A message read and heard all day, every day for what might seem like years but it’s been just weeks. Weeks of being asked to do something for the good of ourselves and others, key workers especially as it’s they who work whilst many others rest. But not Mourinho it seems, not some of his players either who were captured on film by The Mirror doing what suspiciously looks like training in a north London park. I really don’t understand which part of the instructions coming out of UK government is so hard to understand. This story will rumble on I think. Just as the ones relating to Grealish, Walker, Rooney and others have.
I’m not sure what’s more embarrassing for the owners of Liverpool. Furloughing a couple of hundred staff, or having to make a swift u-turn after the footballing world lambasted them for their actions. On the other hand, Man Utd are leading the way by donating funds to local charities and Rashford has followed suit from his own bank account. I know, he can afford it as can Utd but the difference is, they are doing it.
FA Chief Greg Clarke has been discussing this season and whether or not it’s likely to come to a natural conclusion and of course, he’s no idea. A review of the governments lockdown policy which was due this coming weekend has been put back which considering the death toll for the last 24 hours increased to its worst yet yesterday, is no surprise. The losses suffered worldwide is simply awful.
Clarke basically said that while the FA are committed to finishing the season so that the issues of promotion, relegation and league title winners can be crowned, lives are more important. As long as the government say it’s not safe to gather in groups etc, football really isn’t important. Clubs are going to suffer, of course they are are, certainly the further down the leagues, but hopefully the FA will think of some way they can be helped. Goodness knows how but clubs won’t be alone in this as businesses are suffering too. Everywhere, as are the self employed.
Not footballers though, well, not those at the big clubs around the world. Those players who are being paid vast amounts on money to stay at home and post videos of themselves with their children on social media. Happily messing around together……
The Canadian GP is the latest sports event to be cancelled. The race was due to take place on the 14th June. Wimbledon has fallen too so think of the money the LTA have lost. The participants too because it’s the Grand Slam events which pay out the big money and there isn’t a tennis tournament more grand than the one held in SW19. My point is that sportspeople are losing money left right and centre, those who are paid as they play rather than having a yearly contract. Especially those who you have to google because you’ve never heard of them.
Finishing on football. Player contracts which run out in May have been extended which means Mari and Ceballos won’t have to return to their respective clubs for the time being. Cedric doesn’t have a club to return to so this doesn’t really affect him. Likewise, the transfer window dates are sort of on hold too after FIFA announced they will be flexible, allowing the relevant transfer windows to be moved so they fall between the end of the old season and the start of the new season. No doubt that will change should this current season end prematurely.
In other words, everything is up in the air because no one can make a decision. Understandably though because no no knows when Coronavirus will release the stranglehold it has on the world. I read that China are to relax their lockdown, eleven weeks after it was put in force. The UK is eight and a half weeks behind them on lockdown timings so if that’s anything to go by, and I’m only guesstimating of course, we could yet see the season start up again. Perhaps mid July or early August as the players will need a week or two to get their fitness levels up I’d have thought.
Apart from the Toots of course as it seems their training is up and running. Pff!
Another rambling over my friends, see you in the comments….
Stay safe, stay healthy and stay at home. Protect our key workers.
Coronavirus: Arsenal donate £100k to fight COVID-19 pandemic and provide cars for NHS. Daily Mirror 24th March
This is of course the sum of money donated jointly by Man Utd and City according to the independent
21st March , They may have done more since but it doesn’t appear on News Now .
As for sport in general and football in particular , nobody knows how this thing will pan out and they are just as with the actions of our previous prime minister on Brexit “”Kicking the can down the road “”.
The F.A if nothing else is a slow moving object and they will try to eke out making a decision until they are faced with a wall when they will make that knee jerk decision which in the end will be forced on them by circumstance.
Morning all.
I just saw the stats in Oz relating to the virus.
Credit to our government, but also our population compared to the vast size of collide country also helps, but so far, we’ve been incredibly lucky.
Only, and I don’t say this lightly, 50 deaths to date, and the spread has been slowing consistently for the past week.
We are getting on top, but it’s not over yet by a long way.
To any club and player putting their hand in their pocket, I say well done.
Yes, they can afford it, but to do so is still a noble gesture.
What’s happening with sport in Oz Scott?
Morning Rico.
A big fat nothing at this stage hahaha
There are talks that AFL and NRL are hoping to start their competitions in May but time will tell.
Our Football season runs over summer and fell 6 games short of completing their league this season.
Good day all, and well done Rico for keeping the posts coming.
Without having, so far, caught the virus I find that Covid-19 is having a profound effect on me. . I’m staying at home, not working, complaining about everything, and waiting for a cheque from the government. I’ve turned into a Labour voter. 😉
Morning Scott, I guessed you’d be in the same position as the rest despite being very low on the figures which is great by the way. As you’ve said, population to land is far less than in Europe which really helps. Hope it stays that way for you all, especially after what your country went through with the fires.
I am getting fed up with the naysayers quoting Sweden as an example of doing things differently . Has anyone bothered to see the size of the place compared to the UK and it has a population slightly smaller than London.
Same principle Scott
Hi Rico, thanks for the post, now don’t shoot me down as I’m not 100%, but I think that June 30th is when the majority of contracts expire in the UEFA zone, with the exception of Russia etc, who play to a different timetable due to their weather issues.
As for finishing this season, I still think, as I posted a couple or so weeks ago, that lawyers and also agents, will have the major influence on this decision, as writs will start flying about if the season is cancelled.
Whatever we may think, the motivation is finance, TV companies wanting some of their money back, reimbursing season ticket holders, clubs being robbed of promotion, europe, their day out at Wembley, it’s all big bucks and the lawyers are licking their lips in anticipation.
We’re barely into a third week in our U.K. lockdown, some countries like Spain are talking in terms of easing restrictions, others like France are tightening restrictions, some european countries have yet to really suffer but may do over the weeks ahead, others like Italy are finally seeing a flattening of the curve, whatever that means!
I still think the 2019/20 season will begin again and be concluded, whether that’s in June as I recently saw suggested and dismissed by some or whether it be July or later, to me the major driver of everything will be financial.
I guess that the prospect of Arsenal playing in an FACup final in August is still a very real possibility…
As for contracts, well I guess that clubs, the agents and the players will play it by ear, everyone should be fit when we kick off again, so if any player wants to leave at the end of his present deal, then it wouldn’t bother me, the big problem for those out of contract and their agents is will any other club be allowed to sign them and register them before 2019/20 is finally concluded?
Rico/Potter, I don’t understand the comparisons between countries.
There are so many variables and factors, so it’s pretty pointless imo.
While we often seem a million miles away from the rest of the world at times, distance can be Australia’s best defence at times.
It’s the equation of how many people live in an area .
Sweden is 451000 square kms and has a population of just about 10 million.
Greater London is 611 square miles and has a population of 9 1/2 million .
The UK as a whole is 243,000 square kms and has a population 68 million.
People are arguing that Sweden which is not following an isolation policy has had 687 deaths
London which is supposedly on shutdown has had 1706 deaths .
The uk as a whole 6159 deaths
What they are not taking into account is that because there is so much more area for people to be in they have to sneeze a lot harder to spread it.
One thing that came out from my research across the whole of Europe is that we are ridiculously over populated for the amount of area we have by comparison to the rest..
Sorry Rico , i know that you were trying to avoid these posts but i was trying to explain to Scott
To lighten the mood a little…..On a visit to Jerusalem Donald Trump suffered a massive heart attack and died. His advisors and staff huddled together trying to decide what to do. They asked the undertaker how much it would cost to fly the President’s body back to The States. The undertaker said it would cost around $50,000, but he could be buried in Jerusalem for just hundred bucks. The staff and advisors huddled together again and decided the President had to return home. The undertaker asked why. After a pause the chief advisor explained like this “Along time ago a man died here and three days later arose from the dead….we can’t take that chance”.
Hi Kev, that’s what I thought too but the FIFA statement said May I’m sure. But you know me… 😆
Agree, money will be a massive factor in what happens.
Ok Rico, I didn’t see the FIFA statement tbh, but I’m sure that whoever made that statement is wrong and we are right, remember it’s FIFA we’re talking about here and their major focus is how much each individual representative can enrich himself through bribes and corruption, what an embarrassment to the ‘football family’ (Bullshit) they are…
Agree Scott. Plus the people are different in the way they deal with this pandemic. So many are still ignoring it’s seriousness.
That’s ok Potter, I soon realised that’s its impossible to avoid the virus, it’s everywhere so I’ve forgotten about all that.
Your comment is spot on…
It’s here Kev.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fifa-reach-decision-transfer-window-21830017
But yes, I think we’re right hence new contracts starting on the 1st July otherwise there would be a free month. One which Arsene Wenger would have exploited 😜
We are struggling to contain the virus yet we are still allowing illegal immigrants to land in this country. Many are coming from the camps in France where Covid-19 infections are rife. In the last two days 120 migrants have been intercepted in the English Channel. They have all been taken to Dover and passed to Border Force. Why were they not returned immediately to France before they could become a further burden on the NHS?
Potter, agreed.
As I said, the simple fact Australia so far away from the rest of the world helps us on occasions, as does the fact we have 25 million people living in such a massive place.
These are the things the social media “experts” are ignoring when offering us advice on how our Government should be handling things 🙂 🙂
Rico, to be fair, seeing things on the news happening overseas is one thing, seeing it hit your own country is another.
I, and I dare say the huge majority if Aussies were pretty blasé about this up until 3-4 weeks ago.
Unfortunately, some still are, or simply don’t care for whatever reason.
It won’t be them who die from this if they catch it, it’ll be someone around them!!!!!
Happy Easter to all stay safe
Morning all.
New post up now