Friendly at Blackburn Rovers is cancelled

Everton FC have announced that the game on Tuesday has been cancelled after discussions with Blackburn Rovers.

So the game against Blackburn is now off. We could've done with more practice.

With all the loans returning they could have had a friendly among themselves and still not known much about the opposition.

Clearly they just want to get this season out of the way ASAP so contracts run down on Bolasie etc and we can start a rebuild. No need for extra games to drag it out further. We are just going through the motions until the season ends.

Yea, Kieran like all those posts saying we shouldn't actually be playing these meaningless games because people are still dying and anyway it's only for the TV, it's not a real competition. It's a sham without the fans... Blah blah blah.

Well, take a step back and look around... all major sports are back in action, fans or no fans. They are professionals. They are doing exactly what they are paid to do.

Life has to go on for the vast majority who are surviving the coronavirus pandemic and taking appropriate precautions. Governments have now realized what a huge mistake the draconian lockdowns were, and they won't be doing that again in a hurry.

Kieran - not playing games won’t make time go quicker!

I think Kieran was showing a touch of sarcasm in his post.

This was what we were all posting 2 months ago as the previous season finished and I think he is of the opinion that the next season will be as equally underwhelming as the last.

I smiled Kieran.

‘Draconian lockdowns’ a huge mistake? If only we’d have had the ‘draconian lockdown’ earlier I know a few poor souls who might have lived to watch the next footy season.

Mark, I think I read that the state of Kerala in India imposed a lockdown on the first Covid case diagnosed. A state with half the population of the UK – and only couple of hundred deaths from Covid. Mind you, they also immediately closed their borders. And they used a track and trace system. And they quarantined all those who'd been in contact. And regularly provided every locked-down household with food. And provided all the PPE necessary (not out of date PPE with a new date written over the old date). And used local public health officials.

Now which of those did we get right from the start? And which in fact have we still to get right? Over 40,000 deaths compared with a couple of dozen. Staggering.

Even with issues of possible under-counting of all deaths in Kerala (one source speculating by a factor of ten), that still is a staggering difference for a so-called developing country compared to one which should have planned for a major epidemic after our Operation Cygnus about four years ago that was based on – a major pandemic!

Excellent news if we can claim a well deserved draw and a clean sheet. Bravo.

I'm hoping we don't need the distraction of a meaningless friendly as we announce several new top class signings.

Draconian lockdowns. From a person who most likely is lucky enough to neither have had coronavirus, nor be in a situation of severe risk of doing so

What a ridiculous comment. People would still be ALIVE if more ‘draconian’ measures were in place and numpties who deem them ridiculous follow them properly.

Michael - did you wear a mask, and if so did you wear it on your head?

ToffeeWeb should not be a place for editors to share their political views.

Especially when similarly sensitive views to other political matters are routinely deleted.

Just my opinion.

You're right in part, Chris – it's about individuals taking responsibility. But not the Nanny State locking everyone down.

There were probably three key decisions that made the numbers horrendous in the UK: not closing the borders as the very first step – it took them literally months... vacating hospital beds by sending older patients with Covid back to care homes... and not having a proper track and trace app to roll out.

Michael, add to that the lack of adequate PPE. And add to that the refusal to use public health officials. Witness Kerala, as I posted elsewhere. They also locked down from the first identified case. Kerala 34 million - but only a couple of hundred deaths.

It's about individuals taking responsibility. Gotta laugh (ironically) at that.

Just gotta have gone out and about and seen many, many instances of individuals not only not knowing the first thing, or not caring about, taking personal responsibility but behaving like complete fucking imbaciles.

Huge numbers of "the public" are complete idiots and have acted as such during this pandemic so leaving it to them to take "personal responsibility" is like giving a baby razor blades to play with and expecting a good outcome.

Thanks Michael.

I’m currently 5 weeks into the strictest lockdown in the world, in Melbourne.

We had 114 new cases yesterday which we consider 114 too many. And sport is completely irrelevant in that context.

As for the nanny state, I think it might be, as you say, more to do with the quality of the nanny in the UK.

Yep, coulda done with more practice after that first eleven minutes at Blackpool!!

Still, it's not that they have had a long Summer break since last season finished so they should all be fresh, right ?

Just hoping that getting one or two new lads in and the rest of the bunch that we don't start the season with a crop of injuries again except the sick notes they have already.

Seems like we have ten times more players than most clubs as no-one wants to leave nor can any be gotten rid of and the sad part is that too many of them are just not good enough.

Lockdown - easy. Not a problem. Adapt and be patient.

Hearing people argue about lockdown, Coronavirus, China, Trump, masks and other so-called “political issues” in every walk of life, constantly, for months - driving me absolutely crazy.

Forgive me, and apologies in advance to the editors who will probably not publish this, for straying into politics (for that is what it is, not science) on a football website...

Any form of lockdown was, is and has proven conclusively to be a massive mistake. Lockdown does not, and can never (even if done as strictly as somewhere like New Zealand tried to do) eradicate a virus like this one. There is no alternative but to let it circulate among the population, with literally 99% (look at the stats if you don't believe me) of the population under the age of 80 and without serious other co-morbidities suffering no ill effects from catching it.

Forget covid, the much more terrifying stats now are the tens of thousands not receiving treatment, screening and so on to prevent or catch cancers and other problems that the supposedly sacred NHS should be treating but isn't because everything is paused for a non-existent wave of Covid cases.

The "case-demic" (with associated idiotic and arbitrary quarantine, local lockdowns etc) of less vulnerable people testing positive (hey, guess what, more tests equals more cases!!) we are now going through is the final, pathetic attempt by government to pretend that their stupid policy was the right one in the first place, failing to acknowledge that spikes in cases are exactly what needed to happen from the start to achieve the level of herd immunity we require until / unless a vaccine is available.

As far as football goes, I support an immediate return to full stadia and totally normal life. We are being fed a tissue of lies by a Government desperate to make up for perceived shortcomings in the initial part of the outbreak. Despite all their screw-ups and u-turns, they don't feel able to own up to lockdown, anti-social distancing, masks (I have yet to wear one anywhere and I won't, ever) all being a colossal mistake. Instead, we are forced to live in this miserable, weird parallel universe of hospitalisations and deaths plummeting worldwide (not just here) but continued restrictions on society, economy, sporting events, offices, shops etc. Then the powers that be wonder why nobody is going back to work, visiting city centres and so on...

There's so much more I could say, but I'll stop there since I don't expect this to be published anyway.

On the plus side, I'm seriously excited about Allan, James Rodriguez and maybe Doucouré joining us and dramatically improving the first eleven if all three are secured...

When people really, truly believe the kind of utter malarkey that Mark Boulle just posted, there is absolutely no point in discussing it with them.

#20 Mike we are Evertonians in common and I normally love reading your posts and stories. We will have to agree to disagree on this one, suggest we do not get into it further in order not to sully a football website and a mutual love of the Blues which, I hope, transcends all other things...

Mike @ 20, I agree it is incomprehensible. Medical science has spent centuries trying to eradicate the diseases that decimated human lives, but the answer in this pandemic is to let people catch it. Provided you are healthy, then you will survive it but for those with pre-existing medical conditions will die. I love the blase attitude in how this is articulated by those whose main concern is whether their entertainment and fun is disrupted.

Today we stand at 25 million cases and 844 thousand deaths before COVID-19 has properly taken hold in Africa and Central Asia. Despite all the efforts that Brent @ 9 laid out, yesterday India recorded the world's highest single-day rise with more than 78,700 new COVID-19 cases.

Mark @ 19, if you choose not to wear a mask that is your choice. But you are endangering others, which I suppose in your stupidity and arrogance is not something that really bothers you.

Mark, this:

'99% under the age of 80 and without serious other co-morbidities suffering no ill effects from catching it.'

If only.

Look up 'Covid-19 long haulers'. It may give you pause for thought.

Mark (21) - What Gaynes said at 20.

As to, "in order not to sully a football website"? You should've had that conversation with yourself before posting the nonsense you did at 19.

Well said Mike G. #20

Let's hope any acquired immunity lasts longer than Mark's memory, as he has already forgotten how stretched the NHS was a matter of months ago.

50,000 deaths from probably not more than 10 per cent of the population infected so far, still no indication that any sizeable proportion of the population have natural immunity, the possibility that any ‘herd immunity' is transient.

The more infection cycles the virus goes through, the more opportunities it has to mutate into something even worse; simply letting this virus rip through the whole population is not a strategy anyone should be advocating.

Oh dear... should have seen this coming, especially since there were demonstrations in Berlin and London re the sham of Covid-19, vaccines, and whatever else the far right are wanting to leverage for their own ends. As it hasn't affected everyone, those it hasn't couldn't care less about who they infect, as long as it's not them.

Frankly, the close on a million deaths and the god knows how many more suffering the ongoing and serious effects of the virus (surely it must not register with some that this is a continuing serious concern?), the second wave has begun before the first wave is over. The virus may well have lost some of its potency but it's still a nasty killer, period. Many more will die. It could be your mum, your dad, your brother, sister, husband, wife, children. If not yours, it's the person next to you. But that's ok isn't it? it's not you or yours... yet.

Herd immunity, sure let's go for it, clean out the old age pensioner cost, reduce the overall geriatric cost to the NHS, give the hospitals more space to look after the sick 20/30s who continue to spread it without concern or care... oh and of course, there are currently approx 25m people over 60 in Europe at risk of herd immunity implementers?

Shame that there is no conclusive evidence that a vaccine will work as any immunity may not last (both the US and Hong Kong have reported reinfections which may well have serious repercussions for vaccine performance).

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but panic set in in March when the people started dying in numbers, scientists extrapolated expectations and politicians crapped themselves, but people kept dying.

Countries, for better or worse, made decisions on how to tackle the pandemic, some have fared better than others, some have been irresponsible to the point of criminal. Lockdown or not, economically jobs are lost and the economy suffers. Sweden has no lockdown yet their death rate is higher than Nordic partners and their economy has fared badly too. The USA... well, 'nuff said,

Even here in New Zealand, the economy will suffer and eradication is the only option for now.

So forgive me if biting the bullet and just opening the doors up is not an option. There are choices to be made, governments will continue to make good and bad ones but the bad ones mean people die. Whatever the economic fall-out.

Brian @15, I am afraid you have hit the nail on the head. People give up when they are continually told different things by those who should be leading and leading by example. Many don't care about their neighbour, people think they are invincible, masks are worn to protect other people as well as yourself. It's not nanny state, Michael, it's just common sense that has bought time until this thing burns itself out, mutates to less potency or we find a vaccine works (to a degree or not).

It may be my life to live, but I will not be responsible for causing harm to others or myself because I could not give a flying fuck!

As someone who has just tested positive for coronavirus I would like to say a couple of things about my experience.

Since March I have hardly been out of the door except to go to the grocery store occasionally and always wear a mask and wash my hands at least 10 times a day.

I live in a county in Florida which at the beginning of June had less than 200 cases and 6 deaths. Then they allowed Restaurants and some bars to reopen supposedly under certain safe conditions.

At the end of July it had jumped to over 6000 cases.

Now I am 69 and on blood pressure medication and I guess I am in the high risk group.

I still haven't got a clue how I caught it because the only people I have been around have all tested negative but I have self-isolated and for the first 4 days had a temperature of 102 and a really bad fever.

Then the fever eased up but I got a bad cough and a tightness in my chest which I have had to varying degrees for 10 days following the end of the fever.

Today I started to cough some blood up but generally I feel okay apart from a little tiredness. This is 14 days in and the only advice I got from my doctor is stay at home drink plenty of fluids and, if you get bad, call 911!!

I wanted to share this for the doubters amongst you. This thing is real and obviously highly contagious and at this point I believe it has only affected ~25% of the population so it's still got a fair few still to aim at.

At this moment, I think and hope I am one of the lucky ones who has got it relatively mildly but those poor sods who have got it bad are suffering horrible deaths and dying alone.

Why is this being allowed to happen 9 months after we became aware of this virus?

I started to fall out of love with football when I saw working class blokes being fleeced by Sky and young kids becoming millionaires overnight just for kicking a ball around and then deciding it was important to show off their wealth and Wags to the world at large by partying, holidaying and buying more bling...

However, I believe it became an obscene sport when people all over the world were dying or losing their livelihoods while the prima donnas continued to take the big bucks despite the situation.

I read a book when I was younger by an author who had studied the downfall of all the great empires and his overriding conclusion was that, as society becomes more affluent, scruples and morals go out of the window and decadence starts to cause an implosion.

Well, that's what's happening now. The greed of sports owners and associations, let alone the motives of politicians, is causing principles to go by the wayside.

How many "real" leaders are there in the world? Why is it okay to open up everywhere as long as we're not one of the dying?

Sorry to be depressing but I'm still worried that I will deteriorate and nobody has a clue how to help me or others in a much worse situation than me.

Rant over. Hope no other Blues catch it as we will need as much support as we can get if and when "the beautiful game" returns.

Christine Foster... Far-right now means anyone who's not a shrill, violent, raving neo-Marxist headcase. It's like "racist"... the term is so expansive now as to mean nothing.

COVID-19 has a survival rate of around 99%, according to every government report on it around the world. Here in Latvia, a handful of people died of it... all old, all with underlying health conditions. There's no lockdown, no hysteria, no mask-wearing nuttery, and no pandemic.

You talk utter claptrap about the "far-right" (normal non-woke people, in other words) leveraging it for some nefarious gain, while ignoring the worldwide push for a vaccine from a self-admitted eugenicist, Bill Gates, who openly and repeatedly said he wants mass population reduction planet-wide. A vaccine, let's not forget, that Gates said would have – and I quote – "digital certificates". If that's not a nefarious goal, I know not what is.

That's the issue for me too, Jay Woods. I went to a lecture about two years ago with an Australian politician named Mark Latham here in New Zealand. Mr Latham led the Labor Party over there to an electoral defeat almost 20 years ago.

He then took some time out to spend with his young family, and then returned to politics. When he did, he found himself no longer welcome in the Labor party and now represents the "far-right" One Nation party.

During the Q & A at the end, somebody asked Latham when and why his political views had altered so dramatically? How had a former leader of a centre-left party of government now found himself on the fringes of the right wing?

I thought his answer was quite brilliant. He told the audience that he, Mark Latham, had not changed. Nor had his values or views on what was important changed substantially either. He had not left the Labor Party; it was the other way around. The Labor party had left him.

He had gotten into politics to improve the lives of ordinary, working people and, not all that long ago, the best vehicle for that was the Labor Party. He noted wryly that things had come to a pretty pass when a man in favour of universal healthcare, the expansion of affordable tertiary education, strict gun control, pro-union and advocating for fair working conditions and pay, was labelled a right-wing nut job.

My 13-year-old lad summed it up with the breeziness of youth when I was talking him to about politics. I was trying to explain to him the difference here in New Zealand between the left-leaning Labor Party and the "right-wing" National Party. After only a few minutes of my explanation, he summed it up better than I would ever have done:

"There is no right-wing of politics in New Zealand. We have centre-left and then the far-left."

If you stand at the extreme of the far-left of course then everybody is to the right of you. I'm largely of the belief this is Ms Foster's – and many others' – position.

Messers Moore and Woods each to their own, the demonstrations in Berlin, which I referred to were, according to the BBC, organised by elements of the far right and I quote..

Demonstrators, many with far-right sympathies, broke through a cordon and ran up the steps of the parliament building before police dispersed them.

Demonstrators bearing the flag of former imperial Germany - used by the Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens) far-right group - overcame a handful of police to run to the entrance of the Reichstag Building in Berlin.

I don't dispute there are some who are gullible to believe Covid is a scam but tell the staff in the NHS or the families lost it doesn't exist.

Derek Moore, Mark Latham and Pauline Hanson are well matched... One Nation Party... quite right I don't hold with their views but my views are my own, not yours to speculate on.

I seem to remember you don't have time for the actions of the current New Zealand Prime Minister either, hardly surprising. I suppose Collins is right up your street anyway... damn, I am starting to speculate on your politics, pot calling kettle and all that, my apologies.

Perhaps too, an article for you Derek, one I am sure you may have already read... pre-Covid, I know, but...

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/02-02-2019/will-the-far-right-movement-rise-in-new-zealand/

And Derek, I would be more than happy to sit down for a coffee with you and express my views on all things Everton. I may disagree with you about politics but that's fine, you have your views and I have mine and, in the great scheme of things, neither matter.

Let's take the selfish (or would personal, be a better word?) view and open everything up. Then imagine you catch and die of this virus, what will your widow or widower's words and thoughts on the matter be - Ah well, he/she went doing their own thing?

Unfortunately, it will probably be because somebody else did. Still, with the right insurance those left could be better off.

Your bad manners are only exceeded by your bad manners, Ms Foster.

It's not speculating on something when you've identified yourself as belonging to that something. If your username was, for example, C Foster, then inferring you're a woman from that information would indeed be speculation. Your username is Christine Foster; you've identified yourself as a woman. This is not speculation, this is accepting the facts you've presented.

So it is with your politics. You've repeatedly and needlessly stated your politics on this site. I am once again, merely accepting the facts as you've presented them.

I confess I find you to be a deeply annoying and largely ignorant contributor to just about all the debates you choose to participate in. You have a stunning lack of insight into the limits of your own knowledge.

I find it both ironic and offensive that you opine on Antipodean politics as if you're some sort of expert, when it's obvious you're anything but. I'd no more read articles that you've recommended to me than I'd seek medical advice from a plumber.

I trust and hope this makes my position in regards to you totally clear.

Derek, oh I think it was clear aeons ago... and so witty are your put-downs. So be it – but, for the record, I was living (15 years) in Australia when Mark Latham was leader, I was living here too for another 15 years before I returned this year. So I have some insight into life down under, both in New Zealand and Australia.

As for my stunning lack of insight into the limits of my own knowledge, it's only matched by the stunning arrogance of yours.

I think you can forget the coffee, Mr Moore... I trust and hope this makes my position in regards to you totally clear.

Not having lockdowns will devastate lives and kill people. Having lockdowns will devastate lives and kill people.

Meanwhile, a virus smaller than the wavelength of light, who's countless millions fit themselves on a pinhead, will always be around.

If it could comment on these pages, it would probably say "stick to football".

Jay Harris, although I don't know you (or any other TW's actually) you are a blue thus one of the family. Sorry to hear that you are in the grip of Covid, but like a blue, you will overcome it.

Think on the lines of Graham Stewart vs Wimbledon, May 1994: he said to himself, "Fuck this, I ain't going down..."

Positive mental attitude; keep the faith, Jay.

Christine #31

I would urge you not to believe...well... anything you read on the BBC anymore!

The supposedly impartial corporation has been ramming excessive Government covid measures, the dangers, the ways in which to comply with the groupthink and the miserable stories of a tiny minority who have suffered with the virus down our collective throats from the start. On Saturday, it positively relished Twatt Hancock and his reasonable worst case scenario / risk of further national lockdown crap. Where are the good news stories about how deaths and hospitalisations are plummeting worldwide for example? And where is the coverage challenging the NHS for its total failure to get back to normal yet? Are you not terrified by the massively increased waiting lists, the thousands who may well now die from cancers or other conditions that should have been caught by a routine screening and so on?

I was at the protest in London on Saturday and I know some of the organisers. Believe me, neither these nor the Berliners are far right sympathisers, we are just ordinary people who are sick to death of the illiberal, authoritarian and very un-conservative way a conservative government has approached the whole thing. Government by Twitter, diktat, press conference and statutory instruments passed at a moment's notice is a very dangerous thing. There has been no parliamentary scrutiny of the controlling agenda whatsoever. Utterly stupid predictions from that contemptible hypocrite Neil Ferguson and his discredited Imperial team who got it wrong on SARS, wrong on bird flu and wrong on MERS were again taken as gospel (500,000 deaths in the UK alone FFS, we're nowhere near even one tenth of that!!). At least he resigned when his hypocrisy was exposed, I'm at fuming that Cummings, Williamson, Hancock and Shapps are still in jobs despite either barefaced hypocrisy or rank incompetence (Shapps and his outrageous quarantine list is absolutely killing our tourism industry in and out).

SAGE was populated only by medical scientists, not by any economists or social scientists who could balance the so-called safety measures with their impact on people, relationships, jobs and other health issues. Let me tell you, I live alone and those three months of full lockdown were a trigger for times of black depressiveness I never thought would happen to me. 15% of the UK adult population lives alone, how do you think we felt being cut off from all work and social contact at a stroke like that? And no, Zoom is not an adequate substitute.

The British Government is not alone but the worldwide, media-driven hysteria and mass panic over a virus that is still nowhere close in impact terms to numerous flu pandemics of the past has been shocking. Orwellian slogans in Victoria, Australia - "staying apart keeps us together", mandatory hotel imprisonment in New Zealand if you refuse to take a covid test post 14 day quarantine, masks OUTSIDE in France (where transmission risk is vanishingly small), sorry but the world has lost its collective head over this.

Absolutely spot on, Mark

Can't wait for Karen's response, sorry I mean Christine.

Hoping for a week ahead where we tie-up some of these signings and get them on the training pitch as it is currently looking very much like the trip to London will feature last season's squad.

I notice that Spurs have added Højbjerg who didn't like the look of us and Matt Doherty, who had a super season for Wolves. On Friday, Spurs beat Reading 4-1 with Hojberg playing box to box. Spurs have few injury worries and it will be a severe test for our lot.

To put things in perspective, if you look through the starting line-ups on Sunday, I would be hard-pressed to pick any of our first eleven in a combined team. Richarlison and Digne would be the only two to have a chance.

This speaks volumes for the kind of recruitment the two clubs have followed. We simply can't attract the players.

I think it’s pretty obvious that the Blackburn friendly has been cancelled due to the current political crisis in New Zealand... a crisis which is seeing sales of coffee plummet at an astonishing rate.

Jesus - I hadn't realised that ToffeeWeb had so many of the tin-hat wearing brigade.

That said, I have it on good authority that Bill Kenwright is part of the secret global cabal of lizard people and that his takeover of Everton was part of a global conspiracy to ensure that we never win anything again.

He helped develop the coronavirus as he was worried that Moshiri appointing Ancelotti could lead to us being successful again. All the clues are there:

The virus was developed in a Chinese lab on bats. The have bats in zoos and our new sponsor is CaZOO. We also once signed Li Tie and he was Chinese.

Bill Kenwright and Bill Gates have the same first name and Kenwright was behind the decision to install a set of gates in the Park End car park.
These gates contain secret 5G transmitters that cause none of our players to be able to pass to one another.

The toffees that the Toffeelady throws into the crowd before every home game contain a secret microchip so that Kenwright can track all of the fans opposed to him.

Chris, the toffee trackers will all end up at the same place – your local sewage treatment plant, but the rest I agree with.

Chris #43.

That's more like it. 😂

Len Hawkins – but where is the sewerage plant? Right next to Bramley Moore Dock. I rest my case.

As with all things Corona-related, I defer to my better half who worked the ITU for the duration of the lockdown. Turns out it is extremely hard work keeping people ventilated and alive when in a critical condition and sadly they were not always able to.

Obviously we all know the government response was draconian, masks are for losers etc. but fingers crossed it doesn't take someone you know and love.

Now, when are we going to sign someone?

That was an interesting read. What a polarising time it is in 2020. I thought that the advent of the internet and the democratisation of information would lead to a more informed and knowledgeable public. Instead, there is it seems more than ever a mistrust of science and expertise and informed debate has been replaced by poisonous vitriol. Jay Harris get well soon.

If you know history... Liverpool was at the forefront of public health and dealing with contagious viruses – exactly the measures that should have, still should be, taken to combat this virus. Shame some of its sons and daughters seem to have forgotten that. Don't listen to Murdoch et al.

Derek Moore #35. Just because she is called Christine, you cannot determine that Christine is a woman.

There are people who are transgender, people who are non binary, people of non gender specific. This is totally unacceptable, hate speech of claiming the gender of a person simply on the basis of their name and I hope that the moderators of ToffeeWeb ban you from all future posts and report you to the police for hate speech.

If her name was Hilary is that a male or a female?

Oh and please don't report me for being the biggest wind-up merchant since the manager of the clock department in George Henry Lee. :-)

And a slightly more serious note – Masks do nothing, which is why surgeons never wear one when doing an operation and neither do staff in ITU. Oh wait, they do don't they. I wonder why? Anybody any idea why they do? Is it so they cannot be recognised?

Phil -

Pah-leez!!

Christine’s a chick. She’s told us she’s a chick. She’s an intelligent and sharing person. If she ID’d as a dude, she’d have let us know.

I personally have asked Christine to marry me 3-4 times on this site. I have yet to receive a reply. But, I’m a straight-shooting dude who loves, entirely too much I might add, everything about women. Base things and higher things.

If Christine were part of the “it” club we’d know about it. And I’m confident enough in my “man radar” capabilities to tell you I’d not ask for someone’s hand in internet marriage if she wasn’t a she.

You can’t ram-rod your gender point down people’s throats when Christine is a lady, and everyone knows it.

C’mon man. Just keep it real.

UTFB

Jamie

Pretty sure Phil was joking. Seems Phil and I have a sense of humor with posts on this thread that no one gets.

Jay (28), sorry to hear you have caught this terrible virus, I hope you have been through the worst of it and make a good recovery. Very best wishes.

Christine and Mark are correct in identifying problems on the right and left. Neither Iwobi nor Walcott can cut the mustard.

Jay Harris re: your Covid-19 positive.

I hope your recovery is swift, but also continue to take every precaution and be alert and be prepared for all sorts of shit to go on having tested positive.

As evidenced in this very thread, many folks are clearly not well-informed as to just how virulent this virus is. Look up Covid-19 Long Haulers as I advised earlier.

Better, if you are on Facebook I recommend joining something like
Covid-19 Survivors Group

When I joined a month or two ago it had around 70k members. It has swelled to nearly 100k. It is a very informative and comforting group of long haul sufferers of CV-19. Of both genders, of all ages, the majority 'mild' carriers who were never hospitalised.

But 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 months after first testing positive many STILL have serious and wide variety of symptoms that greatly inhibit every aspect of their quality of life.

Remind me again, how quickly do most people recover from the common 'flu that Covid-19 naysayers liken it to?

I caught Covid-19 four months ago. I was embarassed taking a test because I thought I was taking up unnecessary resources when I really was fine. When the test came back positive, I was taken aback. Like you, I had also been in isolation. Then strange shit started to happen.

Be prepared for excruciating bouts of extreme fatigue, Jay. Many liken it to ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome).

Be particularly wary, Jay, of neural issues. There is a mini-tsunami of cases of how this virus attacks the nervous system and the brain. It has medics and researchers baffled as to just what the hell is going on. The consensus is that this latest edition of SAR is behaving in ways previously unseen in earlier outbreaks.

Only in the last 7-10 days, after four months, have I felt anywhere close to functioning 'normally' again (but far from 100%).

I have consulted GPs, a nutritionist, a gastroenterologist, a dermatologist and a neurologist to try and understand just what the hell is going on with the variety of symptoms I have displayed.

On Wednesday, I return for my fourth visit to the neurologist to update him with what I see as encouraging progress. He will also interpret the 25 different blood tests he asked me to take to see if they offer any pointers.

I got lucky with this neurologist. It is very, VERY hard to find a trustworthy medic in Brazil, but he is someone who listens, who engages, who negotiates with you the best course of treatment.

It also helps that, as a 30-something ashmatic, he caught CV-19 himself early in the game at the height of the pandemic in my city when there were no ICU beds available. Being a doctor, he had the means and the influence to place himself on an oxygen tank at home to survive the ordeal. And all this with his wife 6 months pregnant with their first child.

Like me and many others, even now months on he gets through the mornings okay then around lunch time the plug gets pulled. He continues to work only half the shifts he used to.

So please, Jay, continue to be vigilant and take every precaution in avoiding transmitting this to others. Ignore the popular demographics as to who is and isn't most at risk. Your age, your state of health and fitness, your lifestyle, counts for nothing.

Covid-19 is extremely democratic. It can mess with anyone, causing mild and short-term discomfort, to long-term and continued greater discomfort, to death.

Good luck, lad!

Jay @28, very best wishes for your recovery. Never fear, our boys will soon be inspiring us all.

Best wishes to you too, Jay @55 with your symptoms. I know it can be horrible if the disease takes you the wrong way.

It's hard to imagine some of the comments on here are for real. The state we are in now, thinking what would happen without any lockdown or PPE. Unbelievable.

Anyway, the moral of the story.... Go Vegan!!

Jay Harris, condolences on your illness and best wishes for a swift recovery. We'll be cheering you on.

Based on our highly scientific TW sampling, people named Jay are particularly susceptible to this virus. (Jay W, has your brave wife fully recovered?)

Phil #50, congratulations on catching Jamie on your hook and reeling him in.

Kieran #54, good 'un, I got it. Trouble is you and Phil are just too subtle sometimes.

Jay @28, best wishes and to a full speedy recovery from the Covid-19. All TWrs are with you.

Mike G. I'm still calling the missus Kryptonite. One of just two people in a team of 28 at her hospital who DIDN'T catch Covid-19.

With the 'R' number finally falling below 1.0 (having been as high as 2.81) here in Brazil, for the first time in nearly 4 months, our daily death rate on a moving 7-day average is below 1,000. Still too many. The equivalent of 3 Boeing-777 crashing and killing all on board every day instead of 4 a day at its peak.

Things aren't as manic at her hospital as a result. Thankfully, in September she finally gets some much-needed R&R. She is physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. Not that we can really travel or stay anywhere outside the family home.

I reported some months ago how shamefully her hospital had told the overworked staff that – yes – they could take leave, but it would be unpaid.

I passed this on to a journalist in the local radio/TV/newspaper branch of the mega-media company Globo. They investigated, ran a story... and the hospital backtracked.

What about Wuhan mom-in-law? Made it back stateside yet?

Jay @ 28, good luck with your recovery. One step at a time mate.

Jay @ 55, thanks for sharing your story. Your wife is a rock star and she, as with millions of medical staff, is saving countless staff.

Phil @ 50, I think surgeons and ICU staff just wear masks out of pure vanity.

Mark @39, a bold post and one with which I have much sympathy. Though we must not say so, or else.

There is, I think, a profound moral and philosophical divide, which is growing, between whole sections of society, here in the UK and globally. It touches upon, and derives from, many things. Mutual respect may be a good place to start in the process of joining things back together or, at least, of giving due consideration to each other's views.

Perhaps, though, in the end there has to be a reckoning. I hope and pray not.

Maybe ToffeeWeb is not the place for this type of debate but I thought your post deserved recognition – with every respect to John @40.

Jay (55), I hope you too are over the worst of this virus and like the other Jay can look forward to better days.

I hope your wife has being keeping notes of how this virus has plagued Brazil and the hospital she has worked in non stop since it came to Brazil. If she writes about the wicked experience she, her fellow workers and the patients have been through, she might enlighten a lot of people of how real this illness is. She continues to be in my prayers.

Thanks for all the good wishes guys and special thanks to Jay Wood for putting out some really helpful information.

For the record, apart from a fever, this thing is nothing like the flu.

I just hope somebody somewhere finds a cure to put this thing to bed and that all fellow blues come through this safe and healthy.

Good luck Jay@28, and that book you read definitely reminds me of now.

Lockdown wasn’t nice, especially for people who live alone like Mark, so hopefully we don’t have to go through it again.

Anyone thinking Boris Johnson won’t shut down again, because of the damage it has already done to the economy, if COVID comes back Strong this winter, can’t be sure of this, so hopefully he doesn’t have to make such a decision, especially because everyday life still feels a bit strange.

Tony #63

It's the oldest trick in the book, which is currently being framed in many different ways, divide and rule. Gone are the days when most things could be discussed without fear of reprisals from those who hold alternative views. Everybody seems to think that they are the victims, even those who occupy what many would consider to be privileged positions within society.

It was, I suppose inevitable, that a society that depends upon individualism and competition to keep the economy growing, would at some point reach a crisis point and with the advent of social media platforms that allow unnamed actors and citizens hiding behind their anonymity to voice their concerns, some of which are real and some of which are imagined, would accelerate the fractures in society that we see today.

The quicker the Covid-19 issue is behind us the better, as we can then as a society start to discuss things face to face over a drink or two – it may not solve any of the other issues, but it may help to bring some of the would-be combatants, closer together.

Talking and listening are the most useful qualities that humans have at their disposal to help resolve their differences, and human history is littered with tragic outcomes when communication is either one-sided or non-existent.

I wholly agree, Patrick. We must not give in to those who would keep us apart.

Looks like Phil hook, line, and sinkered me??

Jay Harris quite seriously be well. Get healthy. Crowley’s will toss a few upstairs to the Big Man for you, ‘cause that’s what we do.

Cheers Jay.

Cautionary tales from the two Jay's. Gave me cause for thought. Stay well both of you.

Sorry guys, for my earlier post (70). Been one of the most riveting threads I've read in a while. Kind of relevant also, in an odd sort of way.

I am just home after eight LONG days in a public hospital here in Brasil, and was planning to find a way to write and see how Jay and (more importantly?) his missus were bearing up, having now experienced at first hand the grief that pervades these establishments.

I won't know for another week or two if I've come unstuck, but I have seen little to give me confidence that things are any more under control now than they were three months ago.

Even worse, this past weekend, according to my missus, saw partying in our home town ‘Like it was 1999'. Not an effing mask in sight, because some prat somewhere has decided enough-is-enough, and it's time to call the government's bluff!

I have close, intelligent, and trusted friends who make plausible arguments along the same eloquent lines as Mark earlier. Do I hope they're right? Perhaps I should. Because God help (some of) us if they're not.

Jay #61, appears to be happening at last. We have her booked on a flight next month with the necessary waivers. 8 months to get the family back together.

Kieran, Jamie - not sure if you are totally local but George Henry Lee was the big posh department store in the middle of Liverpool next to the new market back in the 60s. Part of the John Lewis chain.

Hence the reference to more wind ups. Got to have a laugh these days with all the political correctness going on. Sorry guys.

Jay Harris #28 and Jay Wood # 55, I hope you both make a full recovery soon - TW needs you in top form!

Jay(s), your posts brings the stark reality into focus and whilst we have to acknowledge there is a cost to lockdown, we also have to protect ourselves from this dreadful pandemic.

I wish you both a full and speedy recovery from the bottom of my heart for your posts serve to remind us that no-one is untouched. God bless you both.

Catch up time at the end of the day.

Dave @ 64. Your prayers for the missus seem to be working. Thanks! I'm guessing I didn't get a mention in your prayers, yer bugger! Either that or I'm beyond salvation just for my sins on TW alone!

Jay H @ 65. Any help or advice I can offer, just ask.

Steve Greir - new name for me! Where are you in Brazil fellah? Was your hospital stay Covid-19 related, or other?

Either way, get and stay well. As you say, here in Brazil it's more a drinks break than the end of the game. 121,500 deaths and counting.

Mike @ 73. I hope there are no further spanners in the works that delay the reunion further.

Christine @ 76. Thank you (and others) for your kind words.

Christine, I've got to ask, but I have an echo of a memory I hope you can help me with.

Remember at the time of your (less than immaculately timed!) immigration to New Zealand with the footy paused and keeping us updated of your protracted journey on the many very good Covid-19 threads at the time?

Out of left field appeared a 1st-time New Zealand-based poster who admitted he had only signed up to comment on the thread. He then proceeded to gratuitously abuse you in a very haughty manner.

Was that the very same Derek Moore who spews out more of the same towards you in this thread Christine?

Either way, if so or not, ignore him. Not that you need me to tell you that. I'm confident you are more resilient than to be easily bruised by someone so irrelevant. He has created a niche for himself as a pontificator and moral judge of posters without contributing to the topic under discussion, blissfully ignorant he is engaging in the very conduct he contrives to condemn others for.

You know how respected and appreciated by the TW you are, Christine. So do keep 'annoying' said poster!

Once again, thanks for all the well wishes, it means a lot from people I have never met but have come to know and love, especially JC who seems to have some influence upstairs with those initials he should, and Christine who has seen her life turn upside down and inside out in the last 12 months.

I am so pleased for Mike G and his family and hope the new season arrives with all Blues and ToffeeWebbers intact.

The one thing this brings home to you is that, although we have different opinions and will argue our corner to the bitter end, we are all together in wanting better principles and ethics from those who influence our lives.

Jay W, I hope you and your family get through this as you more than any of us have to suffer some the worst leadership in the world but manage to continuously put up well researched and thought out posts while worrying about your family.

No matter what happens to me, I look forward to a successful unified Everton who could bring some much-needed pleasure back to us all by returning to the top of the table.

Jay, 77*

Thank you for the kind words. With respect to Mr Moore, I do believe it was the same person who had a go at me for posting on my relocation to New Zealand as the pandemic spread. I would have to go back and check to be certain but frankly have no wish to, but I do seem to remember the comments were less than complimentary personally as they are in the current thread. I did offer an olive branch (coffee) but that was returned and stuffed up my backside for good measure.

So be it, I don't mind people having a go at my comments, its a debate forum after all, but this one has a particular dislike for who I am, what I write, what I believe in etc, etc. I have been accused of many things in my life, some correctly I might add, but never of bad manners!

But you are right, over the last dozen years or so I have been here, I have had to realise that some may not see life as I do but I refuse to let abuse drive me out of here; there are far too many great blues in here and I long for the time when we can debate football once more. So I will not be replying to any of his future threads for life is too short to be upset by such.

Reading back on the thread, Jamie, Phil, sorry to disappoint you but I will not be appearing on any future edition of Ru Paul... although after the threads I had to go to the mirror and just check: you will be pleased to know there were no appendages down there. Keep taking the tablets!

Jamie, heck.. if I had only known they were offers of marriage.

I could, of course, take umbrage at being debated about in such a way but I realise its merely good-hearted banter and said in such terms of endearment. (I hope!)

Jay 78, wholeheartedly agree, I am looking forward to seeing a smile in the mirror on a Sunday morning rather than a bout of terminal depression! Stay well and look after yourself, Jay!

Is Covid still a thing?

It's almost forgotten about here in Thailand except for going to 7-11 to buy beer.

Peter #47, isn't it one of the earlier mistakes they made in the 'science' that Covid is a respiratory problem? Maybe that's why they couldn't solve the problem with ventilators.

Jay (77), what is yours is also your wife's and vice versa, so those prayers were shared, just an extra Hail Mary for your wife!!

Jay @77: Thanks for the nod. Catch you on another thread soon, as it looks like this one's run its course – what with the Blackburn game being cancelled an' all.

I was in hospital for a double dose of double angioplasty. Seems to have gone very well, thank Christ. Just hoping neither I, nor the wife, have brought anything else home with us!

I am based in Minas, by the way, couple of hours south of Belo Horizonte.

Take good care, and all the best!

Everton U23s encounter with Man Utd has also been cancelled by mutual consent.

Everton Under-23s's pre-season friendly visit to Manchester United, scheduled for Saturday 5 September, has been cancelled.

David Unsworth's team were due to complete their warm-up fixtures for 2020/21 at The Cliff, United's training ground, but the two clubs have agreed to call off the match.

Courtesy EFC official site.