Football League Suspended

[Paul]

9 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Well actually Stuart if you research it you will find they were similar articles in The Telegraph and The Guardian but their articles need subscription so why I dont from them. 

 

 

The entire Guardian paper is free online.

[RevidgeBlue]

12 hours ago, Stuart said:

Doh!

Just play that back to yourself slowly: “It’s safer for footballers to play football because they’ve been tested, therefore they need to be tested.”

I think that’s what’s called a circular argument!

Weren't you (correctly) arguing last weekend that it was ridiculous that footballers in an artificially created bubble should have to social distance  between themselves on a team coach and that the virus couldn't have have happened to a worse generation?

So if you (correctly) think it's being overly precious that footballers should have to social distance from one another on the way to the game, why do you now appear to think that it's not safe for the same footballers (who have all been tested to within an inch of their lives) to be in close proximity to each other on a football pitch?

[RevidgeBlue]

12 hours ago, rigger said:

point three, any step back to normalcy is a priority 

Amen to that.

Nail, hammer, head.

[Paul]

On 21/05/2020 at 08:50, Mattyblue said:

And this is exactly why English football is in big trouble. A year + out of the ground and ‘Paul’s’ across the country, fans with decades of attending their club’s games, fans who have usually renewed their STs as a force of habit, realise that they don’t particularly miss it, then the sport in this country is over as we know it. Floating fans obviously float in and out, but you lose your core support and it’s game over.

Which in someways will lead the sport to a well overdue coming to collective senses, but could also lead to a huge number of clubs folding and our unique pyramid will be finished.

 

I realise some of the following may be considered off topic by some but for me it is integral to the debate.

Sorry just to be 100% clear I can see how my words were misinterpreted. The longer the DEBATE about restarting etc. the more I lose interest in the DEBATE. I will NEVER lose interest in Rovers, I will always be a Rover as will my lads. I will return to Ewood as soon as it is safe to do so.

I simply want the fans at the top of the list in this debate about restarting football. Why? In my view, and based on government action to date, it is likely large scale gatherings such as football crowds will be permitted at relatively short notice. My opinion is that it is impossible to create plans for crowd safety in a short period. Therefore the clubs should be planning for this now. Rovers need to give me the confidence it is safe to return and I do not believe the club can achieve this with, for example, four weeks notice. If we are suddenly able to attend it is essential everyone feels relatively safe to do so. If this does not happen some, like me, will wait until it is. The more a fan feels a need to wait the less likely he/she is to return. The clubs need to capitalise on the sudden feel good factor.

My life has changed for the foreseeable future. I badly miss certain activities and the physical contact of hugging family or special friends. Like millions of others I have periods of total boredom, lethargy and listlessness. I know what will lift these moods and it is not sitting amongst thousands without a high degree of safety. I was in Vietnam for nearly a month late January/February. In that time I learnt how to deal with life in a Coronavirus setting, how to live with risk. When I returned I initially received looks of bemusement from my cycling friends when I would clean the table, cutlery, etc. when we went in a cafe - within a short period I was being copied or asked to lend them my cleaning stuff!! Something like eight weeks before lockdown our lives were starting to adapt to the risk we all have to live with. Be under no misconception we will live with this risk for a very long time.

I cannot conceive of being in an airport, theatre, cinema, concert hall. I will not visit any shop which fails to protect me. There are a couple of places I will have to risk but only a couple.

It takes only a few minutes observation to understand public hygiene in this country is appalling. This is something which has always been unpleasant, today it could be the difference between life and death. Yesterday I watched a guy grab a supermarket trolley, walk straight by the sanitizer station and begin shopping. I did my very best to keep well away from and ahead of him in the supermarket. If people cannot grasp and follow basic rules now I hate to think what it will be like in six months time.

Until fans are put at the top of the list alongside these apparently oh so "important" players don't expect me to feel anything other than expendable as far as football is concerned.

 

I will return to Ewood but it is absolutely not "Rovers till I die" for me.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Paul

[AllRoverAsia]

2 hours ago, Paul said:

The entire Guardian paper is free online.

Yes indeed. I use the excellent Guardian app for most of my news type reading.

[AllRoverAsia]

35 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Weren't you (correctly) arguing last weekend that it was ridiculous that footballers in an artificially created bubble should have to social distance  between themselves on a team coach and that the virus couldn't have have happened to a worse generation?

So if you (correctly) think it's being overly precious that footballers should have to social distance from one another on the way to the game, why do you now appear to think that it's not safe for the same footballers (who have all been tested to within an inch of their lives) to be in close proximity to each other on a football pitch?

I would have doubts about getting too close to players who are into "lingerie viewing" with complete strangers. ?

[Athlete]

A proposal in Scotland is now to suspend the start of next season for lower league clubs till the new year when fans maybe allowed back into the grounds. 

This will leave the clubs dormant but without the crippling cost of playing closed doors which they can't afford. 

Tbh football without fans is nothing 

[Mattyblue]

Probably shouldn’t have used you as an example Paul, as like you I’ll be back, whenever that is.

However, the point stands, I believe crowds have now peaked in this country after 30 years of growth and will now decline sharply, especially in the EFL (we were ahead of the curve on that score!).

[Paul]

18 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Probably shouldn’t have used you as an example Paul, as like you I’ll be back, whenever that is.

However, the point stands, I believe crowds have now peaked in this country after 30 years of growth and will now decline sharply, especially in the EFL (we were ahead of the curve on that score!).

No problem Matty, I knew it was a good post to use to make your general point. One which I fully agree with.

Replying was a good opportunity for me to explain my overall view and what I feel is a huge gap in the discussion.

As one small example. We shop in ALDI and go to Tesco for things ALDI doesn't stock. Our local Tesco often has a queue of 50-60 people which can take an hour to clear. Frequently the store is very badly stocked. We now use Morrison's - small queue, well stocked.

I know this is a slightly daft example but here goes. 10,000 fans 2 metres apart waiting to enter the ground. That is a 20km queue - yes we have more than one turnstile. I await the announcement on that one! My house is 10km from the ground.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Paul

[JHRover]

51 minutes ago, Athlete said:

A proposal in Scotland is now to suspend the start of next season for lower league clubs till the new year when fans maybe allowed back into the grounds. 

This will leave the clubs dormant but without the crippling cost of playing closed doors which they can't afford. 

Tbh football without fans is nothing 

I'm not sure how this is feasible in the Football League. 

Take Accy Stanley. Putting next season into 'hibernation' with no definite start date might save them the costs of hosting fixtures and paying bills to open the stadium up, but they are still going to be committed to all sorts of other costs whether games take place or not. They will still have plenty of players on contracts who will need paying. The furlough scheme is likely to be gone well before football can resume with crowds. They will still have to pay their groundsman, maintenance staff, admin staff yet advertising and sponsorship will plummet.

Rovers will be similarly affected. 

Unless there is some massive cash injection from the Premier League, FIFA, government etc. to enable clubs to pay their staff and expenses for 6-12 months to see them through the hibernation period i can't see any way it will work. 

[rigger]

44 minutes ago, Paul said:

No problem Matty, I knew it was a good post to use to make your general point. One which I fully agree with.

Replying was a good opportunity for me to explain my overall view and what I feel is a huge gap in the discussion.

As one small example. We shop in ALDI and go to Tesco for things ALDI doesn't stock. Our local Tesco often has a queue of 50-60 people which can take an hour to clear. Frequently the store is very badly stocked. We now use Morrison's - small queue, well stocked.

I know this is a slightly daft example but here goes. 10,000 fans 2 metres apart waiting to enter the ground. That is a 20km queue - yes we have more than one turnstile. I await the announcement on that one! My house is 10km from the ground.

You are right. It is a daft example.

[Paul]

30 minutes ago, rigger said:

You are right. It is a daft example.

That's right it is. It makes the point though. How are Rovers going to get 10,000 fans through the turnstiles in a safe manner?

People have to stand 2 metres apart.

[rigger]

5 minutes ago, Paul said:

That's right it is. It makes the point though. How are Rovers going to get 10,000 fans through the turnstiles in a safe manner?

People have to stand 2 metres apart.

I think that you will find that spectators will not be attending games until social distancing is removed by the government.

[Guest]

Can't see supporters attending games in general this calendar year any way. Mass gatherings won't return for a good while. By November we'll be hitting the winter period when the Flu and COVID will make something of a comeback (who knows to what extent). It'll be the 21/22 season before get to go every week IMO.

[chaddyrovers]

 

[tomphil]

I bet Birdy finds a way in if it kicks off again at Ewood ?

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, Paul said:

That's right it is. It makes the point though. How are Rovers going to get 10,000 fans through the turnstiles in a safe manner?

People have to stand 2 metres apart.

Herein lies the problem.

People have to get it out of their heads that restrictions and social distancing are the norm.

They are not.

[HowieFive0]

5 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Herein lies the problem.

People have to get it out of their heads that restrictions and social distancing are the norm.

They are not.

Different mindset from now on ..new 'norms' are looming 

[RevidgeBlue]

4 hours ago, Paul said:

 

It takes only a few minutes observation to understand public hygiene in this country is appalling. This is something which has always been unpleasant, today it could be the difference between life and death. Yesterday I watched a guy grab a supermarket trolley, walk straight by the sanitizer station and begin shopping. I did my very best to keep well away from and ahead of him in the supermarket. If people cannot grasp and follow basic rules now I hate to think what it will be like in six months time.

 

Dear me Paul, you will be struggling if you take such a high handed approach to everyone else. It is not optional not compulsory to re-sanitise your trolley at the supermarket and like the chap you've demonized above I wouldn't even give it a second thought.

I take exactly the opposite viewpoint. Maybe it is temporarily acceptable to be OCD and wash your hands 25 times a day whilst the virus is still about but in the long run it will be desperately detrimental to our overall health if everyone insists on living in a totally antiseptic environment. We'll lose all our natural immunity to bacteria and infection.

[RevidgeBlue]

9 minutes ago, HowieFive0 said:

Different mindset from now on ..new 'norms' are looming 

They had better only be temporary or life wont really be worth living.

[HowieFive0]

2 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

They had better only be temporary or life wont really be worth living.

Its true though RB. People will have different ideas in all ways of life. Human nature. From people thinking twice of going into a packed pub (or even going into a pub at all after realising just how much money they used to piss up in a pub !) to the elderly  declining meals out with family at pubs and restaurants .. to people getting told in queues to step back a bit and stop breathing down me neck! To shopping online instead of actual 'shopping' ....it will be endless believe me. 

[Mattyblue]

Indeed, doesn’t take long for humans to get used to new ways of doing things and develop habits accordingly.

 

[arbitro]

19 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Dear me Paul, you will be struggling if you take such a high handed approach to everyone else. It is not optional not compulsory to re-sanitise your trolley at the supermarket and like the chap you've demonized above I wouldn't even give it a second thought.

I take exactly the opposite viewpoint. Maybe it is temporarily acceptable to be OCD and wash your hands 25 times a day whilst the virus is still about but in the long run it will be desperately detrimental to our overall health if everyone insists on living in a totally antiseptic environment. We'll lose all our natural immunity to bacteria and infection.

What gives you the right to have a go at anybody who you deem to have 'high handed approach'? Your attitude has been flippant about this pandemic since lockdown was announced but many, many people have a completely different view and attitude. You should respect that.

[RevidgeBlue]

24 minutes ago, arbitro said:

What gives you the right to have a go at anybody who you deem to have 'high handed approach'? Your attitude has been flippant about this pandemic since lockdown was announced but many, many people have a completely different view and attitude. You should respect that.

So, you don't respect my point of view, but you are having a go at me for putting forward a differing point of view to Paul?

That's a bit the pot calling the kettle black isn't it?

[RevidgeBlue]

36 minutes ago, HowieFive0 said:

Its true though RB. People will have different ideas in all ways of life. Human nature. From people thinking twice of going into a packed pub (or even going into a pub at all after realising just how much money they used to piss up in a pub !) to the elderly  declining meals out with family at pubs and restaurants .. to people getting told in queues to step back a bit and stop breathing down me neck! To shopping online instead of actual 'shopping' ....it will be endless believe me. 

It might be the case, I'd expect that people will be a bit hesitant at first then after a while things would get back to normal and eventually it would all be forgotten about.

Creatures of habit like Matty says.