dockers_strike

WestWorld series 3. What a fucking shambles. In some respects, it has become Battlestar Galatica but played out on Earth. The only thing was the humanoid cylons were credible as were the story lines. I just think WW3 is just a vehicle to produce a series like Lost where they could make things up on the fly and have intertwined storylines just to confuse the viewer not entertain them. 4 out of 10.

I dont for one minute think the PL season will be 'null and void' and us not crowned champions like all the shouters demand. But the fact the Dutch Government has stepped in and effectively stopped their league re starting until September is a different story. True, there had been rumblings of the clubs wanting to end the Dutch season and with the situation at the top of the league being so tight, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that the clubs themselves will agree cancelling it and having no champions is the way to go. If they do, that then puts UEFA under mounting pressure to award CL and EL places on Dutch club's co efficient. It's the fact that the Dutch Government have outright said no footie until September plus Public Health England's utter shambolic handling of the testing situation and advice that concerns me. They are searching for a gold standard test virtually every other virologist says is impossible to achieve. Without accuracte testing, Im unclear how PL footie even in empty stadiums could resume. I can't see the remaining PL games being played abroad, where is there that hasnt got the virus? In any event, dont you risk taking it there, wherever there is? Im talking myself into a frenzy here and I dont really want to do that. I just see the window of opportunity to re start the league shortening now. I think the 'null and voiders' who think if they get their way that the next season is starting in August or September are just mistaken, it may very well be a lot later than that.

Just seen this on the Echo. Hope Im wrong but I reckon the PL season is almost fucked now. Virtually every other country in the world is using testing kits Public Health England refuse to validate. The fucking idiots at Public Health England are determined not to sanction a virus test unless it's 98% accurate. There's no fucking way they'll get that level of accuracy with any test and certainly not one that will be available this side of the new year. Even the best people in virology say PHE is pissing in the wind with that requirement. And that, in my humble opinion, means hopes of re starting the PL season are disappearing quicker than snow in summer because without the tests, Government wont sanction football restarting in time. UEFA needed to come out with a stronger message against ending a nation's season early but at the end of the day, if they have no clubs playing in the CL, they get no income. Latest, W.H.O recommends international football ceases until 2021. Must include UEFA club football as well.

Fuck's sake. I shouldnt be surprised but I am. UEFA starts to wobble. Yeah, yeah, I know the Wail have put their bias on the story but the Telegraph have also confirmed UEFA's shifting position. UEFA has opened the door to domestic league and cup competitions being cancelled 'in special cases' due to the coronavirus pandemic. The national member associations of European football's governing body gathered for a conference call on Tuesday for an update on 'a variety of calendar options' to complete the 2019-20 season. UEFA had previously warned that domestic leagues cancelling their seasons prematurely risked their clubs being excluded from its competitions in the future, but may now consider allowing curtailment of campaigns. There was a strong recommendation given to finish domestic top division and cup competitions, but some special cases will be heard once guidelines concerning participation to European competitions - in case of a cancelled league - have been developed,' a statement from UEFA read. UEFA said any decisions on those guidelines would be announced after Thursday's meeting of its executive committee. The Scottish Professional Football League board has the right to make a decision on bringing the Premiership season to an end but is expected to consult with clubs before going ahead. However, this announcement from UEFA would appear to open the door to the Scottish 2019-20 top-flight campaign being brought to an early end. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed concerns on Monday about the possibility of even staging behind-closed-doors matches because of social distancing rules. The Belgian Pro League announced at the start of the month that it was cancelling its season, with Club Brugge declared champions. The decision is yet to be ratified. In England, Premier League clubs are still exploring scheduling models for how they could complete the season. Failure to do so would prove very costly. It has been reported that Sky Sports would not seek a rebate in the event of a curtailed campaign, but that would still leave the clubs owing a collective £370million. The scenarios presented to the associations were all understood to culminate in the Champions League and Europa League taking place in August, with the final of the Champions League believed to be pencilled in for August 29. The format of the remainder of those competitions - for instance whether ties remain at two legs or drop to one - is entirely dependent on how much time is available for the matches to be played. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8241733/UEFA-open-leagues-cancelling-seasons-special-cases-recommend-divisions-completed.html

Haha, yeah great days and those gobshite chant. Fucking biffs used to go on the Annie terraces thinking they were somehow a better class of supporter. I miss the half time score codes in front of the Kemlyn white washed wall. Hardly ever bought a proggy so you had to try and work out what game was A, B, C, D etc. And the fucking tannoy with all those trumpet like speakers right down the other end of the Main Stand were worst than useless when you were in the Kop. Used to sound like you were stood on platform 4 at Lime Street and a British Rail announcement at times.

Tribal instincts and we're everyone's favourite whipping boy. Once we win the league, everyone's whip is magiced away, not that that would stop them going on about other shit. Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, united, city etc, all they could sling at us would be other shit not, 'you havent won the league for 30 years, blah, blah, fucking blah.' That and they are scared we might be dominant while Jurgen's here.

We shouldnt have drawn that game. We were well in control but the palace fans stayed behind their team despite them being 3-0 down. When they scored, we did try to go up the other end and score. We should have tried to draw their sting, I dont think we were gassed. Hindsight is wonderful and we were slow making changes when they got it back to 3-2.

Well if transfer fees are rationalised to be lower than the fucking lunatic sums they are or rather were, that's a thumbs up from me. I guess the only 'problem' comes if foreign clubs still think PL clubs have shitloads of money sloshing around so they can ask a PL premium on any transfers with PL clubs.

BBC chatting shit shocker. It was UEFA's decision not to stop the game going ahead, Liverpool couldnt do fuck about it. Anyway, I thought all the haters were happy we lost?

Interesting thoughts. Cannot see Amazon stepping in with a better package though. They'd offer a lot less money to PL clubs because as with most things, it's a buyers market for the foreseeable future. I think all the clubs including the EFL, are between a rock and a hard place. They either face up to having to pay money back or complete the season. There's already one overseas tv rights broadcaster taking legal action against the PL. The overseas tv rights are bigger than both Sky and BT together in this current deal.

Thanks for this info. Wonder if they'll just apply a straight 1\19th refund on the 4 remaining home games or, Cat A, B etc refunds instead?

It is increasingly likely that what is left of the Premier League season will be played at neutral venues behind closed doors, should football return. There are concerns that hosting matches at the original venues might be logistically impossible when some restrictions are likely to remain because of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, designated stadiums in the south, Midlands and north would host games to minimise travel for staff, TV crews and medical teams. The FA have offered the use of Wembley and St George’s Park, and other sites are being considered. Multiple matches could be played on the same day at one venue. There are also concerns that should matches be played at the original venues, supporters would turn up. Police forces are unlikely to be in a position to deploy the numbers needed to ensure that fans are kept away from stadiums. Whether football does return remains to be seen. Privately, some top-flight clubs believe there is very little chance of the campaign being completed and they have growing confidence that broadcasters Sky Sports and BT Sport would not attempt to claw back the £370million owed for outstanding matches. The FA are considering completing the Women’s Super League at neutral venues and other sports, including cricket, are examining similar plans. Old Trafford and Southampton’s Ageas Bowl — each of which has an on-site hotel — are being considered to host England cricket matches. Sources say the ECB will hold a board meeting this week to discuss up to five different plans. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8235011/Plans-complete-Premier-League-season-neutral-hubs-closed-doors-gain-support.html

So good you quoted me twice. Listen, you dont need to do anything for me. Stop being condescending and sanctimonious with your fucking bullshit "but one last time." Like I said, if some cunt is going to stick a microphone under his nose and ask the question, he's going to respond. Whether you like that or not.

I dont need to remind myself of anything thanks. And he's going to talk about it everytime some journo asks him the question about him, his career and Liverpool. If you want to think Im misguided, knock yourself out. It's ok people reciting Bill Shankly and his ethos but his ethos was we win together and we lose together.

Strangely, at the beginning of the game and with Mo playing, I thought the game could go either way. But, when Mo went off, once Sadio equalised I was sure we'd go on and win it. Once bale scored that chance in a million overhead kick, I thought we were done for. As for Karius, Ive moved on and hope the lad rebuilds his career. It disappoints me so many of our fans are now just the same as other clubs' fans who slaughter one of their own when they cost them big time. Old school perhaps but that's the Liverpool way to me. I think all this shite about his social media posts is just another stick for people to beat him with due to the result but, whatever.

Correct. And I'll gaurantee virtually every one of those match going footie fans spouting that bullshit will be at their team's first home game as soon as it is allowed.

All well and good Rushie lad and Im itching to go the game too. But, the alternative is to end the league as it stands and that has to be the ultimate last resort if games cannot be played.

Yes, they think it will all be fine and dandy plus their income streams will be as good as before the season stopped. For lower league clubs, money through the turnstiles is important but they dont seem to realise if the league restarts in August, they'll likely be playing in empty stadiums. Ergo, financially, they'll be further up shit creek than now because they'll still have to pay their players and staff.

Andy Holt and Brady kicking off again. Holt likes the sound of his own voice too much but brady is just a corrupt cunt. She has no care for sporting integrity or, any integrity whatsoever. She just sees this situation as an unadulterated attempt to keep west ham in the PL for another season, hopefully rebuild and strengthen. If she achieved that, it would be the 2nd time west ham had cheated to stay in the PL to match the tevez shit a few years ago. This article reads to me to be buttering people up to the idea the PL will not be finished. The idea that next season should start as if nothing untowards had happened to the current season is a disgrace in my opinion. A growing number of Football League clubs are questioning the wisdom of attempting to finish the 2019-20 season. League One and League Two clubs are increasingly highlighting the problems of ensuring the safety of players and staff even if the lockdown restrictions are eased and the English Football League restarts games. Many have expressed reservations this week, with Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt the most vocal, telling The Mail on Sunday that it makes no financial sense for smaller clubs to play on and even threatening to boycott matches if forced to finish the season. Premier League clubs are still discussing the possibility of awarding Liverpool the title and abandoning relegation, although the vast majority want the season to finish because of the legal and financial problems if it does not. The Premier League also face enormous logistical and medical challenges to restart the season. Entire squads and support staff may have to stay in lockdown hotels for at least 40 days to minimise the risk of contracting the virus, That would cost up to £500,000. That isn’t realistic in lower leagues where the most pressing problem is that so many players will be out of contract on June 30. Holt, owner of League One Accrington, said: ‘It will cost us half a million pounds to finish this season, if that’s what the EFL decide they want to do. I would rather use that money on rebuilding for next season instead of spending three more months now watching it die. If it is a choice for us between playing dead rubber fixtures or surviving, we will be surviving. The main risk for Accrington Stanley is for the EFL to force us to spend money we have not got on games that do not matter to us. ‘I hope it doesn’t come to this but maybe it will get to the point where we are losing points because we have not fielded a team. Even if that gets us relegated, my job is to make sure Accrington Stanley stays afloat.’ Another EFL club owner said: ‘The walls are closing in because of the number of players who will be out of contract on June 30. Several club owners are saying they have no intention of paying those players beyond then [if the season were to run into August]. They haven’t got the money. ‘And if some of the players have agreed to join other clubs, they’ll be reluctant to risk themselves for their current clubs. Whatever happens, the integrity of the competition will be compromised.’ The Premier League clubs are discussing the possibility of putting players up in hotels to minimise the risk of them being infected and testing them every two days. If Government advice changes, they hope to start training in mid May and resume the season the week of June 8. Premier League medical advisor Mark Gillett is coordinating plans for a restart, but it is impossible to be clear as to how it could work. The Premier League have insisted that they would only authorise regular testing of squads when there was sufficient laboratory capacity to support the mass testing within the wider community. Several issues have been raised in recent days by clubs, including: How to deal with players who suffer from asthma, one of the at-risk groups. One club owner has told The Mail on Sunday that they won’t allow one of their players who has asthma to participate in any restart as the risks of contracting coronavirus and developing a serious illness are too great. Whether clubs might have to perform heart scans on players who have contracted the virus for myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle. It’s as yet unclear how the virus might affect humans long term. How to protect support staff, who are often less fit and over 50, and so are at more risk than younger players. Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson is 72. How to treat injured players when private hospitals are being used to relieve pressure on the NHS. If you could scan a player at a private hospital, it is questionable whether he could then return to the quarantined group at a hotel. The policy if a player does contract the virus despite quarantine? Will a team have to then isolate for a further 14 days, delaying fixtures again? Whether neutral venues such as Wembley should be used, hosting three matches in a day to minimise the number of medical staff, TV camera operators and support staff who need to travel? There continues to be talk of awarding Liverpool the title and dispensing with relegation if the season cannot be finished. Brighton owner Tony Bloom said: ‘I don’t foresee a situation, if the season’s not played out, that teams will get relegated on a points-per-game basis. I just don’t think it’s fathomable that a team which is not allowed to play out the season, may lose out on 0.2 of a point based on this system. Also it does not take into account the strength of the teams you have not played. You may get a title winner, obviously Liverpool deserve it, you may use that criteria for European qualification but I do not see how anyone can vote for that, certainly the (70) per cent needed, for teams to get relegated. No detailed plans can be finalised until Government advice changes, with lockdown currently extended until May 7. There is an expectation that training will restart soon after, as long as the government projections about the pace of the pandemic are met. There is no prospect of fans being allowed in, with many experts saying that is likely to remain the case until a vaccine is in widespread circulation. One Premier League club has told players they are likely to be in a hotel quarantine for around 50 days to finish the season. But that raises mental health issues if players can only leave a hotel to train and are unable to see their families. West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady outlined some of the problems facing the Premier League in her newspaper column yesterday. Everyone at the stadium - and even behind closed doors this is about 300-500 people - including security, staff, medical officers, players, referees and media, will have to have temperature checks, fill out health questionnaires and observe social distancing,’ she wrote. ‘Then there is the issue of injuries. All this is manageable but what if a player is injured, where do we send him? It can’t be to an NHS hospital that is already under pressure and private hospitals are carrying out NHS procedures and not taking in injured footballers. So then what?’ No one has come up with a clear plan if a player or member of staff contracts coronavirus during the restarted season. That could mean the entire squad having to go into another 14 days of isolation, holding up the season again. Dr Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at Exeter University Medical School, who specialises infectious disease management, said: ‘If Player A has now shed the virus I will only know for sure if player B, C, D and E have picked it up or not in 14 days’ time.’ Additional testing might help, but Dr Pankhania said: ‘You could test negative today but you could be incubating the virus and you could be infectious up to three days. You can test negative and you may not have signs and symptoms and then go to work and infect people. ‘But if a team of say 40 players and staff are kept segregated and another team of 40 are kept segregated and no one is showing signs of infection and we have tested and checked and we’ve done a lot of due diligence, then play the game. But who is going to take those decisions?’ The Bundesliga is planning to restart in early May and clubs are already training. Teams are likely to be tested every two days, but Germany is currently performing more than 100,000 tests a day. In the UK, the government said 21,389 tests were carried out on Friday. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8233195/Lower-league-clubs-cash-crisis-push-call-season-one-threatening-boycott-games.html#newcomment

Genuinely want the club to refuse to compete in future leagues? Look, I understand the anger and frustration but you're talking about Liverpool FC no longer existing if that is the case. No, the club has to carry on and will carry on but, Id be more supportive of the club seeking a breakaway European league and fuck everton, city, chelsea andoneor two other holier than thou clubs. There have been rumblings in Serie A and La Liga. Thing is, we dont get to hear much talk of this except when the agenda being pushed by a newspaper is in making the Premier League 'null and void.' As much as I detested united winning their titles, I really could have seen myself calling for the season to be null and void to have stopped them winning if they were in this season. I honestly dont think Id even want it voided if it was city or even everton but as someone says a little back in the thread, we're supposedly English football's pariah and dont deserve anything.

Like I said, I couldnt read the whole article due to the paywall so I to wondered just who says the next season should start no later than the first week in September. I just dont get why there's this almost indecent haste to end the current one and start the next. To me, it's clear and obvious the current one should be completed, whenever that is and if necessary, the next season not started of cancelled altogether if this pandemic prevails longer. Just imagine this scenario, current season is ended without any English leagues playing any more games. So, some clubs will benefit from their current position while others will lose out. Some people say that's ok. But then the next season starts and we get to say 10 games played and the leagues have to be halted again for an indeterminate period. Are the teams who 'lost out' in the previous season's curtailment going to become very litigious because now they have lost out again? Totally agree.

There's now clearly pressure from somewhere with all this bollocks because as you say, the simplest thing is to halt until it's safe. The trouble is, we dont know where this pressure is coming from. It doesnt seem to be coming from FIFA \ UEFA because they all say the same, re start it when safe even if it overlaps with 'next' season. Unless they're saying something different in private which is always possible. Is it the tv companies? Seems unlikely because they want their money back if the current season doesnt finish or, more games next season as a trade off to making the clubs refund them. And again, if it's not safe to play July \ August, it isnt going to be safe in September and that ignores the players will need to be in some form of pre season in August. So it can only be some clubs in the PL who want to protect their arse. I hope they go fucking bankrupt if it is.

Season ticket renewals have been put on hold for the foreseeable future same as for member's purchases. Id imagine the club would apply a discount to next season's ticket else it would have to refund. I think there were 4 home games left on my seassie when it was suspended.

The telegraph is reporting PL clubs have been given a deadline for starting the 2020 / 21 season as the 1st week in September. It's behind a paywall so Ive no idea who has set the deadline or 'told' the clubs this isnt optional. Obviously putting a deadline on next season's start means there's a deadline by which the current one must be restarted and completed. Not good. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/04/17/premier-league-clubs-told-2020-21-season-must-start-first-week/ Premier League clubs have been told that the 2020-21 season must start by the first week of September at the latest. The deadline puts huge pressure on the Premier League to eventually make a decision over the completion of this season and means, effectively, that they cannot resume playing any later than July. The Premier League still remains hopeful that the season can start again on the week beginning June 8, although that is dependent on Government advice and lifting the current coronavirus restrictions. That was the over-riding message from the latest video-conference meeting involving the 20 clubs, on Friday morning. The clubs discussed the issue of how players will return to training, with one plan being for them to initially work in pairs for an hour at the training ground having got changed in their cars to minimise the contact. Clubs are expected to be told they will have three weeks from when the Government gives the go-ahead for them to be allowed to train to playing matches which will be behind...

I dont think they will spend like city. They might be majority owners but there are other parties involved. I cannot see the other two, especially Staveley, saying to the Saudi's crack on and splash the cash while I just watch from the side lines.