Premier League 2019/20

[Colly]

I think there are loads of complications to all of these options from a legal and financial perspective, but for fucks sake shouldn't the integrity of the competitions matter just for once?

[Adam]

44 minutes ago, Cymbols said:

Makes way more sense just to have one competition screwed up this season, then start back up again next season. It’s a massive blow, but then we hit reset and go again. 
 

No point dragging it out over years, which is also why they shouldn’t cancel any cups next season.

Make a decision to end this season, come up with a solution for titles/promotion/relegation, accept that some people are going to be left unhappy. And come August, we start again.

Personally, I think we just void the season, no promotion, no relegation, but honestly, if they promote and relegate teams as is, it sucks for us, but it is what it is. 

Why though? Aside from contracts, I don't see the big obstacle in finishing this season whenever we can get going again. As David rightly says, if they can stick a World Cup in the middle of our domestic season for no good reason, then why can't we move the schedule around to accommodate this global crisis? The following few seasons running in unconventional months is not going to do any harm, it isn't like the winter climate is too poor for us to play games like in some countries or anything like that.

Say this pandemic passes by...August, say...we finish the season then and start the next one in November, it runs slightly more busy than usual to end the following July, all of a sudden you're only a month out of normality one season removed from this crisis. It makes way more sense to me than destroying the sporting integrity of the game and voiding the whole thing or taking the tables as they are now.

I just hope sense prevails at the top level of governance, not that it often usually does.

[Baddar]

I really think the most important thing is to finish the in-progress season. Next season or the season after don't need to be considered yet aside from the timings of everything and potential reduced schedules. 

Those fighting for promotion, against relegation, going for Europe (and to a lesser extent the title, as that's all but Liverpool's now) all deserve the chance to do so in what remains. We are talking about less than a quarter of the season remaining here, it's not like we had to stop everything before christmas.

[TCO]

2 hours ago, Adam said:

That's nonsense. In League One, the team currently in 8th is three points of an automatic promotion spot. You can't just take the tables as they are, there would be uproar.

They need to accept that the league calendar will be cocked up for the next few years. Just finish these last 10 games or so with the tables staying as they are until we can resume, whenever that is. If next season has to run from November 2020 to September 2021, so be it! Scrap the cups, forget the internationals and just work it out together.

As for having all the automatic promotion places honoured but no relegations, how would that work? More of a scheduling headache to have a 22 team Premier League, and what would become a ludicrous 26 team League One since there's currently 23 teams and three go up automatically from League Two. 26!

You can't just cancel internationals and all the cups either. It's not as if the English pyramid controls world football. World Cup qualifying and UEFA competitions will have to take place.

There would be a 24 team League 1 btw which is normal, not 26. Coventry and Rotherham would be promoted to the Championship. Crewe, Swindon and Plymouth would replace them.

22 Premier League (20+2)

24 Championship (24+2-2)

24 League 1 (23+3-2)

22 League 2 (+1-3)

That's how it'd form and it would balance it off to normal the next year with additional relegations. The leagues have to be done by June 30, otherwise it'll be a mess with contracts. If it can't, something has to be done and I don't think you can relegate anybody at that point because there'd be a legal nightmare. Somebody will have to miss out but if you rule out relegation then it'll be a lot easier to solve.

Elephant in the room is the 2022 winter WC in Qatar. The calender will have to be normalised prior to the 2022/23 season because it will have to pause for that.

[Adam]

Take your point on the league realignment, although I'm still not sure teams will vote in favour of additional relegation spots if it came to that.

As far as England not running the world of football, of course not, but the issues we are discussing regarding the English league apply across the board. It will be the same problems to sort out for Spain, Italy, Germany and everyone else. Surely we could all come to an agreement to run a reduced international schedule in the following season if need be? Put the Carabao/Leasing Cups on hold for a year etc.? I feel it's doable.

Contracts are a big issue but something that I feel, in these unprecedented times, can be worked around if the right people get their heads together.

[MDK]

On the positive side there isn't any VAR bollocks to worry about 

[Gazz]

1 minute ago, MDK said:

On the positive side there isn't any VAR bollocks to worry about 

The new offside interpretation will be based on 'social distancing'.

[Benjamin]

I saw someone suggest the European qualifications and the relegations for the Premiership can be decided via some sort of knock-out tournament, that seems exciting but entirely against the spirit of the competition? Also, technically Liverpool still haven't won the league yet, so how does that solve their problem? Have an elimination game against Man City? 

[Baddar]

[Lineker]

From this week's MOTD podcast-style replacement show. Lineker/Wright/Shearer put this together.

[Colly]

Bloody hell, could we not have had like a 12 hour spoiler rule?

[RazorsEdge]

Gerrard at 2? It says Premier League captains and he never won one. Not trying to take away from him as he obviously was a good captain but some of the others actually won the league. Vieira was captain of the invincible Arsenal team and by that token I would have him above Gerrard.

[Gazz]

There's more to being a captain than winning trophies.

[stokeriño]

45 minutes ago, Gazz said:

There's more to being a captain than winning trophies.

It's true. You've got to bring leadership and motivate the troops.

 

[Colly]

I don't get it.

[stokeriño]

What's there to get? Just listen to how inspiring he was.

[Adam]

Steven Gerrard dragged Liverpool forward for years. They would have been far inferior without him and his leadership qualities.

Judging "best captains" should never just be about trophies.

[DavidMarrio]

40 minutes ago, Adam said:

Steven Gerrard dragged Liverpool forward for years. They would have been far inferior without him and his leadership qualities.

Judging "best captains" should never just be about trophies.

Pretty much this. You talk about a guy who at times was surrounded by shite and he could drag us across the line singlehandedly and he did it time and time again during his pomp. 

[Benjamin]

The choice of words, though  

[Baddar]