Different agendas at the PL meeting today according to reports.

Some clubs want everything to go ahead as planned for now. City, Spurs and Arsenal leading this path.

Some want a circuit breaker like stop, sides including us, Brentford, Leicester.

Some want games to continue but to move or postpone certain games to create more time between matches. Liverpool the biggest leaders of this.

2 hours ago, Phillip said:

 Whoa, Val, what's up with you using the word "Whilst"?  I only thought Brits used that strange word.  Us humans in the US use while".

Oops, I might have touched a nerve there.  Sorry.  Whilst I figure out another way to apologize.

 

I keep waiting for Kelly Reilly, the hot Beth on Yellowstone, who happens to be English, to make a mistake and pronounce a word the English way, like PRO-gress, instead of prah-gress, or say "whilst" instead of "while", but nope, she has not done that yet.  Kudos to her.

Edited December 20, 20214 yr by Phillip

3 hours ago, azpi28 said:

i understand that with elderly parents you don't want to take any chances. I'm also not advocating for behaving recklessly. I just want to bring some balance to the scare tactics that are always being deployed by the media 

first of all this new variant seems to be highly contagious but a milder variant, with as most common symptom having a bit of a cold and a headache & feeling tired, with significantly less impact on the lungs. Being vaccinated still gives you good protection, not from getting infected, but from getting seriously ill. In the UK there are over 1 million Omnicron infections and 12 recorded deaths, which is a 0.0012% chance of dying (it doesn't say but you can bet there are comorbidities involved). The chance of getting hit by lighting for example is 0.006% (5 times more likely).  Furthermore being vaccinated will also protect you from getting seriously ill. To absolutely stop living with these kinds of odds is ridiculous. This doesn't mean you should just be reckless, it just means that you should use common sense like staying home when you feel ill, test yourself when you do, and be careful around people who are vulnerable. But when people consent to take that risk, who are vaccinated and healthy, there is absolutely no reason why you would not be able to go for a (scaled down) Christmas dinner. Family and friends and social interactions are also important factors that contribute to being healthy. 

There is NO WAY that you can avoid being infected while seeing any amount of people (it's just a matter of chance) as this variant is 70x more contagious, only if you stay inside like a hermit forever are you able to avoid this variant. The whole argument that this could be stopped if people would all follow the strictest of rules is demonstrable false as in the US the strictest states perform worse than the ones with less regulations and for example Sweden which didn't have very strict rules also have better numbers than a lot of the stricter countries. Something else which annoys me a lot is this false sense of security when people wear cloth masks (which don't do anything) or surgical masks (which do hardly anything), not to mention they wear it wrong and handle it wrong which leads to cross contamination. If you don't wear a N95 you are just kidding yourself because you're not protected at all, it's like driving your bike around naked but put on knee protectors. Also the 1.5 m rule is not really that relevant inside, if you're in the same poorly ventilated room as someone else, even if you're are 4 meters away, it still is very probable that someone who is infected will infect you. This will go on whatever the government does, there is no such thing as 0 covid anymore.

 

P.S. source: i'm a very neurotic person 

 

Nobody has ever claimed there will be nil covid infections if we just stick by the rules. Nobody has ever claimed that life in general is without risks. We can however try and reduce it for ourselves and for others simultaneously. We all have a responsibility to shield ourselves and others whenever possible, and that includes reducing the amount of contact and wearing those face masks correctly. It will take probably years before we can figure out what has been the best way to tackle this crisis and what has been absolutely useless. Right now, we mostly deduce and assume and stumble in the dark. What we know is: social distance + ventilation + washing hands + wearing a face mask reduce the risk. 

Also, it is too early to compare numbers and severity of sickness for the omicron-variant in South Africa with Western Europe. The population structure is different: in South Africa the population is generally younger than in Western Europe, so it makes sense that the young 'uns don't get so sick they need to go to hospital.

When younger persons catch the very contagious omicron version and they mingle with other age groups (think the grandparents at Christmas and New Year), chances are older people get infected. Vaccination does not equal immunnity, and some may still feel a lot sicker. Generally, if more people catch it, more people in absolute terms will need hospitalisation. So the percentages may be lower after vaccination, in absolute numbers it means the hospital admittance numbers at best won't go down, at worst rise even more. 

Edited December 20, 20214 yr by Valerie

10 minutes ago, Phillip said:

Oops, I might have touched a nerve there.  Sorry.  Whilst I figure out another way to apologize.

 

I keep waiting for Kelly Reilly, the hot Beth on Yellowstone, who happens to be English, to make a mistake and pronounce a word the English way, like PRO-gress, instead of prah-gress, or say "whilst" instead of "while", but nope, she has not done that yet.  Kudos to her.

I'm not sure why I use 'whilst' @Phillip , probably because I had a very strict English teacher in school who taught British English and dropped a ton of bricks on us when we used Americanisms. Scary man. 

Thanks for clarifying, Val.  I'll just take the piss, then (whatever the hell that means).

24 minutes ago, Phillip said:

Whilst I figure out another way to apologiSe.

 

27 minutes ago, Phillip said:

like PRO-gress, instead of prah-gress, 

 

 

Dang it.  I can't even spell the proper way.   I could never understand why the Brits spell "tire" as "tyre", but I suppose it is the same phonetically, so it does not really matter.

 

That guy is super funny.

Edited December 20, 20214 yr by Phillip

The weird thing is that for some words, us Americans pronounce with a soft vowel WHILST you Brits pronounce the same word with a hard vowel, but for the other words it is the opposite.

 

Anyone who eats cucumbers in a sandwich is got to be a bit off the boil, if you know what I mean.

Edited December 20, 20214 yr by Phillip

2 minutes ago, Phillip said:

The weird thing is that for some words, us Americans pronounce with a soft vowel WHILST you Brits pronounce the same word with a hard vowel, but for the other words it is the opposite.

Don't worry Phillip,  at least you lot can say 'third' properly, not like your Canadian neighbours and our Irish neighbours who say turd.

Or when I am watching golf on the telly, and an Aussie announcer says "paaahhhhh".   I want to scream "There is an 'r' in 'par'"!  But then I calm down, after having a drink or two.

 

And anyone who eats cucumbers in a sandwich is not all there, if you know what I mean.

Edited December 20, 20214 yr by Phillip

Fixtures go ahead as planned where possible. No circuit breaker.

What are the rules? How many players do we need to start?

I recall many years ago, in the 90s, playing a football match in Howard County, Maryland, D League (the bottom rung), and we typically only had 8 or 9 players on any given Sunday.  We would get defeated by scores like 10-0, 12-1, .... .    Not a fun time, especially if you had to put up or put down the nets as being the first team or the last team to play on that day.

 

Hopefully, Chelsea will be able to field a full team of 11 players.

As someone who only today finished self isolating and two of my family still are and one hasn't got her sense of taste and smell back let me just say as someone who's supported Chelsea for 51 years football is trivial compared to real life events and anyone who says different is a prick.

18 minutes ago, Phillip said:

And anyone who eats cucumbers in a sandwich is not all there, if you know what I mean.

Bit rich coming from a nation of MacDonald's lovers who put cucumbers (pickled) in their burgers.

Oh, I forgot what pickles really are.   Oops.   And I forgot that we over here like pumpkin pies, which you guys likely detest even the thought of.

10 minutes ago, bluehaze said:

As someone who only today finished self isolating and two of my family still are and one hasn't got her sense of taste and smell back let me just say as someone who's supported Chelsea for 51 years football is trivial compared to real life events and anyone who says different is a prick.

Hey, Bluehaze, sorry to hear that.  I have not heard any expert explain how Covid affects one's taste and smell.  Have you?   I would like to know more specifics about what goes on in that regard.

20 minutes ago, evissy said:

What are the rules? How many players do we need to start?

Same rules as before 14 players including at least one goal keeper. 

Up to us if we want to bring in players from the youth team bubble like Harvey Vale or Jude SB to give us more bodies or not.

As things stand Lukaku, CHO, Werner and Chilwell will be out of quarantine Saturday so in theory can face Villa, though obviously Ben is injured.

RLC and Havertz out of theirs a week Thursday.

All depends how fit they are, how hard the virus got them etc. 

Apparently several clubs wanted this weekend postponed but a fair few, lead by City, Arsenal and Pool did not and the PL wanted the same.

I always find it funny how Americans label us as 'Brits'. I don't think many realise there are actually a few countries involved other than England, one even has its own separate language, well, actually two, unless you can understand what Scot's say.

It's good to see you posting a lot anyway @Phillip Someone even wheeled Loz out in another thread too.

PS: I didn't mean that Scot's members, I'm not up for a Glaswegian Kiss, just a bowfin sassenach lavvy heid, Awa’ n bile your head! Aye!

Oh, I know all about the United Kingdom, and how it came to be.  Reading all of those Bernard Cornwell books did wonders for me!  I show up from time to time, for good and bad, whenever something tickles my fancy.

And Yeah, I had a chuckle when Andy Murray won Wimbledon twice a few years back, and all of a sudden poor Tim Henman was a forgotten man, since a BRIT won Wimbledon.  Yes, a Scottish Brit, not an English Brit.

 

As to Loz, I am glad he is posting, and as long as CHO is on the team, which drives Loz nuts, he will likely keep posting.

Now, how to get Bluebeard out of his slumber and post again?

Edited December 20, 20214 yr by Phillip

So many post to quote so here’s a generic response to Americans and their use of the English language just for @Phillip
 

Basically Premier League is telling clubs to use their Academy players to make up the numbers. In theory that is an option for some clubs, but it will probably then impact the U23 leagues and FA Youth Cup. For example a lot of clubs (ourselves included) keep the Academy players in a separate bubble to limit the chances of covid outbreak across the 2 squads. If you start mixing and matching you inevitably increase chances of a big breakout. Being that first team is prioritized you could well have situations where clubs cannot fulfil U23 fixtures. I hope under those circumstances there are no penalties.