Season suspended until April 30th

[Matt]

Some non-league fixtures are on, but don't all go to the same one, obvs.

[Stevie_J]

2 hours ago, Oh Heck C-Beck said:

I live in Japan and they closed schools and banned public gatherings, sports, etc two weeks ago. I noticed that the number of cases in the UK has now overtaken those here even though Covid-19 was detected in Japan much earlier. Looking at that I would say suspending the football is a step in the right direction. 

 

Also remember yes it is not the most deadly virus around, but if everyone gets it at once and you do get badly sick, you won't be getting the help you need if the hospitals are full. My 1 year old son was rushed to hospital in December with breathing problems from the RSV virus, he needed oxygen but there were only two beds in the hospital for kids with in this state. He recovered quickly but it could have been different if the hospitals were all full. This is not to make people panic but just to be aware of the problems that may lie ahead.

 

Stay safe! 

Glad your son’s okay, OHCB. 

[Stevie_J]

31 minutes ago, Matt said:

 

Thankfully, it looks like they've decided to prohibit large gatherings.

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-legislatio/uk-to-move-to-ban-mass-gatherings-next-week-to-curb-covid-19-idUKKBN2103HC

 

A vaccine is some way off (although I believe the Canadians have made progress - they turn hockey off and get immediate results! Fuck the Habs), let's not overburden our already struggling health network by letting our sports get in the way.

 

Stay healthy and wash your hands.

Clinical readouts due end-April, I think. 

[nzlatic]

12 hours ago, Pidge said:

I’m guessing that’s a wind up nz,

I'm not sure what bit seemed like a wind up?

 

General advice seems to be social distancing, avoid shaking hands etc but some are expecting 22 sweaty footballers to be running around touching each other for our entertainment.  They may have vulnerable people in their families that they don't want to put at risk.  Why should they be expected to do so just because some people don't know what else to do with their Saturdays?

[Stevie_J]

28 minutes ago, Matt said:

 

I agree with some of that. The 'herd' thing still needs a vaccine, otherwise the Govt. are just letting it burn through - also known as 'Do as little as possible and allow people to die, with minimal impact on the pound.' Policy.

Boris slipped up and pretty much said that was his preference, didn’t he? And then followed up with his inspirational “Prepare to lose loved ones before their time” speech, coupled with the forceful measure of telling people to take 7 days off if they have fever or a cough. 

[Magic Mikey]

49 minutes ago, Stevie_J said:

Boris slipped up and pretty much said that was his preference, didn’t he? And then followed up with his inspirational “Prepare to lose loved ones before their time” speech, coupled with the forceful measure of telling people to take 7 days off if they have fever or a cough. 

People voted for a man who hid in a fridge to avoid a breakfast TV interview. Surely they can't be surprised that he's as useful as a chocolate fireguard in a crisis. 

[underdog]

Just seen Tranmere Rover Trust and Club on BBC 1 this am.

 

Their Trust is going to take a financial hit as they run the fans bar there, however they are being positive on how they want to financially support their club during this tough time, by suggesting other initiatives. They were suggesting/encouraging.

 

 - Early ST sales

 - Buy a community ticket for those less fortune, no expiry date. 

 

Granted our Fan/club relationship is not great, but got me thinking how maybe Trust/PTB could look into something similar. Not necessarily hand over cash right away like, maybe after other stuff has been sorted.

 

Just a thought

 

Or if club decided they don;t need cash....There is Paul Murray and the Youth team or the OACT? I believe both are independantly run

 

[al_bro]

4 hours ago, stevesidg said:

 

It makes good sense to suspend football and other sport. The idea is that it will delay the peak until the NHS  is better prepared for it 

 

Depending on how it all progresses, the season could end in June or July, and the next one start in November.

 

how that plays out with so many permutations and dependencies, nobody knows at this stage 

The virus may stop being the headline news on TV and in the papers, but it will still be with us until we have a vaccine. June is predicted to be the peak, so it would be idiocy to start football or any mass event up then. We are told the vaccine is 12 - 18 months away, so. when the most vulnerable people have had their jabs would be time to start up again. We could then finish off this season perhaps this time next year. Now we come to the problem of players contracts and finance of clubs in general. I don't know the solution to that.

[al_bro]

4 hours ago, Oh Heck C-Beck said:

I live in Japan and they closed schools and banned public gatherings, sports, etc two weeks ago. I noticed that the number of cases in the UK has now overtaken those here even though Covid-19 was detected in Japan much earlier. Looking at that I would say suspending the football is a step in the right direction. 

 

Also remember yes it is not the most deadly virus around, but if everyone gets it at once and you do get badly sick, you won't be getting the help you need if the hospitals are full. My 1 year old son was rushed to hospital in December with breathing problems from the RSV virus, he needed oxygen but there were only two beds in the hospital for kids with in this state. He recovered quickly but it could have been different if the hospitals were all full. This is not to make people panic but just to be aware of the problems that may lie ahead.

 

Stay safe! 

I'm glad your son's ok. I was wondering why, on a graph, Japan seemed to have a much lower rise in cases. However we are told that shutting down too early like that, just creates a new peak later on when things open up again. I guess we will only know which is the best strategy when it's all over. 

[singe]

There is a neutral threadreader on the herd immunity tactic. It's good there is scientifically led action, but it's by no means universally accepted as a good idea, but it's a plan

But we are woefully down on tests to ascertain its effectiveness, and even at this level the projection is a quarter of a million deaths. 

Crucially, we are going it alone with this action, which makes it far riskier. 

And worst of all, there is now evidence of reinfection in Ital & China rendering the tactic hopeless. 

The next week or two will be make or break. 

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1238518371651649538.html

[singe]

20 minutes ago, al_bro said:

I'm glad your son's ok. I was wondering why, on a graph, Japan seemed to have a much lower rise in cases. However we are told that shutting down too early like that, just creates a new peak later on when things open up again. I guess we will only know which is the best strategy when it's all over. 

Part of the reason for lower figure is much lower testing, so the true scale is unknown. 

[stevesidg]

23 minutes ago, singe said:

There is a neutral threadreader on the herd immunity tactic. It's good there is scientifically led action, but it's by no means universally accepted as a good idea, but it's a plan

But we are woefully down on tests to ascertain its effectiveness, and even at this level the projection is a quarter of a million deaths. 

Crucially, we are going it alone with this action, which makes it far riskier. 

And worst of all, there is now evidence of reinfection in Ital & China rendering the tactic hopeless. 

The next week or two will be make or break. 

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1238518371651649538.html

That’s very interesting .

is it a site with a good reputation?

[rudemedic]

4 minutes ago, stevesidg said:

That’s very interesting .

is it a site with a good reputation?

It's from a twitter account. 

 

The person purporting to be behind it is a Prof from Liverpool Uni who's field is social, environmental, architectural psychology and behavioural factors in anti-microbial resistance. 

 

So they will know what they are talking about in terms of social isolation to stop the spread of disease. 

[Magic Mikey]

1 hour ago, singe said:

There is a neutral threadreader on the herd immunity tactic. It's good there is scientifically led action, but it's by no means universally accepted as a good idea, but it's a plan

But we are woefully down on tests to ascertain its effectiveness, and even at this level the projection is a quarter of a million deaths. 

Crucially, we are going it alone with this action, which makes it far riskier. 

And worst of all, there is now evidence of reinfection in Ital & China rendering the tactic hopeless. 

The next week or two will be make or break. 

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1238518371651649538.html

The last line alone is extremely comforting. 

[RobinsDuckEgg]

Personally I think the policies the UK govt have adopted over “herd immunity” and “flattening the curve, “ strategies are seriously misguided. Virtually means do almost nothing short term.

Exactly the same as in Italy and Spain which quickly saw the rise in cases jump exponentially, compromising the health service (which here in Spain is far superior to the NHS). This quickly made both govts change their policies resulting in the Italian clampdown, and a state of emergency here.

Though there seems to be signs today that de Pfeffel might be about to change his tactics.

 

[oafcmetty]

 

[Emcee_Latic]

Should give AL time to make sure the North Stand is open for the rest of the season!

[laticsrblue]

3 hours ago, Emcee_Latic said:

Should give AL time to make sure the North Stand is open for the rest of the season!

 

The N Stand is ideally suited and  placed to be an emergency Covid-18 unit.  

Wards could be set up in the larger rooms and the boxes could be used as isolation rooms  + it has catering facilities and is next door to the hospital.

[Magic Mikey]

9 minutes ago, laticsrblue said:

 

The N Stand is ideally suited and  placed to be an emergency Covid-18 unit.  

Wards could be set up in the larger rooms and the boxes could be used as isolation rooms  + it has catering facilities and is next door to the hospital.

If only it was safe. 

[Wardie]

Call me cynical but it looks like someone is seeing this situation with football as a reasonable chance of avoiding relegation.
Brighton's CEO Paul Barber...

"If we were to freeze the league it would be incredibly unjust for Liverpool to not be awarded the title, because everybody in the game appreciates what a fantastic season they have had. Equally it would be unjust for teams to be relegated with nine or 10 games to go in the Premier League. I think it's a possible option to leave the 20 teams in the league as it is but bring the top two in the Championship up."

 

According to the gossip on Twatter, Brighton also one of the PL clubs averse to the PL providing financial assistance to the lower league clubs. It would be tricky to implement but there's nothing like showing your true colours. 

[Hands on]

I do wonder how many people listened to the press briefing.  That briefing was based on the science.  It was not political.

 

We have that daft idiot across the pond stopping flights.  Does he think somehow that the virus isn't in the USofA?  The virus is now everywhere and stopping people travelling will have no impact, zilch!

 

The response has to be based on how the population in each country will respond.  It is also a mistake to simply lock down.  You need to protect the most vulnerable but let your people build up resistance to the virus.  You can only do this by allowing people to be infected.  Sounds awful but what is the alternative you might ask.  The alternative is that after a lock down the virus will run rampant again.  Our best defence was to allow the epidemic to proceed but to slow down the rate of infection to allow the NHS to cope over this spring/summer with a smaller number of people at any one time needing help.

 

The virus kills by both respiratory failure and/or a cytokine response which causes multiple organ failure.  Both can be helped if treatment is available.  The health service in Italy failed and couldn't cope with the number of older people who couldn't combat the virus on their own.  The plan in the UK is to slow down but not stop the spread of the virus whilst protecting older people.  The crass decision by the premier league and the EFL has undermined this approach.

 

We have moved on from containment whereby anyone who has been in contact with someone who has the virus should self isolate for 14 days to only those people who have the symptoms self isolating for 7 days because the high transmission period is the 3/4 days following the onset of symptoms.  As more people become infected there would be whole household isolations and older people avoiding any places of risk/staying at home.  All this has been blown apart by the desire to be seen to be doing something.

 

All the above steps were explained at the press briefing.

 

We are now moving to the place where our economy will be much more severely damaged and who will suffer the most.  It is those who live hand to mouth.  Those who have zero hours contracts.  Those who are self employed.  How can the NHS respond if the children of those working there are sent home?  What happens to the distribution of food and public transport if the children of those working there are sent home.  The least affected group in China were children.  What happens when children sent home are looked after by grandparents?

 

The current madness will lead to more deaths and risks another peak of infections later in the year when the NHS has no chance of coping.  We are an irresponsible society of idiots who could destroy the very fabric of our civilised way of life.

[astottie]

23 hours ago, Matt said:

Some non-league fixtures are on, but don't all go to the same one, obvs.

Went to Radcliffe Borough v Whitby Town, 2-2 and quite entertaining.  Akpo Akpro did very little for Radcliffe. Stephen Dawson captain for them. Connor Hughes and Callum Dolan came on. Swaby Nevin unused on the bench. Dont know what their regular attendance is but it looked a healthy* turn out.

*in both senses of the word.

[RobinsDuckEgg]

9 hours ago, Hands on said:

I do wonder how many people listened to the press briefing.  That briefing was based on the science.  It was not political.

 

We have that daft idiot across the pond stopping flights.  Does he think somehow that the virus isn't in the USofA?  The virus is now everywhere and stopping people travelling will have no impact, zilch!

 

The response has to be based on how the population in each country will respond.  It is also a mistake to simply lock down.  You need to protect the most vulnerable but let your people build up resistance to the virus.  You can only do this by allowing people to be infected.  Sounds awful but what is the alternative you might ask.  The alternative is that after a lock down the virus will run rampant again.  Our best defence was to allow the epidemic to proceed but to slow down the rate of infection to allow the NHS to cope over this spring/summer with a smaller number of people at any one time needing help.

 

The virus kills by both respiratory failure and/or a cytokine response which causes multiple organ failure.  Both can be helped if treatment is available.  The health service in Italy failed and couldn't cope with the number of older people who couldn't combat the virus on their own.  The plan in the UK is to slow down but not stop the spread of the virus whilst protecting older people.  The crass decision by the premier league and the EFL has undermined this approach.

 

We have moved on from containment whereby anyone who has been in contact with someone who has the virus should self isolate for 14 days to only those people who have the symptoms self isolating for 7 days because the high transmission period is the 3/4 days following the onset of symptoms.  As more people become infected there would be whole household isolations and older people avoiding any places of risk/staying at home.  All this has been blown apart by the desire to be seen to be doing something.

 

All the above steps were explained at the press briefing.

 

We are now moving to the place where our economy will be much more severely damaged and who will suffer the most.  It is those who live hand to mouth.  Those who have zero hours contracts.  Those who are self employed.  How can the NHS respond if the children of those working there are sent home?  What happens to the distribution of food and public transport if the children of those working there are sent home.  The least affected group in China were children.  What happens when children sent home are looked after by grandparents?

 

The current madness will lead to more deaths and risks another peak of infections later in the year when the NHS has no chance of coping.  We are an irresponsible society of idiots who could destroy the very fabric of our civilised way of life.

 

I’ve listened to just about every argument available and it still seems to me that the UK took a punt on a bum laissez faire theory which had already proved disastrous in Italy and Spain. There was a massive rise in cases, one of the reasons being that this virus can be passed by people without symptoms. Health services quickly couldn’t cope, and now we’re in lockdown.

In the UK it might just conceivably be mitigated by cultural differences – less physical contact socially, less kissing and hugging etc. The stand offishness of the average Brit could be a big advantage, also the fact that people tend to act in a more disciplined way than here in southern europe, and will probably take self isolation more seriously.

 

 

[nzlatic]

10 hours ago, Hands on said:

The crass decision by the premier league and the EFL has undermined this approach.

So are you saying that footballers/coaches/physios etc should be forced to play football and risk catching the virus? Or should the games be played and the players have the choice of playing or not?  

[tGWB]

2 hours ago, nzlatic said:

So are you saying that footballers/coaches/physios etc should be forced to play football and risk catching the virus? Or should the games be played and the players have the choice of playing or not?  

 

Cant see another game being played this season, certainly in the top leagues

 

The Premier League with £billions washing around can afford to sit out the season virtually unaffected

 

Can see Liverpool, 25 points in front of their nearest rivals being declared Champions with no relegations this season.

 

Likewise in the Championship, both WBA and Leeds being promoted into the Premier League and maybe 5 teams being relegated from the Premier League next season to realign the league back to 20 teams

 

Extra games that would create in the Premier League easily sorted by Premier League teams not participating in the EFL next season freeing up game time 

 

Lower leagues can be treated similarly with no relegations and only promotions but that would create massive financial problems for many clubs without some financial from either the Premier League or the EFL

 

Playing games behind closed doors simply isn't the answer as lower league clubs need gate receipt revenues from their remaining home games

 

I don't have a crystal ball but am pretty sure that the footballing world is unlikely to financially come to the aid of clubs that will desperately need help should the restrictions continue for 2-3 months