I know you were, apologies for intersecting with my point of view. WWE is World Wrestling Entertainment. Huge Conglomerate based in Florida who have continued to air live shows behind closed doors from their training facility. It appears they're are so integral to the local economy they've been deemed an essential business and been given special dispensation to carry on. I don't really care whether they carry on or not, I was merely pointing out that their behind closed doors product is imo not as good as with a crowd but passable and better than nothing and I'd expect the same to apply to football behind closed doors.

And what if you wait now, because conditions don't conform to some utopian ideal, then there is a second wave at some later date and conditions actually deteriorate slightly? You've needlessly sacrificed this season, even though it might have been possible to finish under controlled conditions, when it wasn't possible to complete next season anyway.

I anticipate football behind closed doors will be a bit like WWE without a crowd. Not as good as the real thing.but better than nothing. Other than the fact that the WWE might be losing a shed load of money I can't for the life of me see the need for wrestling, which is fictitious entertainment, to continue. The difference with football is that it is a legitimate competition and you need to complete last season's fixtures before even thinking about next if the game is going to retain any shred of integrity or credibility.

Because the teams lower down the Leagues are so much more reliant on Gate receipts and matchday revenue. It does seem though that there is a vote to be held later today with the Leagues 1 and 2 Clubs expected to vote in favour of ending the season. Not sure how they survive thereafter, they must have negotiated a bail out from somewhere or other.

That suggestion that players should turn their faces away when tackled is absolutely ludicrous and extremely dangerous. As someone who thinks that the entire situation regarding the virus has been vastly overblown anyway then this is just another example of people being way too namby pamby and expecting life to resume in a zero risk environment which simply isn't possible in the absence of a vaccine. If it is decided matches can resume they should and must be played at full throttle as normal with no nonsense about players not tackling at all or in a safe manner or not coming into proximity for more than a designated time. If matches are played behind closed doors and all the people in the stadium are regularly tested then the likelihood of the virus being transmitted is extremely low. If however one or more player does contract the virus they are young fit and healthy and will make a swift recovery. If they have concerns about someone more vulnerable at home they have the option not to play. It's not absolutely perfect but it's not possible to reach an absolutely perfect solution in the absence of a vaccine. All life involves an element of risk and always has done.

Realistically, whether daily deaths from the virus are down to a much lower level than now, or are still at the current sort of level, playing games behind closed doors under heavily controlled and near sterile conditions isn't going to have any impact one way or the other on that. The question is whether the Emergency Services can provide cover and whether Police and Local Authorities can be persuaded to sanction the fixtures. I appreciate that the lower you move down the footballing pyramid the harder it potentially gets to meet any additional safety requirements. However as regards the potential financial implications of failing to finish the season, I think you're being similarly dismissive. Haven't there been suggestions that 40 or 50 Clubs could go to the wall if the season doesn't finish?

I'm not sure I agree if football should be put on hold indefinitely, football is no different from the rest of Society in that it needs to get back to some semblance of normality at the earliest possible opportunity whilst there is still something left to come back to. The important thing for me is to finish this season whether it happens behind closed doors or not in order to maintain the integrity of the competition. You can't simply disregard the efforts of teams this season nor can you relegate Clubs who weren't aware at the time that there was a possibility they could be relegated on the basis of the season up to that point. If the season doesn't finish on the pitch I'll lose even more love and affinity for what Pele dubbed "the Beautiful Game". I am glad however someone agrees with me on footballers' salaries. I thought it was just me who was sick of hearing about these poor footballers having to take a tiny wage cut against their wishes etc. The very structure of the 92 Clubs is at risk and in Germany at one of the Clubs whose name I can't recall the players agreed to go without pay for 4 months AND contribute towards the wages of the non playing staff. Those guys will be on nothing like the wages of Premier League players and you think top players here would do the same without batting an eyelid yet we're treated to the unedifying spectacle of players and the PFA squabbling over small wage cuts or even wage deferrals which of course in the long run are of no help whatsoever to the Clubs as they have to be paid back at some point anyway whereas lost income will never be replaced. Finish the season, ideally as soon as possible, but really it doesn't matter when. It's next season that doesn't matter, if there isn't time to fit it in, an alternative format or competition can be devised as a one off.

You can sit there making excuses forever and a day about why football can't potentially restart and I'm getting a bit sick of hearing Premier League footballers being paid tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds a week by their Clubs whinging about how they're too scared to go back and play. Many ordinary people have had to carry on and work as normal throughout the Crisis so Im not sure what makes footballers so special or precious that they should be the exception. Football at the higher end is in the fortunate position of being able to afford extensive testing and conditions can artificially be made as safe as is humanly possible. This is an exceptional situation so no solution is going to be absolutely ideal so a bit of give and take is needed on all sides. The current season should be finished behind closed doors asap and if any players are found to contract the virus, those particular players should be put into isolation, there's no need to needlessly isolate entire squads. Players should have the option to opt out if they feel particularly strongly about not playing but if they do they don't get paid - they can't expect to carry on getting paid for doing nothing indefinitely.

Don't think you can put Norwich and Bournemouth in the same financial category as Spurs and Liverpool though. Newcastle are a bit of an exception as Ashley wants to sell therefore he probably doesn't see why he should fund this current loss if he can (legitimately) get away with it.

Don't think they deserve any credit for it whatsoever. They thought they'd see if they could get away with it and were forced into backtracking because of the backlash.

I thought Edge v Orton was outstanding in the end, they both conveyed the impression that they pushed their bodies right to the edge and beyond. The rest of what I saw was absolute garbage imo, bearing in mind I missed Flair and Ripley. Also need to go back and watch the replay to catch Undertaker v Styles. I'm sure they could have done a bit better with the "main event". McIntyre survives 3 or 4 Lesnar finishes, hits 4 of his own, the end. Almost like they'd run out of time at the end. Surely they're not that short of stamina they can't do more than 4 minutes? Overall really poor for me but that's what I expected anyway if I'm being honest.

Absolutely spot on. BTW As a side issue how did the Grealish thing only end up as being a case of breaking the regulations on being out ? Looked like an extremely obvious case of something a lot more serious. And his "apology" consisted of "I'd been stuck inside all week and was going mad then my mate rang me up to go round to his so I went round". Quite staggering.

Only came in from work right at the end of that one but it certainly looked good. Black v Lashley - who cares, in fact Lashley v anyone, who cares? Ziegler v fat bloke - Oh dear. Purchased this against my better judgement last night, more out of morbid curiosity as to how their flagship main event would translate to being behind closed doors. On the evidence of last night - not very well, shows how important the crowd is. Ordered it last night, it kicked off with a decent trailer showing some of the roster in a mythical adventure setting. Then it showed real life footage of them to "For those about to Rock we salute you' by AC/DC and I'm sat there with a beer thinking "Yeah I can really get into this". Then on came an advert saying "Wrestlemania sponsored by Snickers" and it killed the moment stone dead for me. Silly women's tag team match to start. Unlike comments above, I think Asuka is absolutely top class either as a baby face or a heel and should be at the top of the roster with Charlotte Flair instead of being wasted in mid range tag team matches. The less said about the other 3 the better. Nikki Cross in particular must be one of the worst professional wrestlers ever. Another silly match followed, Corbyn v Elias, again who cares? Becky Lynch v Baszler was the highlight of what I saw. Whilst I don't really get the obsession with Becky Lynch or "The Man" gimmick at all - (is it an age thing?) it was a great 10 mins of action. Disappointing accidental looking ending though, much like her win at Wrestlemania last year. The ladder match - JHFC thought this was dire. Couldn't have cared less about any of the contestants and if you don't have very skilled operators who have got their timing exactly right it looks really contrived and you get the farcical situation where one of them is halfway up the ladder with no-one else in sight and about five minutes to get the belt and they have to somehow manage not to get it. Halfway through that match I fell asleep. Annoyed I missed the Undertaker/Styles even though I find it difficult to invest in a big man/much smaller man feud. Oh for the glory days of Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, Earthquake, Rick Rude, Million Dollar Man, Savage Flair Undertaker in his prime etc. Plausible superheroes and dastardly heels. Jumpers for goalposts? Looks like £20 largely wasted. Edge and Orton making an excellent first of it though.

We don't know what cuts Bankers may or may not have voluntarily agreed to though, as the Public dont care. And unlike Bankers, top level footballers benefit massively from their high profile most of the time in terms of image rights, sponsorship and social media following. They cant have it both ways, take all the benefit normally, then complain they're under too much public scrutiny when it appears they've committed a massive faux pas.

There seems to be a slight groundswell of support building up for the Premier League players on the basis they're being singled out by the politicians etc but I think most people are missing the point. Everyone is making the mistake of putting all PL Clubs in the same bracket. The "big 6" are undoubtedly highly profitable but for the rest, most of the Club's income goes straight into the players pockets. When we were in the PL wages formed 85 - 90% of our turnover so PL players should be taking a wage cut without even batting an eyelid, not to save the Country or the NHS but first and foremost to guarantee the future of their own Clubs and the non playing staff that work there. Then hopefully money can also find its may down to the lower divisions as well to avoid mass insolvencies. The PL Clubs also have the threat of the TV Companies asking for about £35 m each back off them. Not fatal for the big 6 but could be crucial for the rest. All this crap from the PL and PFA about Clubs"unanimously" agreeing to discuss with the players about the possibility of "conditional" wage cuts and "deferrals" plays out terribly when ordinary people on a few hundred quid a week have to take a 20% pay cut no questions asked. Maybe Taylor should sell a few of the PFA's Lowry's to help out. On the other hand its ludicrous that Clubs like Liverpool and Spurs are taking advantage of the furlough scheme so quickly just because it is there. An absolute disgrace all round. (Apologies if wrong thread. Just seen other one)

Apologies if already discussed. Imo this season has to be finished to maintain the integrity of the competition. No matter when that may be. Scrap or reduce next season, whatever. Sad, as it would have been hellishly funny to see this season expunged from the record and Liverpool 31 years without a PL title.

I like WWE but how can this go on behind closed doors when apparently nothing else can?

Absolutely spot on. Not sure what our predecessors and ancestors would make of all this nonsense, some of them fought world wars in intolerable conditions to guarantee our freedom. Now we're CHOOSiNG not to go about our every day lives because we might catch a bit of a virus for a week or so. Still it gives the 24 hrs a day media something to obsess over and go overboard on now Brexit has been sorted I suppose.

Such is the level of over -reaction and hysteria regarding this virus it now seems likely matches will be postponed but I will still be disappointed when it happens. Surely the best way to beat the virus is for the vast majority of the population to carry on as normal and if a decent chunk of the population contract the virus and are subsequently immune then that will be the best way to prevent the further spread. If everyone goes into hiding the practical effects on people's every day life and the economy are exactly the same as if they had contracted the virus with the exception that when everyone emerges from hibernation the chances of infection are exactly the same. For anyone who's in a vulnerable category due to age or underlying ill health then it would make sense to self isolate but this is no different really to any other illness in that respect, you wouldn't visit an elderly relative if you had a bad cold or flu either.

Have to agree with chaddy for once, to say there has been an over reaction to the corona virus issue is the understatement of all understatements. For the vast majority of people the symptoms are relatively mild. How many people die of flu each year? Way more than Corona virus. Yet no -one seems to care or go running around putting people under house arrest or telling them what they can or can't do because of that. Are we now such snowflakes that we will have to go through this nonsense every year each time a new virus is discovered? The encouragement all this must give to people whose motives are not pure is incalculable as well. If a relatively mild virus can bring the world to a halt and cripple the economy think of how much chaos they could cause if they were able to manufacture a more virulent type of virus. And we'd better not hope we need to fight any wars in the meantime. "Little Johnny can't come out to fight today, he might develop a sniffle." Still, nothing we can do about it.If I thought we had any actual chance of making the play offs I'd be even more annoyed about the prospect of the game being played behind closed doors or cancelled.

I can't believe anyone still believes it's "a big week" look how we've reacted for the last four "must win" games, looked like they couldn't be arsed and three points of which one was an extremely fortunate 94th minute draw against Swansea. For me the season is as dead as a dodo and I can barely be bothered going on Saturday. Imo yesterday was the last chance saloon to try and force ourselves into the reckoning. We needed three points and can't rely on everyone else continuing to drop points, sooner or later either someone above us will put a reasonable run together or we'll be gobbled up by a couple more of the sides behind us, we've already dropped behind Cardiff and Millwall during the recent poor run and there's no indication whatsoever we have the ability to turn it round or even that we're particularly bothered about doing so. Pot Mowbray however and the situation changes completely. Game on. Unfortunately little chance of that happening so the season will fizzle out into another dismal lower mid table finish.

We'll probably end the season behind Millwall because imo they have a good manager at this level and we do not.

Need to reply to a post from Mashed Potatoes that was deleted. He accused certain posters of posting once when we win and 15-20 times when we lose. Absolutely correct. I probably come into that category at the moment. The reason is that Mowbray is NOT the man for the job and a one or two streaky results doesn't change that. Yet some people still can't see it. Form is temporary, class is permanent and all that.

If Warnock is/was prepared to go to Ipswich, we should steam in and nick him off them before they move in. Failing that as far as I am concerned there is absolutely no downside to potting Mowbray before the day is out and using the rest of the season to see if Damien Johnson has got what it takes. We're not going down and imo with Mowbray in charge we'll struggle to get to 60 points. There's absolutely nothing to lose for me.

I usually agree with most of what you say but Walton is abysmal imo, he's turning into the new Jason Steele, the opposition only have to take a pot shot from 25 yards and in it goes. Also I will be very surprised if this doesn't turn into another desperately disappointing season just like the last one, one point from four games..... we'll be hard pressed to match last year's tally of 60 points.