Should footballers stop moaning and get back to work?

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Get back to work!
I read Danny Rose’s comments yesterday on ‘Project Restart.’ Initially, I didn’t react much. Then I read the afternoon mailbox and started to think about it more. And then I started to get angry. The more I thought about it the angrier I got.

‘Football shouldn’t even be spoken about until the numbers have dropped massively.’ Those are the words of Danny Rose.

On June 1st reception, Year 1 and Year 6 will go back to school, as will I. I will not be able to social distance from the pupils. I will not have a team of doctors at my beck and call. I will not have access to instant testing. Some shops will reopen and staff will be in a similar position to me. Those in construction are already heading back to work. From 1st July some restaurants may reopen. So, it’s fine for teachers, those in retail, construction workers and those in hospitality to be spoken about. But not footballers. For Danny, poor old footballer shouldn’t be expected to take the slightest of risks.

Well let me ask Danny a question. Would you feel the same if you had been furloughed? If your multi-million pound salary had disappeared, would you still be so desperate to stay at home? Doctors, nurses, drivers, police, fire fighters and many more have been grafting away, while Danny sits at home at collects his money. Its fine for them, too risky to him.

Also, let’s actually analyse that risk shall we. How many people under 35 have died of coronavirus, who did not have pre-existing health conditions? The numbers are hard to find exactly but its probably less than 20. Out of about 25 million people. This is not a disease that affects young, healthy people, except in the rarest of circumstances.

The risk to footballers is exceedingly low. And, more importantly, the message from the government is clear. Go to work, unless you can work from home. Footballers can’t. So stop moaning, and do what the rest of us are doing. And if you don’t want to, ask to be furloughed and drop down to £2500 a month and see how much you want to go back to work then.
Mike, LFC, London

Fixing a problem that doesn’t exist
OK, so what if, when football does come back, don’t ask me when, what if BT and Sky only aired the games they had been scheduled to air pre-quarantine and each club had the rights to sell every other game on their website. Think 3pm Saturday games. Surely a five quid a game fee would garner huge interest among each teams supporter’s and go some way of covering the financial loss each club will and currently have, whilst delivering a relatively similar product the broadcaster’s signed up for originally?

Am I late to the party? Is this a thing?
Luke

Wage cap or draft?
Is Mark (London) talking about the draft system or the Salary Cap system from American sports? Wage caps won’t stop much as the likes of Bayern will simply use home grown talent and their allure to continue to dominate (lest we forget they are actually very good cash managers). That’s even if they agree besides no one really wants to see lopsided teams where the striker earns one million per week and the keeper has to take a side job at mc-donalds .We watch Champions League to see a squad of the best assembled players take each other on,

The draft has actually had more of an impact on dominance as the worst team from the previous season gets the chance to secure the best talent of this year. It would never work in football as most of the young talent is scooped up from academies and not college.

PS it hasn’t really stopped dominance in American football for the last about 15 years the sport has been dominated by Tom Brady and the Manning brothers. Dallas Cowboys are just not winning because they are currently rubbish.
Timi, MUFC

Play-off gripes
I read with mild interest Luke Nuckley’s, in his own words, ‘faintly ridiculous and almost certainly unworkable plan’. I mean the vast majority of it wouldn’t bother me, but I think you’d have a job getting through a vote of the 20 Premier League clubs.

There was just one thing, about Liverpool playing Everton, Palace and City, and ‘if they fail to get the two wins they need(*)…….the title is declared vacant’. I mean aside from the fact that other clubs get to go in a round robin to decide their various fates, but conveniently LFC must play what would’ve been their next three fixtures, which happens to contain away games against the two sides that would take the greatest glee in denying them (Everton through shamelessly playing for a point obviously) the official title of champions, then yeah, seems fair.

*Oh, apart from the two wins they need. It’s just if Liverpool won one, lost one of those first two then drew with City, or in fact lost both of the first two and beat City, and then if City were inconvenienced by playing their remaining fixtures or sod it just given 9 wins / 27 points, they still wouldn’t be able to catch Liverpool. So are you saying that The Reds now have to do more than mathematically guarantee (which seems to be most people’s reason/the only stumbling block to deny them) just to allow their haters the possibility of some vindictive excitement?

Essentially if you’re prepared to row back on the two wins thing then I’ll start to lobby the Premier League on the rest of the plan ASAP.
Bobby

Was Stevie G’s slip the best thing for Liverpool?
I think Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip might have been the best thing to happen for Liverpool in 30 years. I know that it was tragic for him, and for us fans watching but I feel it has led to a culmination of events that will (C-19 aside) lead to multiple seasons of being able to challenge i.e. the last 2 and ¾ seasons to start with.

Gerrard slips on the 27th April 2014. We lose the advantage and thus the chance to win the PL. People state Crystal Place was an issue, it wasn’t, the goal difference between us and Man City was too great (9 I think). It was the slip. And I know that people feel it was all down to Suarez, and he is quite possibly the most destructive player I have ever seen in a Liverpool shirt, and Brendan R does deserves credit for getting the team to play to his main strengths.

However my point is that if we won the league Brendan would have had a lot of credit – and rightly so – in the bank. So when things go pear shaped over the 14-15 season, and we start badly in the 15-16 season he would have that credit to argue he should be allowed to see out the remainder of that season. And that means he wasn’t sacked in October 15, and we don’t go for Klopp who was on his yearlong sabbatical.

Furthermore, the sword of Damocles was hanging over Louis van Gaal at Man U and Arsene W’s at Arsenal and Benitez at Madrid. Also Pep was just about to leave Bayern. So during the last few months the 15-16 season I could have seen any one of these clubs – who admittedly were in a better position at the time approaching him.

Also I think if we would have won the league in 2014 Brendan might had used this as a power play to get rid of Michael Edwards, who within the corridors of Anfield and around the sporting world is very highly regarded (Neil Ashton wonderful article aside). I don’t think I am wrong in thinking that without Edwards, Liverpool wouldn’t be in the healthy position they are. I mean £15m for Jordan Ibe – it’s witchcraft. So at the start of 14-15 Edwards goes back to Spurs and uses his analytical star dust to sign Salah, Gini Wijnaldum and Andy Roberts. This pushes them onto greater things.

So this leave Brendan “David Brent’ing” his was to another 8th place finish at the end of the 15-16 season when he is finally sacked. However as Man U sign Klopp in the May of that year knowing that LVG is leaving, this leaves Liverpool with the options of Roberto Mancini, Roberto Martinez or back to Rafa.

So in conclusion Stevie slipping was the best thing that happened to Liverpool

And other sliding doors moments people can think of?
Ian H

What’s in a (nick)name?
Can someone please explain to me the English obsession with awful nicknames?  I can somewhat tolerate Scholsey or Giggsy or Becks or Stevie or Millie or Robbo, but listening to Adam Lallana be called Ads in an article today just made me cringe.  We get it, you took a bit of someone’s name and made it familiar like you’re mates or something, but isn’t it a bit daft?  I know I’m coming off a bit prickish with this comment, but I really don’t understand it.  Can someone over there educate me on the English love of matey nicknames?
Niall, Denver

Baboon?
Is anyone else seeing an advert on the mailbox for a pair of cycling shorts that look like the arsehole of a baboon?

Cyclists are a weird bunch.
Martin ‘Baboon Arsehole Specialist’ Ansell

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