I had been wondering about the managers, they all seem to have abandoned the elbow or even fist bump and are all back to hugs and hanging onto each other for a quick chat for the past while. This is PURE conjecture from me, but given how transmittable Omicron is, surely they should be avoiding physical contact with people who are definitely not in their social or working groups. The "old" variant was supposedly 15mins within 6 feet was deemed the danger zone/time, but again given how quick this one moves, it could be 30 seconds - nobody actually knows Now just for a bit of flippancy - I didnt think Covid would be able to latch onto Sean Dyche, thought he's roll up his manly sleeves and growl at it and be grand.
Egypt have delayed their departure for the Africa Cup of Nations and were forced to cancel training after coronavirus cases were reported in their camp. The Pharaohs, who have won the competition a record seven times, were due to depart on Friday but will now fly to Cameroon on Saturday. "Unprecedented times. The more the situation becomes difficult, the more we stay together and strong," coach Carlos Queiroz tweeted. The Nations Cup starts on Sunday, with Egypt facing Nigeria in their first Group D match on Tuesday (16:00 GMT) - a game which will be televised by the BBC in the UK. The number of cases and identities of those who have tested positive have not been disclosed. "Better we stand together and focus on what we need to do to meet the challenges," Queiroz's message added. "Dear Friends and Team Mates, we all pray for your health, wishing fast recovery and return to our Team." Egypt are the latest side to be affected by coronavirus cases before the tournament, with Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among two positive lateral flow tests tests in the Gabon squad on Thursday. Guinea were forced to leave behind defender Mikael Dyrestam, midfielder Morlaye Sylla and striker Seydouba Soumah at their training base in Rwanda. Cape Verde and debutants The Gambia have been hit by several positive tests this week, while Tunisia have also reported cases from their pre-tournament camp.
Anyone else left wondering why, with the cancelling of games, the criteria for getting a match called off is not having 13 players plus a keeper. Why does it seems that injuries and AFCON absentees are being taken into account? They never have been at any other time, you had to deal with injuries and international callups as a matter of course. Obviously the times are not "normal".....or are they? While nobody has flat out said it, it looks like we will have to live with Covid being a part of everyday life indefinitely. So will football become a game of "we play, numerous conditions allowing" or will it fall in line with the rest of society and realise at some point, life must continue in as normal and safe a condition as is possible. Getting back to the 3 pronged reasoning that PL clubs seem to be able to use to call off games, I Wouldve thought that the proper way of doing it would be solely on Covid cases as its the only one of the 3 that at the start of the season you wouldnt be able to plan ahead for. Another way, and I'm loathe to even suggest this one as it would benefit City and Chelsea no end - increase the squad numbers Wondering like this is what happens btw when youre stuck in the house looking at a computer screen
Aul Ralph endearing himself to Utd fans this morning by telling them he wants to help Pogba get himself a contravt elsewhere and thinking Sancho was 3 years older than he actually is It's more physical, it's more pressure, although he also played for one of the biggest clubs in Germany, in Dortmund, but I think in total, the whole league, the whole competition is more physical and the level of expectation is higher. "When he came to Borussia Dortmund as a young player, he was only 18. Now he's 23, 24, playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world. On Pogba Pogba set to return from injury in February; Ralf Rangnick: "He wants to show the whole world what kind of player he can be, even if it's for only showing up for a new contract elsewhere, he will be highly motivated to do that"
Amazing star if true but I saw that they won 1-0 vs Palace in August last year in league cup so it might be league clean sheets and even then it would be an incredible stat Must be premier league as they had clean sheets in championship last year no?
Yeah, it's clean sheets in the Premier League. Makes sense given they've shat the bed so many times with firing managers....
Did Ranieri ever win a 2nd away game? Wasn't he the 5th different manager to win their last 5 away games.
Seems to be a worrying trend of yobism creeping back into the English game. There was bottles thrown at Digne in the Everton V Villa game, flares thrown onto the pitch is almost commonplace and there today at the Crewe v Rotherham, one of the assistant refs got a bottle in the back of the head. He carried on, but walked off the pitch 15 minutes later and there hasnt been any news as to the why yet (more stuff thrown or injury more than first thought?)
Every week on Soccer Saturday they announce an emergency somewhere. It cant be a new thing and people have always needed emergency assistance at grounds, its just that we never got told about it. Seeing Erikson collapse on the pitch shocked us all and suddenly made everyone much more aware of how quickly things can go badly wrong anywhere anytime to anybody. Most people are also aware of how quick action can literally save lives, so having club medics jump into the crowds to do whats needed there and then rather than wasting valuable minutes carting someone to a medical tent can be the difference. Theres also the fact that the club medics have access to a defibrillator as part of their kit. I know there meant to be defibrillators at all grounds but if its on the KOP and you drop at the far end of the Kenny stand, a club medic jumping the hoardings could be the difference in you worrying about getting a ticket for the next home game or not
Not just in England, France has been out of control all season, mental scenes at numerous matches. Football at times reflects society, England in general is on the bubble of carnage, since the 80s the country has never been so divided. Factor in a lot of people were couped up for 18 months, a lot of angry people who there who are on the Edge.
Right I get that but games have never been stopped until the last year or so right? Sadly that fan at the Fulham game passed away…just awful
Its only in the last 12-18 months yes, but its also the same timeframe that has seen the club doctors/medics going into the crowd to help out. It could be as simple as the game cant continue because the "game medics" are dealing with non game related issues and 1)are probably in contact with their bench / 4th official / whatever you call the guy in charge of logistics at the ground and are unavailable to deal with any injury that may occur if the game continued. or more likely 2) once the issue has been raised and club medics are rushing in, theres far more people in the ground now looking to the unfortunates situation through genuine care or car crash syndrome rather than wanting the game restarted immediately. In all honesty I think that where once people would have shouted to a steward or looked to the "in house" ambulance services for medical emergencies, it seems that fans now see shouting to a player who will relay the message to the bench and docs there as a better/quicker option and I cant say if I think that its a better idea or not. One the one hand, quicker is always better, but on the other hand there ARE professionals in every ground to deal with exactly those situations, and maybe placing the responsibility on club medics is unfair to them