Orient (Home Sat 14/3/2020 - MATCH OFF)

Very very worrying.

 

No promotion or relegation.... good job we've been sh*t then. Imagine how gutted we'd be if were in the top 3...

Oh, and if the premier league is voided then have Sheff United actually avoided relegation and hence, does our McBurnie windfall still kick in....??

 

Sure is.

 

Well both of us will be celebrating our 51st wedding anniversary tomorrow, we were going out, but have cancelled it, neither of us want to put ourselves at risk. We are staying most of the time, just going out for walks. My family have decided not to come over as normal, as once again they don’t want to put us at risk. It’s Mother’s Day next week, so no seeing my grandsons or my son and daughter in law. Our life has already changed.

I am worried, this virus is something else, and it will mutate that is what they do. I realise that ppl are questioning how the government are handling this. The only way you can stop it is by quarantine the whole country aka Italy. However, we don’t know what will happen once the brakes come off.

We all have to try and be optimistic and keep up our spirits and collectively look after each other. We are now on road nobody has travelled before in our lifetime.

 

Happy Anniversary nevertheless @Onside !

 

Agree Bantamsteve it is a conundrum we can only leave it to the powers that be to sort .

 

I don't think you have quite grasped the severity of the situation. Quite amazing really.

 

Our 50th on the 4th April we have a family do booked in Blackpool but awaiting info if they are still open for business, and a week later a party for friends etc but that's local.

 

Oh i do..

They do a job like everyone else.

 

Blackpool is never open for business at the best of times.

We're not on lockdown ...YET! Why wouldn't it be open?

 

Why do you think footballers should be treated differently than any other worker in the country?

 

Because gatherings over a certain number may not be allowed, and It's a large hotel so maybe they will have to close, hence my "waiting for info" comment.

 

They will/ have anyway. If the league positions are frozen with fixtures suspended they finish where they are now, so yes.

 

What happened to that guy who used to come on specifically to tell us there was no clause in any deal with McBurnie?

 

But what if the league is simply voided?

 

They wont void the leagues, if season is delayed by 3 weeks season will finish end of may or mid june for pl. Loads of weekends. Euros will most likely get postponed anyway.

 

I'm not saying it'll happen but it's a possibility. And from what I'm reading and watching, there's unlikely to be any football for 3 months or more. Seems highly unlikely everything will start up again in 3 weeks.

 

3 weeks sounds a tad optimistic bearing in mind that "peak" of infections is supposed to be in 12 weeks time or so.

 

I think the best idea is to postpone the euros until next summer. Then if we're in a position to resume the season around mid June, we could finish the season within 4-5 weeks - mid to late July. Dont start the new season until mid September and that's a 6-8 week period to devise a holiday/pre season split.

We'd probably have to scrap the league cup and the checkatrade in order to compensate for starting the league a month and a half late but its plausible.

But even then you've got the issue of contracts running out in June, although drafting some emergency contracts is light work in comparison to the rest of the logistical nightmare. Either way there's lots for the EFL and PL to ponder.

 

Not just contracts, there are so many complications. If you work backwards, suppose the ‘plan’ was to restart in early June. You’d need to give the players a month or so to ‘pre season train’ again as they’d have had a similar length of break as they get in the summer. For only a month of a ‘season’...? And will we know know enough, a month in advance to start sorting it all again? Will it be safe enough for players to return to work? And what if it flares up again?

This season is finished. However they sort standings, promotions etc. It’s done. It’ll all stop and they’ll hope to be able to start again for next season, probably just deferring the euros to next summer.