Project Restart

[number 9]

Once again I understand the indifference to restarting the season, but if Ipswich were in Liverpool's position we'd probably feel a bit differently. I'd be fine with voiding the other leagues and cancelling promotions and relegations, but let the Prem play it out at least. I suppose we'd have to live with Norwich not getting relegated, but there's always next season.

[Charnwood]

I just don’t understand why anyone would want to void any competition that’s pretty much 80% completed ?... what’s the logic in making it void, unless there’s a personal or vested interest in wanting it that way, eg Villa or Watford etc or any EPL team that fears relegation. In my opinion it has to be either “Freeze it and leave it or finish it”, with the later being my preferred option, take your pick.

If the season gets declared void and clubs like Leeds United, WBA & Coventry City get cheated out of their promotions I swear I will never follow professional football again and I think tens of thousands of other fans would follow suit. The football league will be judged by how they handle the outcome of season 2019/20. Get it wrong and tens maybe hundreds of thousands of fans will not renew season tickets and will be lost from stadiums forever.

[Andym]

Once again I understand the indifference to restarting the season, but if Ipswich were in Liverpool's position we'd probably feel a bit differently. I'd be fine with voiding the other leagues and cancelling promotions and relegations, but let the Prem play it out at least. I suppose we'd have to live with Norwich not getting relegated, but there's always next season.

So let's give Liverpool the title and forget it. I'm with Bluemike. This is serious stuff. it's a life changer. Its probably with us for years if not forever. If we are lucky we will develop better treatments. Thsts thd best we can hope for. But like SARS, flu and the common cold it isn't going away. It's more contagious and has a higher fatality rate than any if them. So why try to play out the end of a football season? It really isn't important.

[Charnwood]

What about Leeds United & WBA, would you just write their seasons off and leave them in the Championship ?..... surely that would be totally unacceptable and unjustified after 80% of the season has been played.

You can’t simply give Liverpool their title and say hard luck to the rest, that’s unacceptable.

[Andym]

The alternative is to play out the season at huge financial loss. I have to say I've not missed football one bit. I've had too much to do to worry about insignificant things like football. A spectator sport with no spectators operating at a loss. No point. Give it 2 years and the only football will be Premier league stuff paid for by a tv audience.

[Charnwood]

You may be right Andy, I’ve hardly missed football and I love the game to bits. If the governing bodies get this wrong, football as our generation have known it will be finished. To be honest I could make do with watching the English Premier League & La Liga on TV and say f*ck to the rest of it. I have a circle of football mad mates and they all seem to be heading the same way. The game we’ve all know since being kids is all but done, and if Bluemike feels the same way clubs like ITFC may as well call it a day.

In my opinion Covid-19 would appear to be a game changer for many, some will see it for the good and others will see it differently. Either way life post Covid-19 is going to be very different and many people will re-evaluate their priorities and what’s more important to them.

My guess is that football will drop a few notches in importance to many people.

[Tangfastic]

Well maybe we’ll see how the Bundesliga goes. If it is successfully concluded, then it could provide a great deal of confidence for going forward. Personally, I couldn’t care less about who wins.... but I think we need some light at the end of the tunnel whilst we’re dealing with the virus. Whilst it’s necessary to reel in our lives for the time being, there’s a danger of too much doom-mongery. Too much of that and there’ll be mass depression and suicide going on to compete with the virus.
The world has recovered from world wars, genocide, diseases, etc before so there’s no reason to write of everything quite yet.

[Charnwood]

Bang on Tang. I think a lot of people especially those “home alone” will have struggled with isolation throughout lockdown. Although we can only return to normality in small steps, I think we need more doses of positivity and less negativity, especially in the media be it newspapers or television.

I know in the grand scheme of things football is unimportant and non essential, but when it returns it will send a huge signal to people that their lives will get back to normal and there is as you put it, “life at the end of the tunnel”

[marko69]

Well maybe we’ll see how the Bundesliga goes. If it is successfully concluded, then it could provide a great deal of confidence for going forward. Personally, I couldn’t care less about who wins.... but I think we need some light at the end of the tunnel whilst we’re dealing with the virus. Whilst it’s necessary to reel in our lives for the time being, there’s a danger of too much doom-mongery. Too much of that and there’ll be mass depression and suicide going on to compete with the virus.
The world has recovered from world wars, genocide, diseases, etc before so there’s no reason to write of everything quite yet.

This is an excellent post.

[marko69]

And tomorrow night....... Hertha v Union. Good chance to see what lockdown derbies look like.

[Bluemike]

The difference is when people came together to get over world wars etc they were by and large decent people who cared for others, who conducted themselves as human beings and who weren't greedy , selfish and ignorant arseholes like much of society is today.

[marko69]

The difference is when people came together to get over world wars etc they were by and large decent people who cared for others, who conducted themselves as human beings and who weren't greedy , selfish and ignorant arseholes like much of society is today.

My opinion fwiw on that would be that everyone nowadays are linked through technology that maybe creates that selfish “I’m important” attitude. Definitely different from “war era” Glasgow if the now deceased relatives were to be believed.

But, from that ^^^, I’d wager that maybe the majority on the “techno-linked” sites will see a new togetherness after Coronavirus.

But judging by the TIKTOKS...... maybe don’t wager anything at the moment.

[arana peligrosa]

Agree that it's all mostly bullshit now. I.e. People seem only concerned about a necessity to suit their own ends, health, well-being seems often neglected or trivialized. Not by all but if last few days are anything to go by. Lockdown's crap, are people really abiding to this guideline or just going about their own business and taking a chance. Sure many will have had enough with restrictions and such but it's been what two months and some seem intent on going ahead like there's no tomorrow.

The club (here) have believe voted to continue the season along with a number of other League One outfits but to what end I don't know. It's not as if anything can be accomplished now, season was effectively over before this damn virus issue came to the fore.

EFL went on record today to insist promotion and relegation berths will be filled by the relevant club sides even if no end to the season is forthcoming. No word on the EPL but let sleeping dogs being one course of action. Requires a 51 per cent majority vote from the Championship down to effectively kill off the remaining games but as yet still some way from resolution.

[goldandblack]

interesting stuff, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52790371

not looking good for the real footie people of this country,

what will the Chelsky, Mancs, etc do with all there 100s of loan players,

[marko69]

Good article.

But let's face it......., the majority of the 92 clubs were running with MASSIVE losses. Not many "businesses" would get away with it. I know the bank would call an emergency with myself within a couple weeks if I was spending way more than I was bringing in, -----> and in football terms, considerably more!!

Wake up call for all business around the world..... Especially sports....... And in particular, football.

Got to suppose Bury FC fans have a head start on the "defunct football club" therapy sessions.

[Dubai Blue]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... h-football

Another good article here....

[marko69]

Basically the EPL were killing the game with greed as everyone knew anyway....... and now CV19 is dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Hopefully £300K a week wages will become a thing from distant memory.

Whatever the future of post coronavirus football will look like, it’s certainly making it more interesting for the general public.

[Tangfastic]

Basically the EPL were killing the game with greed as everyone knew anyway....... and now CV19 is dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Hopefully £300K a week wages will become a thing from distant memory.

Whatever the future of post coronavirus football will look like, it’s certainly making it more interesting for the general public.

I do wonder if the EPL will survive happily, but the lower three divisions will suffer greatly.

Does the EPL need the lower leagues? The vast majority of their revenue comes from TV ( much of it from South East Asia who don’t care about grass roots British football). Wouldn’t be surprised if this situation prompted the formation of a European Super League where top European clubs break away from their leagues.

I think it’s a great opportunity for the EPL to share out the money to the lower league clubs so that it can support the league pyramid and the game in this country, but can’t see it happening. Most of the club owners are foreign and most of the TV revenue comes from outside the country - why would they care about grass-roots football here?

[Andym]

Basically the EPL were killing the game with greed as everyone knew anyway....... and now CV19 is dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Hopefully £300K a week wages will become a thing from distant memory.

Whatever the future of post coronavirus football will look like, it’s certainly making it more interesting for the general public.

I do wonder if the EPL will survive happily, but the lower three divisions will suffer greatly.

Does the EPL need the lower leagues? The vast majority of their revenue comes from TV ( much of it from South East Asia who don’t care about grass roots British football). Wouldn’t be surprised if this situation prompted the formation of a European Super League where top European clubs break away from their leagues.

I think it’s a great opportunity for the EPL to share out the money to the lower league clubs so that it can support the league pyramid and the game in this country, but can’t see it happening. Most of the club owners are foreign and most of the TV revenue comes from outside the country - why would they care about grass-roots football here?

I agree. The championship might survive but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see league 1 go. And I think league 2 will definitely go. I said a week ago I could see the prem bring all that's left.

[marko69]

Wouldn’t be surprised if this situation prompted the formation of a European Super League where top European clubs break away from their leagues.

They had visions of “something” becoming severely unbalanced 23 years ago. It prompted Euro Super League chat only a few years after the EPL started. At the time, the current buns from the west were on their 7th in a row and also invited in the chats.

Who knows........ had it happened back then, maybe the entire infrastructure would’ve been properly fkd by now. I know Hibernian FC would’ve struggled without the bigger fixtures. It’s a difficult scenario.

[number 9]

I wouldn't be surprised if a European Super League is formed, but I'd be very surprised if the rest of the EFL goes away. There are too many football traditionalists in the UK to let that happen. Granted the league structure may not look exactly the same, but the idea of tiered professional football will not cease to exist in my opinion.

I think it would be fantastic if the rich clubs of the world are elected for a Super League. And funnily enough, that process may create more investment for the remaining domestic teams and the leagues that are formed. Let's face it for most clubs that consistently fall outside of the top 8 in the Premier League, European qualification is a very low probability. In a newly formed domestic league, those teams will probably have a really good chance to win it...bringing back that competitiveness for a much larger pool of teams than what we have now. The TV money won't be the same, but I'd imagine you'd certainly have substantial investment to some degree.

Who would you pick for a European Super League???
Manchester City
Manchester United
Liverpool FC
Chelsea FC
Arsenal FC ?
Tottenham Hotspur ?

Celtic?
Rangers?

Real Madrid
Barcelona
Atletico Madrid
Valencia
Real Sociedad ?
Sevilla ?

Juventus
Inter Milan
Napoli ?
AS Roma ?
AC Milan
Lazio ?

Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
Ajax
PSV Eindhoven
FC Porto
Benfica
Olympiakos
???

[marko69]

From your list, I’d remove:

Tottenham
Valencia
Sociedad
Seville
The Sevco Rangers
Lazio

Add:
PSG
Lyon

[number 9]

From your list, I’d remove:

Tottenham
Valencia
Sociedad
Seville
The Sevco Rangers
Lazio

Add:
PSG
Lyon

Forgot about the Frogs...sure I'd give them two places.

[marko69]

To be honest........ probably get Celtic out of there also. They’d just constantly finish bottom or near bottom and it’d embarrass all of Scotland.
We get enough embarrassment from the international scene.

[number 9]

Yes I've put question marks next to the doubtful teams, in my opinion.

[goldandblack]

Good article.

But let's face it......., the majority of the 92 clubs were running with MASSIVE losses. Not many "businesses" would get away with it. I know the bank would call an emergency with myself within a couple weeks if I was spending way more than I was bringing in, -----> and in football terms, considerably more!!

Wake up call for all business around the world..... Especially sports....... And in particular, football.

Got to suppose Bury FC fans have a head start on the "defunct football club" therapy sessions.

I have this theory Marko. (don't call the van with the little white wheels yet)

All the warnings on global warming,
All these top politicians and presidents meeting at 5k star hotels/mansions,
All these kids trying there best to make us listen.
Footballers earning obscene figures, probably more a week than normal folk earn a year,
etc etc etc,
NOTHING CHANGED.

Then comes along this little bug/ virus
Planes polluting the Sky's
Cars, polluting the air we breath,
the world dying because of Man.

All stopped by this little bug/ virus overnight.
Any how my theory is,

1.Nature has spoken that if we don't stop killing the earth then nature will. which includes us becoming extinct.
2.Aliens watching us destroying our planet have sent this virus down as a warning.

Also when /if this nightmare finally ends we will just return to our normal greed.

Wolfie has spoken, Power to the people

[number 9]

You’d better get the tin foil out Wolfie and howl at the moon!

[marko69]

Wolfie, up late getting up to date with all the Flat Earth Society seminars......., will read your theories right away!

[Bluemike]

I honestly don't think anything will change except we will lose half a dozen lower league sides then normal greed resumed.

[Tangfastic]

Good article.

But let's face it......., the majority of the 92 clubs were running with MASSIVE losses. Not many "businesses" would get away with it. I know the bank would call an emergency with myself within a couple weeks if I was spending way more than I was bringing in, -----> and in football terms, considerably more!!

Wake up call for all business around the world..... Especially sports....... And in particular, football.

Got to suppose Bury FC fans have a head start on the "defunct football club" therapy sessions.

I have this theory Marko. (don't call the van with the little white wheels yet)

All the warnings on global warming,
All these top politicians and presidents meeting at 5k star hotels/mansions,
All these kids trying there best to make us listen.
Footballers earning obscene figures, probably more a week than normal folk earn a year,
etc etc etc,
NOTHING CHANGED.

Then comes along this little bug/ virus
Planes polluting the Sky's
Cars, polluting the air we breath,
the world dying because of Man.

All stopped by this little bug/ virus overnight.
Any how my theory is,

1.Nature has spoken that if we don't stop killing the earth then nature will. which includes us becoming extinct.
2.Aliens watching us destroying our planet have sent this virus down as a warning.

Also when /if this nightmare finally ends we will just return to our normal greed.

Wolfie has spoken, Power to the people

Maybe there’s some lessons for us to learn in theory number 1.... although I think the alien theory let’s the Chinese of the hook a bit.
I’m still curious as to how and why the virus started and caused the world to go into meltdown.