God only knows what you're on about.

Glad I’m not the only one who was thinking that.

Can I buy a vowel ?

Americans post applies to the Italian mafia

Fahgetaboutit.

Obama is expected to endorse his friend and his former VP, Biden, soon. I've never been as excited about a candidate as I was for Obama. He was a true outsider who the establishment tried to quell, but he disappointed me by his 2nd term (he was bought by then) but he was still a good president overall. And I knew his place in history was assured in 2016. I thought to myself, Obama has guaranteed himself a high ranking with regards to Presidents because he will be sandwiched between 2 of the worse presidents in American history.
Overall, I'd put him no worse than 2nd in the modern era (1960s to present).

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/america ... d=56545031

Like anyone thinks this will ever happen...lol.
https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/14/barcelon ... wsnow-feed
Barcelona to offer Philippe Coutinho to Arsenal in £75million transfer or on loan

Hi Soc - I understand where you are coming from, and yes it is hard not to feel a certain contempt for the current football scene, which seems as far removed from the people than it ever has been. However, it is worth considering who actually benefits if the Arsenal players take a pay cut? Certainly not the government who would lose tax revenue; nor the taxpayer because the club is privately owned, and as far as we know not in receipt of any public funds. So no additional money to be diverted to the virus crisis or the NHS. Arsenal is a private enterprise, and one assumes the owner bears the risk. And the last time we looked he wasn't short of a few bob.

Footballers are the easy target here. Matt Hancock calling them out was $@$*#y IMO. How about calling on the Hedge fund managers who are making billions on the back of this crisis? Or the billionaires who seem bullet proof when it comes to any criticism from the Conservatives? Cynical imo.

In other news, I'm generally feeling a lot better now. My daughter caught the virus after I did and had awful fevers of 40º+ but is now much better. I'm still intermittently coughing - nothing major - but every muscle in my chest still feels bruised after relentless coughing for over two weeks during the time I was unwell.

Really good to hear Darren. REALLY good. Thanks for the update.

Good to hear your better Darren, my cousin had the virus and despite being a young fit man he described 24 hours of hell struggling to breathe and after feeling like somebody had broken every one of his ribs.

Glad to hear you’re feeling much better.

Good job , Darren.

Echo everyone else’s thoughts Darren. Great news.

Great news mate. Sounds like you and your daughter had much more than the mild symptom version.

Any idea where you might have caught it?. I reckon its been out there circulating far longer than they would have us believe.

Hi OMOH,

You make a good point and I must admit I hadn't looked at it in quite that way.

It just feels morally wrong for non-playing staff to suffer wage cuts or lose their jobs when the playing staff, who are earning salaries beyond the wildest dreams of the common man, are not willing to accept a cut. That said, you are spot-on........if a club is owned by a billionairre who is not prepared to put his hand in his pocket himself in these difficult times then that in itself speaks volumes.

Football is filled with unscrupulous individuals.......players, owners, agents. Everybody has got their head in the trough.

Let's face it, I don't suppose too many billionaires acquired their wealth by giving away money along the way.

Best wishes to you and your family in these testing times.

Good both you and your daughter are doing much better Darren.

The Bruno-Scarfo crime family and Joey Merlino.

Good to hear

Great news. All the best to you and yours.

I can't imagine not only what you had to go through but to experience your daughter with it as well. Happy to hear you are both recovering.

You got it Zed.
Sal Bruno was one of the most respected mafia bosses in the country and was even invited to the NY commission meetings, as he was very close with the Gambinos and Genovese bosses. In Philly, crazy as this sounds, he was beloved. He was called 'The Gentle Don' because he would rather have a sit down and work things out and killing was a last resort. He was also opposed to drugs within his family.
"Little" Nicky Scarfo who took over after him was a certified psychopath. Complete opposite, killing was his first option.
"Skinny" Joey Merlino came later but by that time the Philly mob was in disarray.

Car bombings was a popular way they did a lot of infighting. The Philly mob had a fair number of Sicilians, whose main forte` was that particular way of dealing with people.

You're one of the good people* mate so that's wonderful to hear.






*For those forumites who have never had the good fortune to meet Darren I must say he's really a lot nicer that the drunken boorish oaf he portrays on here.

Glad to hear you and your daughter are feeling better Darren

Sounds truly grim Darren, and frightening.

I have had the good fortune to meet Darren several times at the Emirates. Lovely chap. One of the best.

(Actually you’re not so bad yourself Ex )

I see that the press are now reporting that it could well be 12 to 18 months before there is a return to packed stadiums. That sounds realistic in a sensible world. It’s hard to imagine just what the professional game might look like after such a period.

Very happy to hear you and your family is doing better Darren.

Also happy to hear Darren isn't as brusque and churlish in real life as he's always come across on the forum.

Glad to hear Darren and his daughter are feeling better. My uncle, aunt and cousin seemed to have caught it to varying degrees but thankfully have recovered after 2 weeks. Oddly, my cousin who is in her 50's but a force of nature had way worse symptoms than her 80 year old parents. Unfortunately, due to the lack of testing it seems as if one of my best mate's mum died recently from it.

I agree it was a really cheap shot that Matt Hancock called out footballers. If he wanted to shame people into helping the wider economy, then perhaps putting pressure on multi-billion ££ tax dodging companies like Amazon would have been a more deserving target. I'm not adverse to Arsenal players taking a wage cut especially if the savings were guaranteed to help the non-playing staff on low wages. However, I would expect a similar gesture from the multi-multi billionaire owner first.

He may not be churlish Haz but he's an ugly *%^@**.

When Stan’s the owner, let’s be realistic. There’s more chance of Harrods selling their food at a lower price than Aldi.

Hi ltg,

That's interesting. Presumably the same timescale as a potential vaccine then.

I thought I read somewhere that Bundesliga sides are back in training with a view to re-starting the season in a few weeks time, which seems odd to me.

Talk of games being played behind closed doors to fulfil tv commitments but that still leaves a huge amount lost in gate receipts, especially for lower league sides. How can they possibly survive for that long without gate revenues.

Even if stadiums were open again, how many would take the risk of attending without there being a vaccine or effective treatment, especially those older fans or those with underlying health issues. I don't know what the average age of fans at the Emirates is, given the ticket prices I am assuming maybe 40s or so and many of those will inevitably have some health issues.

Delighted to hear the news regarding you and your daughter, Darren.

Keep well everybody.

Great to hear, Bored, keep well.

Heard this will apply to gigs as well, I suppose all large gatherings.

If not quarantine, at least screen and follow up. I got back to SA from Ireland via Qatar on 6 Feb. Before we got off the plane we had temperatures taken by members of the South African army. It was alarming but at same time reassuring. If a country like South Africa could screen travellers at so early a date, why not the UK and USA?

I'd say the average age was comfortably into the 50s, Soc. Bear in mind that since the massive hike in ticket prices about 15 years ago, there have been very few young people taking up season tickets; they just can't afford them. My guess is that the average age of our support goes up almost a full year every year.

Having said that, it could all change next season, for the reasons you give. Currently, I'd be in no rush to sit amongst a crowd of 60,000.