Seriously tried to stay quiet but for Sports Direct to say they are essential and will stay open is a disgrace. It helps jeopardise all of is. I suggest the police should enforce closure if every shop like this and there should be huge penalties against them for taking the piss
Thank god I support a proper club. And not just mine, but all those clubs who treat their fans with respect, whose players still speak to their supporters , whose fans respect each other. Feel sorry for the fans of those six clubs who are viewed as worthless by their owners.
Thanks to everyone for their kind words about my decision to carry on presenting
@GilletteSoccerS
. Felt job wasn’t complete until Merse finally masters pronouncing Alain St Maximin properly!!
Heartbroken today. Stan lost his battle. For 12 years he gave us unconditional love. He was never aggressive, even with our cats and welcomed everyone with a Croc in his mouth and a furious tail wagging. We tried everything but in the end there was nothing left we could do.
Tonight guys you can support as many teams as you like. I don’t care. I don’t care much about football tonight tbh. My best mate for 12 years Stan is tonight fighting for his life in hospital. I know some people will think it is pathetic but right now he is all I care about.
Watching
#thecrossing
on ITV . Heartbreaking to see desperate people dying trying to reach England. Some of the comments about this disgust me. I would rather be here with those who wanted a life in this country than those who shame the human race with their appalling tweets.
Pubs and restaurants to close at 22.00. That should do it. We will all be able to sleep safe in our beds knowing coronavirus has been beaten by early closing !
Wish I cd reply to everyone individually but wanted to say I was overwhelmed by the kind comments today. Thank you. We still have 7 months of Roath Ravers, Eisa is a good investment, Hartlepool, Broom sweeps thrpugh etc etc still to come! Not sure if that’s good news or not !!
Sometimes I am ashamed to be a qualified journalist when
@MailOnline
comes out with more disgraceful scaremongering garbage about the ‘Nepal Variant’ . Just stop it. Please.
My son is a Brighton fan. He is 20 so not at risk . But if he he goes to the game and by chance gets coronavirus, he will be ok. But he will come home to me. And then lovely Jules Warren will be presenting Socc Sat for ever more.
40 quid plus for National League play off final tickets- 20 for kids. Don’t we want people to support their local teams ? They already have to pay for travel from Solihull and Grimsby to East London. These fans are the bedrock of football and yet treated shamefully.
Shame to hear a journalist
@matthewsyed
not supporting freedom of speech re
@GaryLineker
. I was brought up to believe it was fundamental that every journalist should believe in that. But it seems freedom of speech for some, not all.
And you know what
@SportsDirectUK
and everyone else . I am 65. I am scared. I want to be able to present Soccer Saturday in future. Please stop. Please do what you are asked. Just close down, stay home . Ok ?
Thanks for all the messages of support - and even for most of those who have a different view as I believe in free speech. So far no discussions have taken place, no decisions made. Only I know what I am thinking but it is important to listen to all arguments. Thanks again
Would be v easy to quit this cesspit due to the abuse I am getting over
#TheCrossing
. But ‘likes’ outnumber abuse by more than 90 per cent. Thank you for convincing me that there are mainly decent people out there. Going to ignore the haters.
Cash rich companies whether in football or not should not be furloughing staff. They are taking the tax payers money when they could well afford to carry the financial burden themselves
For a politician to use language like ‘ a tsunami of cases’ and the variant ‘running riot’ makes me so angry. Disgracefully irresponsible .For gods sake stop trying to make headlines.
So Tony Pulis sacked after 45 days. Who on earth does the owner think will want to take on this club now? 4points from last 2 games. Tony has probably told him a few home truths and he hasn’t liked it.
Ok you might have guessed I don’t like VAR. but what worries me most is that a qualified PLref with as many looks as he wants can’t see what Harry Maguire has done. That’s not the systems fault but the ineptness of those who are attempting to operate the system. Really scary
The morning after the day before. It all seems like an out of body experience (with my body, you would want to be out of it). I wanted to thank everyone for the overwhelming number of kind messages. I’m going to take a few weeks to assess my options and then decide what is next.
Jose Mourinho actions and words contributed massively to the disgraceful behaviour towards Antony Taylor. He is a repeat repeat repeat offender . Needs the strongest possible punishment.
It is the least unbelievable news ever.
@chris_kammy
an MBE. Do I have to bow every time I see him. Kammy does so much charity work that this is well deserved. Not to mention putting up with me for so long!! So pleased .
Brighton v Arsenal has ex Arsenal co commentator and both pundits are ex Arsenal. Maybe next time Sky should be a bit more balanced. It is like using me on a Hartlepool game!!!
Perhaps a better idea is to force all MPs to isolate at the House of Commons over the Christmas period away from their families unless they learn to behave sensibly.
Distraught to hear about the abuse
@MichelleOwen7
has been receiving. She is an outstanding reporter and presenter who I love working with. She happens to be a great person as well. She does not deserve this vitriol - no one does. Let’s all please stop.
VAR total joke again in League One play off . Clear Barnsley pen denied and moments later a red card for a challenge that is yellow at worst. Afraid to tell the ref he has got it wrong
Furlong ex QPR, Ajayi ex Rotherham, Sawyers ex Brentford, Grant ex Huddersfield , Gallagher playing at Swansea last season . Spot the common thread ? They were all playing their socks off for Bilic, who needed backing not sacking
Interested to see my number of followers has gone down again. Apologies to those I have offended by saying….. not very much. Goodnight to the few of you who are left !!!
Seriously a red card for Calvert Lewin ?? Does anybody honestly believe the game is better for VAR? Makes you weep how the governing bodies/PGMOL are destroying our beloved game.
So
@markpougatch
not presenting on 5 live any more. Sad that his total professionalism will be replaced by someone who is considered to be more in touch with the youth of today, even if they know sod all about football or interviewing. He can’t say it so I will.
Did I read that some clubs have fans in their grounds watching FA Cup ties on TV feeds behind black out curtains this weekend but they are not allowed to watch the same game taking place live on the other side of the curtain ? Jesus I must be more pissed than I thought .
Thanks to all the kind people for their comments about my dog Stan. Many asked for updates. He had blood transfusions overnight and has tubes coming from everywhere you can imagine. It is very hard to see. But he is hanging on in while the vets try and find the causes of illness
Third and fourth play off in World Cup should be scrapped. Two teams of players who are out on their feet, having given everything, picking up injuries in a meaningless contest. For gods sake they may even play extra time.
If Newcastle can replicate this in games to come they will make some pundits eat their words. Thought Joelinton, St Maximin, Fraser and Shelvey outstanding. In fact they all did a job.
A last thought. Clearly I made an error re Leeds points or goals. But Newcastle fans who abuse me might remember how many times I have stood up for them and the City, which I love. Its unacceptable but those who do it, won’t care I think that. Hope the proper fans enjoy summer.
Interesting to note two D Mail scare stories today that Britain faces a second lockdown and pandemic could last two years are both written by the same TRAINEE journalist. When I was their age/experience I was reporting on women’s institutes rather than scaring a nation to death.
Eight weeks ago at around this time I was arriving home from
@SoccerSaturday
not realising that I would not be back in the studio until who knows when. I keep practising ‘there’s a goal but which way has it gone’ ready to bring it out of mothballs as soon as we can .
The water is cold but she does not care. Lottie got the all clear today following her cancer operation ! Thanks to those who performed the op and everybody who wished her well
Interesting that MotD decided the second Newcastle pen was not worth discussing despite it being prob the most controversial decision of the weekend. Not the fault btw of
@AlexScott
just terrible production decision.
The Mail Online top story calls the new Covid strain ultra infectious and vaccine resistant! But the South Africans say it’s a storm in a teacup and all cases have been mild. Don’t know who to believe but I do know using language like ‘worst ever strain’ does not help anyone.
One of the greatest broadcasting voices has been silenced with the passing of my wonderful friend and colleague John Gwynne. Whether at the Etihad or Spotland, he made every game special with his gravitas, humour and passion. Soccer Saturday will never be the quite the same.
I obviously mean the owners of the six . Not the fans . We all should feel sorry for the fans of those clubs. It is not their fault ! Just read the tweet again . Pretty clear I was not having a go at fans
Can anyone explain why Wimbledon will have full crowds, test match v New Z 17000(?), Euro Champs final at least 40000. Yet National League play off final will have less than 8000. Are we more contagious ?
Clubs at National League level can’t play without crowds. I suspect this season will not happen at all and that means lost livelihoods for those involved, lost clubs for communities.
@CliveTyldesley
Clive does more prep and stats than me - and his are useful ! Baffling as you are as good as ever ! Oh I forgot Clive you are 65. Ageism alive and well in UK broadcasting.
Good luck Graeme. His public persona may be straight-talking, hard as nails ex footballer. But he is a kind, good hearted man and , as someone who struggles to swim the width of a pool , I am full of admiration.
Former Liverpool footballer Graeme Souness is swapping being a TV pundit to swim the English Channel.
The 70 year old told
#BBCBreakfast
he's doing it for the charity DEBRA which supports people living with Epidemolysis Bullosa
Just flown back from Faro to learn Portugal off the green list. There were literally thousands of Brits arriving as I was leaving . Feel for them. Portugal - not just the Algarve - has had 7 Covid related deaths in 7 days.
V sad to hear about Bertie Auld. When I presented the Lisbon Lions story on Times of Our Lives on Sky , Bertie was the life and soul. I could not get a word in. Met him on a number of other occasions and realised that was how he always was. Larger than life . Will be missed.
@chris_kammy
Why do we always let ourselves down ? These will be the pictures/stories on the front of every European paper tomorrow. Crying shame for Gareth, his squad and every proper football lover .
Daylight robbery was of course the wrong expression re Leeds , so apologies to their fans. I was just gobsmacked that they won it in that way - hence the scream ! And Dallas - what finishes they were !
@oussou_seydi
@talkSPORT
Newcastle a one club city where you see only black and white. They have fantastic fans and a mega waiting list for season tickets. They are a BIG club - it is not just about what you have won. And By the way Gabby never scored there for Villa !!
By the way that’s my last contribution to this debate because like so many football fans I am so thoroughly peed off with it. Used to be a pleasure to watch football. Go and watch lower league football. Some of the refs may be crap but you know what you are getting