mask which isn't covering their nose. It's almost as if they live in an alternate universe in which your nose isn't connected your your respiratory system.

Did we actually make a bid for him 2 years ago?

No problem with Theo's return but since he's outside our usual transfer remit of young players on either their first or second contract we must surely have missed out on our primary targets. As I say not unhappy with his return but our primary targets must've either been to expensive or gone elsewhere.

Have absolutely no problem with him airing his views but large parts of his post are nothing more than uninformed crap. For example, he asks whether it's possible to give a positive test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus whilst having the common cold? It isn't, the PCR test looks for the specific RNA sequence found only in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The various viruses which cause the common cold all have different and unique RNA sequences of their own meaning they can't give a positive result in this test. This link explains it all nicely (https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/about-us/coronavirus-innovations/coronavirus-testing-explained) and was found with a quick Google search, why MLT couldn't run a similar search and find the relevant info is a bit strange. The info is all out there, no excuse to be ignorant. I also don't get his point about COVID19 now being referred to again as Coronavirus. The correct name of the virus is SARS-COV-2 with COVID19 being the disease caused as a result of infection by foresaid virus. The blanket description of the virus as 'Coronavirus' appears to be a way of simplifying things for the general public. The Coronaviruses are actually a family of viruses which include SARS-COV-2 as well as MERS-COV and SARS-COV. Again this information is all within the public domain so there's no excuse not to be properly informed.

Your right, it does. In theory when you reach the double blind stage of the trials both the volunteers who've received the vaccine candidate along with the placebo group should be allowed back into the general population in which the virus is circulating. However, it's possible that by the time we reach that stage the occurrence of the virus in the population may be too low to effectively evaluate the candidate. In that scenario you potentially have to deliberately expose both the placebo and vaccine candidate groups to the virus knowing that your exposing people to a potentially deadly virus with no backup drug treatment.

A good overview of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine prospects for anyone who fancies a read. https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/04/15/coronavirus-vaccine-prospects

Oxford doesn't need any more volunteers at present but you can still donate money to help their research! https://www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/news/covid-19-vaccine-development

Do you only care about the UK?

Well I saw that the WHO are suggesting that the current safety rules can be bent to allow the deliberate exposure of volunteers during challenge trials without there being any backup drug treatment in cases where the trial vaccine doesn't work. We're entering a bit of an ethical minefield where the ends maybe be used to justify the means.

It's simply to early to tell. There's months if not years of trials ahead looking at doses, efficacy, and toxicity (amongst other things) before we know if it's a safe and effective treatment. Even if you do find one, scaling up the manufacture to allow the immunisation of billions is not a trivial matter. The beginning of trials by Oxford (and others) is very welcome news but it's only the first step of a marathon.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment I do find the reaction to the deaths from COVID19 slightly hypocritical. The honest truth is people don't care about people dying in their hundreds of thousands from diseases in far of lands. Take malaria for example, the WHO published their 2019 World Malaria Report at the end of last year (https://www.who.int/publications-det...ia-report-2019). In 2018 there were an estimated 228 million cases with an estimated 405,000 deaths and in 2017 there were an estimated 213 million cases with an estimated 416,000 deaths. Moreover, in 2018, 67% of all deaths were children under the age of 5. Whilst there are of course charities raising money to help research new treatments most people in the UK don't care about those dying of malaria, out of sight out of mind I guess. So yes, one person dying is too many but let's face it people generally only care when the dying is occurring on their own door step.

Unfortunately there may never be a vaccine and even if it is possible to develop one it could take years. As somebody who works in the drug development sector I'd be surprised if a vaccine was available anytime before 2022, especially if the current safety regulations are adhered and no short cuts are taken. We're going to have to live with SARS-CoV-2 for months if not years, some pre-lockdown activities will be adaptable to physical distancing restrictions whilst others won't. We're just going to have to learn to adapt.

Afraid I find this statement a bit puzzling. Whilst the deaths resulting from infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus are truly awful and tragic there are diseases which have been killing people in the tens of thousands every year for some considerable amount of time and continue to do so. Take malaria for example, the WHO published their 2019 World Malaria Report at the end of last year (https://www.who.int/publications-detail/world-malaria-report-2019). In 2018 there were an estimated 228 million cases with an estimated 405,000 deaths and in 2017 there were an estimated 213 million cases with an estimated 416,000 deaths. Moreover, in 2018, 67% of all deaths were children under the age of 5. If the deaths from COVID19 are a natural disaster what are the ones from malaria? The sad truth is the people dying from malaria are out of sight and out mind to the overwhelming majority of people in Europe so they don't really care. However, when people start dying on their doorstep it's a 'natural disaster of biblical proportions'.

Agree with that though I'd be tempted to scrap the League cup to give more potential midweek slots for games.

What about player safety? There's already a confirmed case at Chelsea and self-isolating players at Arsenal, Leicester and Everton. Unless you keep the players in an underground bunker between games how do you stop them catching it?