Do you want to see the league finished? Voided and start again? Ended now and those in current positions go up and down? I'm leaning towards voiding it.. We were in the top 3 for most of the season, a slight dip in form and we may be punished. How would it be fair if the current top 3 go up and bottom 2 go down? Not everyone has played each other, some have had easier games than others so current standing surely cannot be deemed as fair and final? What's your thoughts? Hope everyone is staying healthy and surviving lockdown. Thankfully my local pub is doing takeaway pints so I'm surprisingly enjoying this little break, albeit missing sport!
Haven't the Scottish football league finished it on current standings? Feels exceptionally unfair in my view. Hope we don't replicate it. Will be gutting for teams like Leeds and WBA but I still think its the fairest way. I think teams like Macclesfield and Bolton with deducted points should start take them again, mind you.
Either get it completed or call it complete now and those in promotion/relegation positions go up or down accordingly. Playoffs are scrapped and relegations are reduced accordingly. Voiding a season that is over 75% complete and just writing it from the records just makes no sense to me. That's a lot of football that has just been a waste of time. Of course, those fans of clubs with nothing to play for or maybe more importantly, fans of clubs who are currently in the relegation zones would of course suggest the voiding of the season. I actually believe that things are happening behind the scenes to get the season back underway in some form over the coming months. I can't see any other reason why footballing authorities are continuing to go along with a suspension of the season when lockdowns are being extended. If there was an overriding belief that the season couldn't be completed, it would have been done by now
So just wipe off 7 months of football? Enough football has been played throughout the leagues for current positions to have been earned and deserved. Had the season been a few games old when all this kicked off then of course there would be no argument. Maybe the reason this is being dragged out is because the FA don't know how to deal with it because there is nothing in their laws for this and they leave themselves open to legal claims whichever route they take (if the season is not completed). I'm 100% sure we will see some sort of ruling for this heading into the laws of the game before the start of next season (whenever that may be)
Not really mate. There are maybe an handful of clubs, or say 10 max who have earned their positions whether it be near the top or bottom. That doesn’t cut it for me. Plenty to play for.
My point is that after this amount of games, clubs are in positions that they deserve to be in having played everyone else at least once. Whereas, had this been 3 games into the season, it's likely that you'd have clubs in 'false' positions as we often see at the start of a PL season
Still doesn’t cut it though mate. Plenty of things could happen. The fairest way for majority of clubs is to void .
Fair on who? Fair on Liverpool who have had the title sewn up since last year? Fair on Leeds and WBA who have been the best 2 sides in the Championship and deserve promotion? Fair on Coventry who are 7 points clear of 3rd spot? Fair on the top 3 in League 2 who have each accumulated 20+ wins this season? Or fair on the 2 worst sides in the PL who will stay up despite only managing 12 wins between them all season and both having pretty nasty run ins, your lot in particular (but I guess you already know that)? Or fair on Barnsley and Luton who have been shown to be out of their depth at Championship level but will survive to enjoy another season at a higher level? Or fair on Bolton and Southend who have both been hit with point deductions for breaking EFL rules and would both avoid relegation and, dependent of the wording of the legal documentation regarding their points deductions, could have an argument that they shouldn't have to start a new season with the same deductions. A clean slate and in the same division is not a bad outcome for them is it? Or fair on Stevenage, who are 10 points adrift at the bottom of League 2 and have lost their last 5 games (at least). A club that needs to gain 50% of the points they have accumulated over 36 games in the next 10 games just to catch their nearest rival (if said rival doesn't pick any points up along the way) The reality is that there is no 'fairest way' of sorting this out if the season cannot be completed, calling the shortened season complete will upset some just as much as voiding the season would upset others. So it becomes lose-lose for the authorities but I would much prefer them to look at things from the perspective that those clubs I mentioned at the top of this post have succeeded so far to be in the positions they are in, instead of giving those clubs that have been shit a 'get out of jail' free card
i'd end the season now. from a financial point of view at our level, playing games behind closed doors might cause a few financial headaches. Promote Crewe/Swindon/Plymouth/Exeter and bring up Barrow and Harrogate from the National League. Our owner has been in the news recently as he tries to keep the club going https://www.skysports.com/football/...chairman-peter-swann-responds-to-gary-neville
Why Exeter? We’ve a game in hand and our ppg is better than theirs. That game in hand is perfectly winnable as well. Each time the game has been called off has been down to Newport as well. You’re punishing us for something completely out of our control.
They clearly want to end the season but I cannot see anything happening until the Government relax social distancing... which might be a whille. Then the question is how long do you hold on ?
I'm still not seeing a balance of valid reasons for not finishing this season's league competitions before starting the next season. Clearly the EFL (and Premier league) are leaning towards starting behind closed doors before eventually letting crowds in. The financial implications of finishing versus finding a fudge based on current results and positions (or just starting again) seem to favour finishing 2019/20 then starting the next season late, possibly with 1 or 2 cup competitions dropped or modified.
What about if a team is a point behind an auto spot but had a game in hand? What if those in autos have played much easier teams so far? The point is the season isn't complete and nobody has mathematically done anything yet. Nobody has played the same sides on the same pitches so IMO the season cannot be ruled final as nobody The game is winnable - because every game is.. But you haven't won it so why assume you will? If you assume you'll win that game then I'll assume we will win every game for the rest of the season and finish top.... Reality is everyone has played different teams at different stadiums and there is no way it can be finalised or the positions to mean anything of any importantance until it's either mathematically confirmed or everyone has played everyone the same amount of times. Void the season and start again. Finishing it now simply isn't fair at all. Finishing it behind closed doors is financially impossible for most clubs. Voiding it is the only fair way.
Voiding or calling the season as it is as the exact same effect on teams currently outside any promotion, relegation or euro spots but affects the teams in them more. Playing the remaining games gives the teams outside a chance and only a chance at any meaningful spots. Call the season as it is imo. At the very most find a way for teams to play their games in hand and then call it.
How is it the ONLY fair way? How is it ok to suggest that it is fair that clubs who have been shit for nearly 40 league matches suddenly have a reprieve and don't get relegated, yet it isn't fair for clubs who have been better than the rest for nearly 40 league matches to be promoted? Richard makes a good point here as well.... Why is it such a big deal to fans of clubs who are not in promotion/relegation places right now as calling it complete as it stands or voiding it results in the same outcome for those clubs - another season in the same division. Also, @Grecian, it might just be my ignorance of lower league football but how would it be financially impossible for most clubs to play matches behind closed doors? Surely if this happens then matches will be streamed and clubs will earn money through this - got to be better having a bit of an income, rather than none at all?
How and when we start playing lower league football again, under whatever restrictions or with whatever financial support from outside the clubs, finishing the season or starting a new one shouldn't impact on the practicality or financial viability......APART FROM whatever the views of the financiers, sponsors and (I guess) season ticket holders prefer to maximise their financial support. Why do people think it's easier to disentangle existing contractual commitments, TV money and sponsorship in order to just start new ones?
