Coronavirus could prevent Liverpool from winning the Premier League title

[Mark M]

So all the ex-players and pundits calling for the season to be void. I assume they only want football to resume after a vaccine is found ? 
or are they all of a sudden in August going to start asking for a new season to start and tell people we need to get on with ‘normal’ life again and stop deffering everything.

[Supremolad]

1 hour ago, clockspeed said:

I would go with this . If season starts up now and the likes of West Ham under threat of relegation would not put it past them to deliberately infect their squad and not be able to field a team voiding the matches.

Yep. Mentioned a similar scenario earlier in the thread. Desperate teams won't even need to get their whole squad infected. 2 or 3 players testing positive would be enough to bring in the shouts for the restart to be ended.

[Supremolad]

I have resigned to the fact that the season won't be completed. Especially with info coming out that Sky and BT were ready to negotiate about the money which would be owed them. I'm guessing the owners of the overseas broadcast rights would also be willing to do so eventually.

 

With the threat of financial ruin lifted off many teams, it would be easier to convince them to cancel the remainder of the season. The main issue now is whether the PL would follow the footsteps of Belgium and Scotland by announcing an intention to crown Champions, or if they weasel their way out of it like the Dutch.

[Barrington Womble]

11 minutes ago, Supremolad said:

Yep. Mentioned a similar scenario earlier in the thread. Desperate teams won't even need to get their whole squad infected. 2 or 3 players testing positive would be enough to bring in the shouts for the restart to be ended.

The whole squad would be a waste. Why infect them all and have an immune squad and miss maybe only 2 weeks when you could drip it out, 2 week lock down, 3 days of training and another discovery. 

 

Personally I think of the game comes back players and staff should be asked to isolate somewhere (such as hotel) and tests should be carried out by a central independent body. 

[Ronnie Whelan]

8 minutes ago, Supremolad said:

I have resigned to the fact that the season won't be completed. Especially with info coming out that Sky and BT were ready to negotiate about the money which would be owed them. I'm guessing the owners of the overseas broadcast rights would also be willing to do so eventually.

 

With the threat of financial ruin lifted off many teams, it would be easier to convince them to cancel the remainder of the season. The main issue now is whether the PL would follow the footsteps of Belgium and Scotland by announcing an intention to crown Champions, or if they weasel their way out of it like the Dutch.

I think the thing is being drawn out because of the financial implications for the league and clubs so I agree with you on that front. I mean say if the Mancs were 25 points clear, like fuck John would want to lose out on 100 odd million for the season not being completed.

 

However, they still need to decide on a format and none of them are entirely fair. The fairest is ppg which is the route that they may go down, but I still think they will find a way to finish the season.

 

Relegate a very big club like Villa and that's some legal backlash. 

Deny a very big club like Leeds promotion and that's some legal backlash.

 

Or just hang tight, finish the season at the loss of quality but ensure that the product was completed.

[Mathewbet1]

I suppose a quick 6 a side tournament down the local leisure centre is off the table.

[lifetime fan]

1 hour ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

I think the thing is being drawn out because of the financial implications for the league and clubs so I agree with you on that front. I mean say if the Mancs were 25 points clear, like fuck John would want to lose out on 100 odd million for the season not being completed.

 

However, they still need to decide on a format and none of them are entirely fair. The fairest is ppg which is the route that they may go down, but I still think they will find a way to finish the season.

 

Relegate a very big club like Villa and that's some legal backlash. 

Deny a very big club like Leeds promotion and that's some legal backlash.

 

Or just hang tight, finish the season at the loss of quality but ensure that the product was completed.

Until there’s enough PPE for the NHS and social care providers a return to football shouldn’t even be under consideration. 

[devilsadvocate]

This is becoming tiresome now. 
 
If it's not safe to finish this season behind closed doors in June/July why is it going to be safe to start a new season in Aug/Sept?

 

if it's not safe now then it's not gonna be safe until a vaccine is discovered surely? 

[Ronnie Whelan]

4 minutes ago, lifetime fan said:

Until there’s enough PPE for the NHS and social care providers a return to football shouldn’t even be under consideration. 

I agree. I don't have any issue with it being completed in September/Oct/Nov or even in the new year.

[Bobby Hundreds]

3 minutes ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

I agree. I don't have any issue with it being completed in September/Oct/Nov or even in the new year.

I think there is zero chance of that. They will want to put a full stop on this season before August in my opinion regardless of how the pandemic is panning out.

[devilsadvocate]

9 minutes ago, lifetime fan said:

Until there’s enough PPE for the NHS and social care providers a return to football shouldn’t even be under consideration. 

Why single out football though? 
 

Should B&Q be reopening whilst there's not enough PPE? 
 

It's not football responsibility to provide PPE its the governments. 

[Baltar]

I'm pretty sure the government will intervene and declare no more football until fuck knows when. The season will be finished without playing another game. The only question is whether they void it, or end with decisions made on champions, Cl qualification, relegation, promotion etc.

[lifetime fan]

27 minutes ago, devilsadvocate said:

Why single out football though? 
 

Should B&Q be reopening whilst there's not enough PPE? 
 

It's not football responsibility to provide PPE its the governments. 

Because football will be requiring PPE and medical support that B&Q won’t. 
 

I thought that would be pretty fucking obvious. 

[devilsadvocate]

Footballers won't be wearing PPE. 

[Stickman]

3 hours ago, Doctor Troy said:

Piers Morgan the cunt on GMTV then interviewing Rio Ferdinand saying "dont you think it should be voided Rio, I've said from the start it should be, Liverpool fans wont like me but health is more important"

 

To be fair to Ferdinand he didn't jump on the bandwagon and just remained non committal. 

What pisses you off about this is whatever happens to professional respect between sportsmen? The duck faced cunt knows how hard it is to win a title and he’s seen the unbelievable things this group of players have achieved yet he comes on spouting his shite when he’s no expert on the subject nor does he explain how and when this new season resumes .

Morgan meanwhile knows if Arsenal were in our position he would be screaming about pampered footballers and why can’t they play football when brave NHS staff are risking their lives.

it’s agenda driven shite that’s pretty low given they’re using thousand os deaths to suit their cause,. I’m not saying they don’t care about people’s lives but the fact they just call for it to be voided shows what they are

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Void the season but allow the top in the Championship promotion, err ok.

Leeds are 1 point ahead of second place, 3 rd are 6 points behind second, 9 games left. No chance of this happening if we aren’t awarded the title.

See you in court.

[dockers_strike]

3 hours ago, Doctor Troy said:

 

There's a bandwagon rolling through town and every cunt is jumping on it.

Yep, there sure is and it's gaining speed. Pretty shocking the number of ex pros jumping this band wagon as well. Im sure if they were still playing for promotion, cups, euro places etc, they'd still be calling for the season to be cancelled, not!

 

What gets me, not a single one of them speaks on two very important points: do they think the clubs have a moral right to retain every single penny of income from this 'cancelled' season and if so, why? Do the players have a moral right to retain the win bonuses they received during this 'cancelled' season?

 

Second, if the season is cancelled, why do they think clubs not qualified for European competition and those in relegation berths should be 'given' a European qualification berth for 'next' season and clubs clearly adrift in relegation berths should be allowed to stay in the higher league?

 

It's downright hypocritical of others to talk about Liverpool being 'given' the title, despite a 25 point lead yet, apparently have no qualms about 6(?) other clubs being 'given' European qualification they havent earnt and a couple of others facing relegation being given a lifeline and remain in a league they were clearly exiting?

 

2 hours ago, Supremolad said:

I have resigned to the fact that the season won't be completed. Especially with info coming out that Sky and BT were ready to negotiate about the money which would be owed them. I'm guessing the owners of the overseas broadcast rights would also be willing to do so eventually.

 

With the threat of financial ruin lifted off many teams, it would be easier to convince them to cancel the remainder of the season. The main issue now is whether the PL would follow the footsteps of Belgium and Scotland by announcing an intention to crown Champions, or if they weasel their way out of it like the Dutch.

Sky and BT are not the problem. The overseas tv rights is bigger and worth more per season than BT, Sky and Amazon put together in this current contract. If the overseas rights hadnt increased, the PL tv income under this current contract would have been less than previous contracts for the first time ever.

 

There's already one overseas rights holder suing the PL because games arent being played and they have no content.

 

[Barrington Womble]

1 hour ago, lifetime fan said:

Until there’s enough PPE for the NHS and social care providers a return to football shouldn’t even be under consideration. 

 

20 minutes ago, lifetime fan said:

Because football will be requiring PPE and medical support that B&Q won’t. 
 

I thought that would be pretty fucking obvious. 

I'm not sure there will be a big need for PPE, there'll be a very small one and likely not the full on front line outfits the NHS are short of. And as we're seeing on a daily basis and the news, there's tons of PPE all over the country, the NHS just choose not to buy it and the UK companies sell it abroad. They might as well sell to the PL as sell to some random global corporation. The UK's shortage of PPE has nothing to do with anything other than goverment incompetency. 

[Ronnie Whelan]

Seems to be nearly a civil war in Italy between the Sports Minister and their league regarding a resumption. That one could go either way. Spain seems to be more likely to go ahead. Germany has an official plan, that now needs to be rubber stamped by their government.

 

The word is that our imbeciles want sport back to boost morale (take the attention away from their shiteness). The league clubs want to complete it because they recognise the cost of not doing so. By hook or by crook, I still think it will be. 

 

My gut feeling is that UEFA will need to roll back on their hope to recommence their club competitions in August. Say they made this from September into October it would save a lot of bother.

 

Taking aside the obvious legal ramifications of denyiny us a title, up and down the football pyramid it would be lawsuits galore. Likewise relegating clubs is a tricky one. The only way is to complete it.

[Stickman]

Freddie fucking Flintoff thinks it should be voided now.....Now I’m really worried that such a intellectual sporting heavyweight such as Freddie has weighed in it’s only a matter of time...

 

[LFC 6 Times]

This is google translation of Noel Le Graet President of French Football President. Bodes well I would say.

Following the Prime Minister's announcements, Noël Le Graët, President of the French Football Federation announces exclusively in the Telegram that the seasons of L1 and L2 are over.  Brest is maintained, Lorient goes up in L1 and Rennes will dispute the Champions League.

 Noël Le Graët, you have assembled a Comex (executive committee) of the French football federation following the announcements of Edouard Philippe.  For what announcements?
 We informed Comex, which it already knew, that Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 did not start, that the National did not start either, nor did the D1 women.  These four competitions are definitively stopped for the 2019-2020 season.

 The scenario of ending the championship in the fall before a resumption of the next season in January or February is therefore definitely ruled out?
 Yes, because compared to UEFA it's impossible.  We had a discussion on this subject with the president of UEFA, with Florence Hardouin (The Director of the federation, Editor's note) and the secretary general.  UEFA starts competing in August.  And, so that it can pass over the next year, with the matches of the French Team which did not take place (2 in March and 2 in June), the championship of France of First division must start mid-  August.  So what I didn't quite understand (from Edouard Philippe’s announcements) is if we could play behind closed doors in August.  We asked the question by mail to the Minister of Sport.

 So you can't say that the championship will resume on August 23?
 No, I cannot say, I hope it will be possible.  Let us make sure that the Coupe de France can take place at the beginning of August before the Coupe de la ligue then the championship.  But I have no certainty.

 Since the season has ended, what about the ups and downs?
 I'm for rule enforcement.  There should therefore be 2 National climbs in D2, the D2 should have two descents and two climbs and therefore two Ligue 1 descents because I don't see how we could make jump-offs.

 READ ON THE SUBJECT
 Ligue 1 and Ligue 2: Noël Le Graët formalizes the end of the season
 All of this based on the last full day played?
 Yes completely, there is no other solution.  It's the last day that will count for the European teams, unless the French Cup, which has priority, can be played, and Saint-Etienne wins.

 We can therefore announce for example that Toulouse will go down, that Lorient and Lens will go up and that Rennes will play the League of Champions?
 I repeat, there is no change from the texts, this is my position.

 Who will officially validate this position and when?
 There will surely be discussions at the League then a Comex of the federation.  The federation decides in the last resort.

 So the federation would take control of the League?
 It’s not about taking the hand.  The league has a delegation of power from the federation, which is responsible for applying the texts, which it does.  She did it for the amateurs who will resume in September, she will do it for the pros.

 Due to the premature end of the season, clubs will not receive the TV rights on which they had built their budgets.  Do you fear bankruptcies?
 No, I hope not, because I pretty much know the balance sheets.  It will be very hard for some.  The season has to start in August because we know the figures (new TV rights editor's note) for next year.  In between, there is a relatively short space that is worth studying.  I will be sure to alert the utilities to this.

 The French team was scheduled to play on September 5 and 8.  What will it be?
 The wish of UEFA is that there are no longer two but three games in September to start catching up, with the two games which did not take place in March and the two which did not  will not take place in June.

[Megadrive Man]

40 minutes ago, lifetime fan said:

Because football will be requiring PPE and medical support that B&Q won’t. 
 

I thought that would be pretty fucking obvious. 

Reopening big stores like B&Q is considerably more likely to spread the virus than playing football behind closed doors.

 

 

[dockers_strike]

3 minutes ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

Seems to be nearly a civil war in Italy between the Sports Minister and their league regarding a resumption. That one could go either way. Spain seems to be more likely to go ahead. Germany has an official plan, that now needs to be rubber stamped by their government.

 

The word is that our imbeciles want sport back to boost morale (take the attention away from their shiteness). The league clubs want to complete it because they recognise the cost of not doing so. By hook or by crook, I still think it will be. 

 

My gut feeling is that UEFA will need to roll back on their hope to recommence their club competitions in August. Say they made this from September into October it would save a lot of bother.

 

Taking aside the obvious legal ramifications of denyiny us a title, up and down the football pyramid it would be lawsuits galore. Likewise relegating clubs is a tricky one. The only way is to complete it.

The really weird thing is with this talk of lawsuits from clubs denied promotion etc, Im pretty certain Liverpool wouldnt join in any legal action. Ive no doubt behind the scenes in the PL meetings, the club is pushing for the league to restart but publically, we've kept our powder dry.

[Ronnie Whelan]

8 minutes ago, dockers_strike said:

The really weird thing is with this talk of lawsuits from clubs denied promotion etc, Im pretty certain Liverpool wouldnt join in any legal action. Ive no doubt behind the scenes in the PL meetings, the club is pushing for the league to restart but publically, we've kept our powder dry.

Yeah absolutely. Our lovely Karen has been very quiet lately. She has evidently seen the maths of voiding the season.

 

The whole thing is farcical though. I mean yesterday's French decision could mean that come August, Lyon and PSG are getting trounced by teams that are match fit. If say Serie A can't resume, then I would expect the wheels in motion would be to postpone this season's european competitions until September/October. Thing is that is the obvious thing anyway. Let leagues complete their season without pressure of worrying about next season's calendar.

 

I really hate the greed of modern football and the disconnect of owners but from a Liverpool point of view it's good for us right now. Not a chance will owners lose out on 100 odd million from voiding the season. Equally, not a chance the league will make gigantic decisions that could leave themselves open to being taken to court - taking aside Liverpool, it's the relegation situations across the league and promotion. Villa go down that's a clusterfuck decision. Leeds get denied promotion, that's a clusterfuck decision. Fulham etc get denied promotion on ppg, that's a clusterfuck decision. Finish it and all those issues are solved. 

 

It seems France are declaring champions so at least that's a good precedent.

[Code]

1 hour ago, devilsadvocate said:

Footballers won't be wearing PPE. 

Why should they?