So where does this leave us? | Page 3 | Vital Football

So where does this leave us?

What you said.
Forget the season and start again when appropriate.
No teams up, no teams down.
Don’t replace Bury.
Just void that week.
 
I do not think it is fair on the teams in the league by voiding the season, those that finished top three, Coventry, Rotherham and Oxford should be promoted and Southend and Bolton relegated, that is the position as the season came to a close and for the other leagues to follow suite if they do not complete the season.
 
I do not think it is fair on the teams in the league by voiding the season, those that finished top three, Coventry, Rotherham and Oxford should be promoted and Southend and Bolton relegated, that is the position as the season came to a close and for the other leagues to follow suite if they do not complete the season.
What is fair? What guarantee is there that any of the top three you mention would make the top two and what guarantee is that the third-placed team would win the play-offs in the normal run-off to the season? Null and void is the only fair way.
 
I do not think it is fair on the teams in the league by voiding the season, those that finished top three, Coventry, Rotherham and Oxford should be promoted and Southend and Bolton relegated, that is the position as the season came to a close and for the other leagues to follow suite if they do not complete the season.

The trouble is, Whitstable, in terms of the relegation battle you mention the two easy ones. Southend and Bolton were dead and buried, but who else goes down? Is it fair on Tranmere (currently in the last relegation spot) to relegate them when they're 3 points from safety with 10 games to play?

And at the other end, OK, Oxford are 3rd. But they're level on points with Portsmouth and Fleetwood, and a point ahead of Peterborough, Wycombe and Sunderland with anywhere between 8 and 10 games to go.

Without looking at the fixture list, it's quite possible that some teams will have already played most of the top teams and have (on paper) an easier run-in, while others might be in the top 6 but with a much harder run-in.

Given the doubts over whether next season could also end up being interrupted, my personal preference would be to just freeze everything as it is, and pick up where we left off whenever it's safe to do so. Although there I accept there's also the disadvantage that with players out of contract, by the time you go to restart some of the teams would be completely different with potentially a whole new squad of players.

If there's one thing that's sure, it's that there's no perfect solution that's going to suit everybody. So put it to the vote among the clubs, and go with the majority verdict. And then, most importantly, ensure there's some kind of rule in place for coming seasons stating exactly what will happen in the event of a similar shutdown some time in the future. Whatever's decided this time around, some clubs will complain. If the procedure to follow is written in the rules and clear to everyone before the season starts, they can have no complaints.
 
The EFL should take some leadership in this issue.
Declare 19/20 void and start again when it’s ok to do it.
Even if Gills were higher I’d still have the same opinion.
You cannot declare winners when no one has won.
 
If the season was to be voided , what happens to the striker who had his best ever season ?
Can he not claim his goals , or are they voided too ?
 
If the season was to be voided , what happens to the striker who had his best ever season ?
Can he not claim his goals , or are they voided too ?
We’re also conveniently forgetting the legal action we and the footballing authorities will face from certain clubs.
 
I don’t think null and void is even an option on the table now. Rick Parry the EFL Chairman has said there will be promotion and relegation through the leagues. So the arguments in League 1 are about how you decide the promotion and relegation; I expect it will end up the same as League 2 with unweighted points per game used to determine the final table. Obviously the likes of Tranmere (who would be relegated) and Peterborough (who would miss out on the playoffs/promotion places) will be unhappy with that, but it only needs a majority of one to be passed as a rule.
 
PPG to work out final league table.

Top 2 go up. Next four playoff. That's only 3 games (semi is one leg) to manage. Highest placed teams are at home in semi. Team who has best GD from semi is at home in final. Winner goes up.

No relegation. Only winners no losers in terms of league.

Over next few years an extra team is relegated to balance the leagues. Although a few clubs may fold due to financial impact.

It's not perfect, no solution is, but this seems fairest.
 
Not to me it doesn’t mark.
I don’t think it’s fair at all.
If the season can’t be completed, then it’s not a season.
Everyone started the season knowing exactly what the terms were.
Play 46 games etc.
Bury went so that changed to 44
Now being second after thirty something gets you a promotion?
Fair?
 
Not to me it doesn’t mark.
I don’t think it’s fair at all.
If the season can’t be completed, then it’s not a season.
Everyone started the season knowing exactly what the terms were.
Play 46 games etc.
Bury went so that changed to 44
Now being second after thirty something gets you a promotion?
Fair?

Probably not fair, no, shotshy.

But can you think of a solution that is completely fair?

This might have to be a case of trying to find the least unfair solution, cos I've not yet heard a single proposal that could be considered completely fair to all clubs.
 
Everyone started the season knowing exactly what the terms were.

If that were true we’d have clear rules on what to do now. The actual truth is that nobody knew what the terms were in the event the season became impossible to complete within the normal timeframe.

What would your stance be if we had all played 43 out of 44 games?

Your stance on this does seem very binary.
 
I think you've nailed it Buddha. We need the least unfair.

Null and voiding is grossly unfair to those clubs sitting in the top 2. We've played the majority of fixtures and they are in a promotion position on merit. To void that seems more unfair that saying to gills mathematically you could qualify for playoffs but we are calling the final positions on PPG.

Least unfair is the best solution in my view
 
I think you've nailed it Buddha. We need the least unfair.

Null and voiding is grossly unfair to those clubs sitting in the top 2. We've played the majority of fixtures and they are in a promotion position on merit. To void that seems more unfair that saying to gills mathematically you could qualify for playoffs but we are calling the final positions on PPG.

Least unfair is the best solution in my view


Has to be least unfair for everyone. By not playing out the season, but still managing to settle issues with promotion play-offs, leaves clubs at the bottom unable to settle their issues by adopting the same method - ie playing matches. Clubs are not all being treated the same. Least unfair to some clubs is not necessarily least unfair to all clubs.
 
As a reminder of just how frail many L1 clubs are at this time, consider Wycombe Wanderers - top of the table just a few months ago. Their owner has said that the club is now losing £350.000 a month and it`s losses would be £2.5M +

Owner Rob Couhig says that he`s informed all his non-football staff presently on furlough that their pay will be limited to that which is received from the furlough plan. He`s advised them to look for alternative employment once the Government scheme ends.