 Hi guys, welcome to Yes, We're Here. I am pleased to be joined by our NYCFC analyst Ian Joy. Ian, happy to see you're looking well. Hope the family is all safe too. It's great to see you Nancy. Thank you so much. Everything's going pretty well out here in California. Family's doing great. We're staying safe. We're sticking by the regulations and we're really hopeful that we can get over this pretty soon and get back to normality. Yes, well, things are moving ahead after a two month break the German Bundesliga. They are set to return. So I want to get your thoughts and your feelings about the precautions that are being put in place. It's quite incredible. You know, first and foremost to see sports returning. I think it's a great thing. I think the people right now need something. They need some sort of energy in their lives and sports certainly brings that to them. So to see the Bundesliga being the first league back, which is a league that's close to my heart, having played in Germany for five years. I'm delighted for them, but it is going to be a tricky phase. You mean you're going in with so many protocols and rules and regulations that everybody has to stick by. And it's very difficult because so many people have to stay disciplined. It's not easy to the players, to the coaches and for everybody else who's around to be able to stick to those rules and regulations. But I can only imagine that everybody's delighted to get soccer back and to get it back as quickly as possible so that we can save the league the way we know it so that franchises can survive and so that the people who desperately need it most have some sort of entertainment. So I'm excited to see it back. And I think that's really true. You made a couple of really strong points there, as you often do. There have been some setbacks, but they are powering through. A couple of players have tested positive, but they are seeing that as no cause to shut everything down. Yeah, Nancy, I think that's going to be sort of normal when you're doing so many tests for players and for personnel around teams. At some point you're going to get a positive test and they've got rules and regulations. What their protocol is, is to remove a player. So as you mentioned, there has been 10 to 12 players already tested positive or coaching staff included. They've been removed from the squad for a 14 day period, even though they're showing no symptoms whatsoever. They've been removed for 14 days and they're treating this like an injury. So I think that's the best way to treat it. However, everybody has to stick to the rules and regulations. If you slip out for whatever reason, you will be punished and I've got a great story for you Nancy. Yesterday, this story broke out in Germany. The head coach of FC Augsburg, his name is Heiko Herlich. He's just been appointed before this pause took place. So he hasn't even been on the bench yet for his team. He stepped out of the team hotel where the team has been in quarantine for the last 7 to 14 days in preparation for kickoff. He stepped out of the hotel, went to a local store to grab toothpaste and hand cream and completely forgot about the rules and regulation. So now he's forced to take a quarantine break away from the team. He has of course taken two tests which have been negative so he can resume training with the team next week. But for punishment, he's been told he is not allowed to take any part in the game this weekend. So for hand cream and toothpaste, he's going to miss out. Oh my gosh, did he turn himself in? He had to. He completely forgot about it. Just stepped out of the hotel and wanted to go do something pretty normal that he thought was normal and he totally forgot about the rules and regulations that were in place. And I guess players are going to have to recognize that. This discipline is so important. If you don't have it, if you forget for a split second, it could cost you a game. It could cost you potentially catching this virus. So everybody's got to be on their toes and alert and aware and make sure they're doing the right thing. Let that be a warning shot, right? And I also want to get your expanded thought on something you brought up just a moment ago is the fact that this league, not always in the spotlight, this is an opportunity to show itself as a leader in terms of protocol and product. Yeah. I mean, this is a great moment right now for the Bundesliga. It is an unfortunate time. And I don't like to say that you've got to take advantage of an unfortunate time when, of course, everybody's watching you. All eyes are on the league right now. You know, the Italian league, the German league, and of course the Premier League and Spanish League, everyone's going to be watching what the Bundesliga and DFL does. So I think that right now they've got to take advantage of that. New supporters are coming into the league because they want to watch sports. We're also recognizing it's not just soccer who's watching what the Bundesliga are doing right now. Over here, the major leagues, you of course have baseball. You have the NFL, NHL. Everybody's watching to see if the protocol works and then maybe they can take some idea from that and implement it into their own plans to try and bring their own sports leagues back. So I've got my fingers crossed that this works out, but a lot of things have to go right for it to work without any problems. Day by day, meanwhile, in the UK, another place close to your heart, what are you hearing about the return of the Premier League? June? I think we could be getting close and I think an answer is imminent on training. I think that's the first step, trying to get the players back because at this moment in time in the Premier League, there has been no green light for competitive training. So the players can, of course, train individually. They're looking like they're going to get that green light for June 1st to be able to competitively train once again and then try to some way figure a way out to finish the season. Not easy at all because the players are not all on board just yet, even though the government is putting a little bit of pressure on the Premier League to try and make it happen. There's also the governing body from UEFA, the European Leagues Executive. They are looking at the Premier League and putting some pressure saying that they have until May 25th to be able to come up with a plan to try and bring the Premier League back. But I think it's very a cautious approach really from the Premier League. The players have got to be on board, which it doesn't seem like they all are right now. There is some hesitancy. The British government haven't handled this situation very well and there still is a large number of problems, positive tests and also deaths that are coming out through the UK. So they have to be very careful, very cautious, but I'm optimistic. And as you know, I like to bring the positive side to it so I can see the Premier League bringing a decision within the next seven days that they will have competitive training once again. And if that happens, the Premier League is coming back. Okay, let's hope for that and let's focus state side shall we and news buzzing in the Orlando area that the MLS is thinking about conducting a 2016 tournament type event in Orlando. That sounds exciting. How do you feel about it? Well, don't you just love that everybody's getting so creative? I mean, we're getting creative doing this stuff out of our own bedrooms or living rooms wherever we are. And all these major leagues are going to have to get creative as well. And I like the approach from Major League Soccer Nancy. They're being cautious and normally Major League Soccer likes to be the first at everything. They like to implement new ideas first. They like to implement new rules first. But this time they're taking a really cautious approach. And I really appreciate that. I respect the Major League Soccer wants to watch what's going on in the Bundesliga. They're also trying to make sure that they keep their players very happy and make sure that they're cautious because of all of the different regions are going through this situation differently. So they respect that. And what's happening in and around New York, they have to take that into consideration as well. But the plan is in place. Orlando looks like it is going to happen. At first I heard it was going to be three separate locations where they would spread the teams out to three different locations and have the teams train for three or four weeks and then play a tournament style competition. Before they then got back to some sort of a regular season to try and have a season at all. And I think that's what might happen in Orlando. However, I am a little bit skeptical throwing all the teams down in Orlando around the same area, trying to keep them apart. You know, do they have all the fields? Do they have the hotels necessary? Do they have everything to keep the rules and regulations in place? I'm not so confident on that just yet, but I do like the approach from Major League Soccer. They're taking their time. They want to do it right. And it's a question, Ian, of the players accepting eight to maybe 10 weeks of quarantine. It's really interesting because I don't see too many leagues, including the Bundesliga, the Premier League or even Major League Soccer, although Major League Soccer has done a better job of this at speaking to their own players. How do the players feel about this? I was once a player in Nancy and I know personally I would be concerned about family. If my family is in good health and they're not in much danger, then I would be okay with doing that. But not every family is in that position. You know, if you're going to spend eight weeks to 10 weeks away from your loved ones, you're asking a lot of the players. But on top of that, Nancy, you're also asking these players to take a pay cut. So there's a lot right now being asked of these players and I think keeping them away from their families first and foremost for safety is the right thing to do. But it's a big ask for those players and that's going to happen across all major leagues. The players are going to have to make some sacrifices if we are to see sports coming back soon. And I can't part from you Ian without asking about NYCFC. What's the latest? I'm really impressed with the way NYCFC have handled this Nancy. It's been awesome. They've really done a great job. They have looked after the players immensely with strict training regimes. They're doing great jobs of online classes. They're making sure that the players have everything away from training financially. They have food. They're all looked after professionally, which is excellent first and foremost. They're looking after your people. The staff have been tremendous. They haven't furloughed any of their staff. They've looked after financials for all of their staff and they're making sure that everybody at home is safe. They're working from home at this moment in time, but they're also recognizing that this is a time in need for the New York area. So they're also investing into charities. They're putting money out to the public. They're helping people, helping restaurants. They're doing everything they possibly can to help New York City because this is a big, big club, New York City Football Club. All right. A part of the city football group, which is of course Manchester City and the teams that they have around the world. They look after their people and I'm really, really impressed with what they've done, but I'm starting to sense their frustration. Everybody wants to get back playing and I think that team right now is one of the later teams who could potentially get back to the training facility and start to practice once again. I'm feeling the frustration from the players and the head coach Ronnie Diallio spoke to recently. They all want to get back. They can't wait to get back. And of course, they all want to do something for the fans as well. So we're not far away from seeing them return, but right now they're doing a great job behind the scenes of looking after everybody. Great stuff. We look forward to their return. Thank you so much for being our soccer go-to guy, our soccer guru. You're the best, Ian. Thank you. Thanks for having me, Nancy. Stay safe.