Smiley Culture

I would argue that Morgan doesn’t broadcast news or is a journalist.

Should have been his legs taken from him. They were peddling the bike.

I mean, it’s probably unlikely that we’ll know the true story, unless early rumours are to be believed but you’ve got Piers Morgan having a go at a bloke for going out when he’s doing exactly the same five days a week to work. Is his job classed as key worker now? There’s a chance, admittedly a slim one, that Grealish could well have followed directions given to us and gone to do a food shop but some will jump to conclusions without all the facts.

Just had “the call”. Woke up at 5.45 this morning convinced that I was going to be furloughed this morning. Sat watching the phone for the whole morning waiting. The call did materialise, however, for now at least, I’m not on the list of 8 that’s been furloughed. I know it’s not full blown redundancy for them, I can’t help but feel bad for them. That said, I’m also pleased I’m not (yet) on the list. Weird mix of emotion and dose of reality today. That hour I spent this morning looking at courses you can do at home was wasted (potentially temporarily).

There’s so much bollocks printed in the media, that’s another example of such. Is anyone that bothered that they actually think a Premier League Guantanamo Bay is a good idea?

I expect those that stocked up on toilet paper have a penis red raw but for the rest of us, what are you doing?

I’m not sure there is a right answer that satisfies everyone. I’m also not sure that it actually matters at all given what’s going on here at the minute. I find it a bit distasteful that there’s people really that are see about Football and are having a whinge about it at the minute. These people and their teams have scored a major PR own goal by having a moan. Granted these non-league teams aren’t going to lose their “official tyre partner” or “beer provider” like a Manchester United or a Liverpool would in this situation but in the list of things that are important, whether a football club with a couple of hundred fans are playing in the ninth tier of English Football or the eight just really isn’t important. I wouldn’t be averse to seeing football voided for this season personally. The preservation of life and prevention of this virus is more important than the remaining ten or so games of football.

You’d almost certainly have to do the same across all three National Leagues and that would be daft.

Not sure you can do that, tbh. A game per fortnight just isn’t enough for non-league clubs, even with a few tournaments thrown in. I think whatever decision taken would have opened a can of worms and I suppose it was about finding the decision that opened the smallest of those cans. I do wonder how much the decision made at this level was discussed with the immediate level(s) above them. With no season, the National League North and South’s relegation battles are obsolete (which will please seven clubs at the bottom of the South), which has its positives and negatives. Do they now carry their seasons on? At that level you have a wider Geographical spread of clubs, so multiple games a week would be a strain. I just think logistically resuming the season with ten to twelve normal games left then sorting the play-off’s would just be a huge strain on clubs physically and financially and the welfare of their players, who are all part-time and two to four games a week for an extended period would be a massive ask. Is the best thing to do to cancel the season and then clubs generate zero income when they were expecting x amount from these postponed games? It’s a difficult one. I thought that these levels would probably look at a points per game average to determine league tables but that opens up another can of worms.

Probably the best thing for that level of the game. Below the Ryman Div One and the equivalent levels across the country, you then feed into county leagues and the many league AGM’s that happen each summer that decided whose in what league for the coming season, would be a quagmire of problems. Granted, there will be a small handful of clubs that feel hard done by at this time but is kicking off all worth it from a PR angle, even if these are small clubs with a couple of hundred fans?

How are we all doing on day two of the lockdown? I’ve been for a walk this morning and it was stunning. The peacefulness of it and the beauty as the sun rose.

I was a big fan of how much Wigan Athletic wound everyone up because they had poor crowds and were shit for 75-80% of a season but would turn up in March and stay up for a few years.

Lost in the FA Trophy semi-final in injury time and lost to Chesterfield in the play-off’s. 90 minutes from Wembley in two competitions, ouch.

Always remember that last day of the season that, I think, sent Wimbledon down with Marian Pahars (what a goalscorer for Southampton by the way) keeping Southampton up and Bradford staying up.

Bolton had Ivan Campo, Fernando Hierro, Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff and probably a few other players I’ve forgotten about. They had a great side at one point. They were another that had Arsenal beaten before a game even kicked off.