CoronaVirus / Adolf Putin / The Apocalypse etc

[Jock Gooner]

BREAKING NEWS....Liverpool FC's decision to furlough their non playing staff has been reversed.....by VAR

[Jock Gooner]

I see old rat face has asked Matt Hancock to sit down with him on Sky to discuss the footballers wages issue. As much as Hancock has gone about this the wrong way, I think he has more pressing matters than just feeding the ego of old rat face. He should know better than to waste other people's time right now just so he can continue the quest - in his own mind - to be football's very own Paxman. A cock of the highest order.

[DB10GOONER]

I see old rat face has asked Matt Hancock to sit down with him on Sky to discuss the footballers wages issue. As much as Hancock has gone about this the wrong way, I think he has more pressing matters than just feeding the ego of old rat face. He should know better than to waste other people's time right now just so he can continue the quest - in his own mind - to be football's very own Paxman. A cock of the highest order.

You are going to need to narrow that down mate - could be any of at least 10 people.

[DB10GOONER]

Anyhoo I'm finally out of self isolation and as I am apparently "essential" staff am back to work today. Currently on an empty as Jordan commuter train with a whole carriage to myself. In for one project meeting that could not be teleconferenced and then back home to work from home for the foreseeable future.

Aside from the poor people that have died here the unemployment numbers in Oireland are getting bad. We are talking a population of approx 4 million and in a three week period approx 500 thousand people have been put out of work either temporarily or permanently by COVID and are now being processed to claim various illness / unemployment / COVID payments by the Dept of social protection. It's mayhem.

[augie]

Anyhoo I'm finally out of self isolation and as I am apparently "essential" staff am back to work today. Currently on an empty as Jordan commuter train with a whole carriage to myself. In for one project meeting that could not be teleconferenced and then back home to work from home for the foreseeable future.

Aside from the poor people that have died here the unemployment numbers in Oireland are getting bad. We are talking a population of approx 4 million and in a three week period approx 500 thousand people have been put out of work either temporarily or permanently by COVID and are now being processed to claim various illness / unemployment / COVID payments by the Dept of social protection. It's mayhem.

Great to hear that you are back moving around again buddy

I despair about how long it will take for our country to start to get back on it's feet again (pubs and businesses open, and sport back on) - reality is that the uk are behind in their efforts to tackle the virus and it seems compliance is at best patchy, and because we have so much movement between our country and the uk, I don't think either country will be back on our feet until both are back on track. Over here there is already concerns being raised about compliance to the lockdown measures announced last week (after 1 week), and I honestly cannot see long term compliance - how long can people be expected to stay indoors looking at 4 walls and nothing to talk about bar this cunting virus ? I understand the risks are serious, but when a government sets a short-term lockdown date it gives a false impression that we will then be able to revert back to the measures we had in place pre the lockdown - as soon as you start extending said lockdown, people will start asking if the lockdown has actually served any purpose and will start to worry if they know what they are doing and how long we will be in lockdown

[Jock Gooner]

I see old rat face has asked Matt Hancock to sit down with him on Sky to discuss the footballers wages issue. As much as Hancock has gone about this the wrong way, I think he has more pressing matters than just feeding the ego of old rat face. He should know better than to waste other people's time right now just so he can continue the quest - in his own mind - to be football's very own Paxman. A cock of the highest order.

You are going to need to narrow that down mate - could be any of at least 10 people.

There's only one rat face He just can't help himself.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/footbal ... ge-cut-row

[A11M11]

I very much doubt that the day it is deemed all over that any country is going to welcome travellers with open arms . Whether it's goods or tourists people will be suspicious for quite some time.

[Bradywasking]

I'm reading a lot, too much, argument on Social Media comparing the actions of football clubs with Macdonalds in furloughing their staff at this time..From.a business point of view the comparisons may be fair, but the fact is the argument , in particular in relation to Liverpool FC, is being made by those who one month ago would have claimed that their club was not a business, rather it was a football club for it's people, its city and its fans.
I have never heard MacDonalds claim to be the fast food restaurant of the people of a supposedly socialist city, to be at one with those people. MacDonalds unashamedly sell burgers for profit and pay staff to do so. The staff don't, I imagine, pull on a MacDonalds uniform and feel part of something the way staff of a football club may feel about their club , on their doorstep that their family has supported for generations.
Furloughing staff, in my opinion, is cheap and undignified in a Premier League awash with money. In a time of mass deaths, illness and untold unemployment the clubs should stand with their people. Nice idea but not a business plan.

[rodders999]

And there was me thinking the world had finally eaten it's own fucking arsehole when Bournemouth paid 15 million quid for Jordan Ibe.

Boy did i get that one badly wrong, that was only a fucking apéritif compared to the shit show going on around the globe at the moment. How the fuck did it come to this? What the absolute FUCK??

[GoonerMuzz]

I think what sticks in my craw with the whole clubs furloughing their staff thing is that most of those staff will be on less annually than some of these footballers earn in a week, footballers are paid to play football for extortionate amounts of money fair enough but none of them are doing their primary jobs right now but are still earning that same money. There is more likelihood that some of the non-playing staff could still be doing their jobs than the actual players.

If the players had even come out and said we've taken a team decision to assist the club in paying furloughed staff to 100% of their wages then this could have been avoided, at least it would have shown willing.

The clubs are businesses who currently aren't making their usual revenue even just from ticket sale so on one hand they are entitled to claim but on the other hand have they paid back people's season tickets yet? I'd guess not..... it is typical of the footballing entertainment industry in the modern age that they pretend they are all about the people of their city and the fans everywhere but when it comes down to it they play the 'we're a business suffering exactly like everyone else' card.

There is a huge cognitive dissonance issue in football where they make an extortionate amount of money but have also individually in many cases put themselves as close to the wall financially as it is possible to be and still be 'liquid'. Other businesses would go under playing with finances the way clubs do......

[A11M11]

From El PAIS :- https://english.elpais.com/society/2020 ... vkzHEp0iUg.

[IW8Goalmachine]

The FA are now considering the furlough scheme ffs

[augie]

From El PAIS :- https://english.elpais.com/society/2020 ... vkzHEp0iUg.

That is a very good piece - all along I have been wondering how life will start to ease back to normality (whenever that is), and this article at least gives us some idea of the thought process that will be involved in those decisions. If part of the intention with sports is to ease in with smaller attendances competitions then that would please me cos I have two kids playing in competitions where there might not be 50 people at a game (selfish reasons I know), but being realistic I don't see that being the case - when it boils down to it, it is at the very top levels where these leagues/associations make their money, and I suspect that there will be no inclination or interest in getting any level of football going if the top leagues are still in lockdown.
Over here one of the former greats of hurling management stated his belief that the gaa should scrap plans to play the big inter county games where attendances are always in the thousands, and they should (for this year) concentrate on the grass roots level clubs where attendances would be much smaller and the risk greatly reduced - in the bigger picture there are far more important issues in play than sport, but in Ireland & the UK sport is a big part of everyday life and it just wont feel like normality until it returns

[goonersid]

Anyhoo I'm finally out of self isolation and as I am apparently "essential" staff am back to work today. Currently on an empty as Jordan commuter train with a whole carriage to myself. In for one project meeting that could not be teleconferenced and then back home to work from home for the foreseeable future.

Aside from the poor people that have died here the unemployment numbers in Oireland are getting bad. We are talking a population of approx 4 million and in a three week period approx 500 thousand people have been put out of work either temporarily or permanently by COVID and are now being processed to claim various illness / unemployment / COVID payments by the Dept of social protection. It's mayhem.

Great to hear that you are back moving around again buddy

I despair about how long it will take for our country to start to get back on it's feet again (pubs and businesses open, and sport back on) - reality is that the uk are behind in their efforts to tackle the virus and it seems compliance is at best patchy, and because we have so much movement between our country and the uk, I don't think either country will be back on our feet until both are back on track. Over here there is already concerns being raised about compliance to the lockdown measures announced last week (after 1 week), and I honestly cannot see long term compliance - how long can people be expected to stay indoors looking at 4 walls and nothing to talk about bar this cunting virus ? I understand the risks are serious, but when a government sets a short-term lockdown date it gives a false impression that we will then be able to revert back to the measures we had in place pre the lockdown - as soon as you start extending said lockdown, people will start asking if the lockdown has actually served any purpose and will start to worry if they know what they are doing and how long we will be in lockdown

Can’t agree Augie that the UK are “behind” in tackling the virus!
Admittedly they may not be testing as many people as some other countries, but they are doing an admirable job in getting “hospital beds” ready for when the peak in this nightmare comes! And numbers arent growing anymore alarmingly than most other countries.
I think both the uk and oireland are keeping a very close eye on their economies, therefore manufacturing and construction businesses being actively encouraged to keep going.
I would bet good money, they are weighing up the number of elderly people, sick people, can be sacraficed to ease the financial burden when this is all over!
It’s not nice, but a harsh reality.
Anyway, hope you and yours are keeping well!
And DB10! I ‘ve heard you always had the carriage to yourself

[northbank123]

BWK McDonalds are also franchised, which means that individual restaurants are owned and operated by small business owners.

Clubs furloughing staff is shithousery. It really is.

Spurs have managed to take the prize by not topping up the remaining 20% though, that is genuinely a complete disgrace. The majority of non-playing staff are on absolute pennies - it’s people like cleaners, caretakers, matchday stuff such as 18 year old kids serving drinks to the pervy blokes in hospitality. Even the football-related staff like physios, fitness coaches etc are not particularly highly paid other than the head of department at big clubs.