How to complete the season

Just not sure what the meeting achieved!
I guess it achieved treading water! The EFL and the PL can't say much apart from wishful thinking at the moment. They're just marking time to see how their peer organisations and the government react to the spread of the virus.
The cricket authorities are due to make a statement about the cricket season tomorrow. It certainly won't be starting on time.
 
I guess it achieved treading water! The EFL and the PL can't say much apart from wishful thinking at the moment. They're just marking time to see how their peer organisations and the government react to the spread of the virus.
The cricket authorities are due to make a statement about the cricket season tomorrow. It certainly won't be starting on time.

Yeah, I agree, but not sure what they hoped to do e.g. we hope to complete the season by 30th June or where we stand in terms of players contract period etc (obviously this will involve the players, clubs etc) or that play offs may have to be scrapped with teams being promoted automatically etc!

I understand that they don’t know what will happen as we don’t know how long this horrendous situation will last, but I thought they may have given some kind of intent!
 
Would like to think the pl will use a small bit of their 1.5 billion war chest to help the lower leagues a mere 20 million would cover all the lost income but I wont be holding my breath!
 
Hello everyone after 2 years. Seeing what we are seeing here in Malaysia, I feel there are only a few options;

1) Finish season now, standings based on pro-rata, points / games played. 3 go up.
2) Games are completed but behind closed doors.

I cannot see any events with large gatherings being allowed at earliest August.
 
If the season is voided, what happens with regards to payments for final league positions that clubs would have got at the end of last season? Would Ipswich, Bolton and Rotherham receive the amount they received for finishing in the bottom 3 in the Championship again, as well as a first batch of parachute payments again? Would the promoted teams in each league receive only the amount they would have received from the previous season again, denying them (in Norwich, Sheffield Utd and Villa’s cases) the massive cash influx they would have received even from finishing last in the premiership? That all seems hugely financially impactful and massively unfair, giving rich teams like Ipswich who have objectively fucked it this season a second bite at the cherry. Also, if you pretend this season never happened and just replay it, what do you do with Bury? They can’t go into L2, as there will then be 25 teams, but they also can’t come into L1, as then their punishment would be nonexistent. You also can’t just promote the top L2 club, because then eg Coventry could say, oi, what about us?

Rolling the season beyond the summer makes no sense. You ruin two seasons instead of one and, as someone very astutely observed above, lay the foundations for scrapping the league cup.
Rolling the season beyond the summer makes no sense. You ruin two seasons instead of one and, as someone very astutely observed above, lay the foundations for scrapping the league cup.

Ending the league season now, with final positions decided by how they currently stand or on the points per game metric, is the only way to go. Don’t award trophies, as they haven’t been earned, but do identify promotions/relegations/Europe. You could argue it’s not fair and it’s not ideal, and clubs undoubtedly will, but none of this is.
 
The early rounds of the Europa League and champions League start in July, so what happens to these and subsequent rounds if domestic seasons are still being finished?
 
1) Finish season now, standings based on pro-rata, points / games played. 3 go up.

There is a certain logic in doing this.

Of course the downside is that it will mean Wycombe (currently 8th, and in a down spiral) will move up to 3rd and get promoted.
Despite the fact that their game in hand is away to Coventry......and in the teams' current respective form, the chance of them winning that is very, very small indeed.

And of course, it's also worth pointing out that both Wycombe and Rotherham played against Bolton when they were sending out a bunch of YTS kids to play. Whereas we actually had to play a team of competent professionals. If we'd had the same freebee that they both got at the beginning of the season, then we'd be in 2nd now (both in terms of the normal points/GD, and in terms of PPG).

All of which is to point out that there is no solution here that is going to be fair and equitable.

I still think that, whenever we get to the point that games can be played, finishing the season from that point, and then working out how to adapt the calendar around it is a sensible course.
And, we already know that the season in 2022-23 is going to be disrupted by a winter World Cup. That can be factored into the new football calendar as well.
It will mean a few rather odd seasons, and probably some summer football, but these are unique challenges we're facing........
 
There is a certain logic in doing this.

Of course the downside is that it will mean Wycombe (currently 8th, and in a down spiral) will move up to 3rd and get promoted.
Despite the fact that their game in hand is away to Coventry......and in the teams' current respective form, the chance of them winning that is very, very small indeed.

And of course, it's also worth pointing out that both Wycombe and Rotherham played against Bolton when they were sending out a bunch of YTS kids to play. Whereas we actually had to play a team of competent professionals. If we'd had the same freebee that they both got at the beginning of the season, then we'd be in 2nd now (both in terms of the normal points/GD, and in terms of PPG).

All of which is to point out that there is no solution here that is going to be fair and equitable.

I still think that, whenever we get to the point that games can be played, finishing the season from that point, and then working out how to adapt the calendar around it is a sensible course.
And, we already know that the season in 2022-23 is going to be disrupted by a winter World Cup. That can be factored into the new football calendar as well.
It will mean a few rather odd seasons, and probably some summer football, but these are unique challenges we're facing........
Worth pointing out on the Bolton thing though that prior to picking up competent pros the only point they had managed to pickup was against the now-runaway league leaders.

Agree with everything else though. Even though it means we probably miss out, would rather that than having a weird mini-season in the autumn and then a truncated 2020-21.
 
Lots of interesting options and of course none of them are correct and open to be legally challenged by one club or another, I don't envy the PL or EFL with the decisions they need to make.

If the season is voided then what happens to Bolton's 12 point deduction, it would mean they haven't been punished in which case could Bury have a claim that they can re-join League One?

Absolute nightmare for the organisers.
 
From a footballing and fairness point of view, the best thing is to finish the season by playing the remaining games, whenever they can do it. Maybe it's behind closed doors when any two teams scheduled to play don't have any players out sick or self-isolating. Doesn't matter in what order they are played, just get them done as soon as they can be - which of course might not be until July or later.

Of course, players OOC and loan players are going to be a problem here, as would be possible lack of medical cover - so it may well not be possible. But I can't see any other solution that would be even half-way satisfactory.
 
From a footballing and fairness point of view, the best thing is to finish the season by playing the remaining games, whenever they can do it. Maybe it's behind closed doors when any two teams scheduled to play don't have any players out sick or self-isolating. Doesn't matter in what order they are played, just get them done as soon as they can be - which of course might not be until July or later.

Of course, players OOC and loan players are going to be a problem here, as would be possible lack of medical cover - so it may well not be possible. But I can't see any other solution that would be even half-way satisfactory.

I'm sure clubs will honour their loan agreements with other clubs on the whole, the out of contract players will be a bit more tricky to navigate but if transfer windows aren't opened until the season finishes (and free agents aren't allowed to be registered for the remainder of the competitions), then players will just sign new rolling deals with their current clubs to keep their wages coming in and to play football.
 
Not sure if it's been mentioned elsewhere but EFL have committed to completing this season in full (including all cup competitions) with no completion date enforced. They have also said that all games will be postponed until 30th April at the earliest.

I guess if this does in fact happen then an agreement will need to take place regarding extending playing contracts for a further 6 months or so on the same terms. Of course there will be winners and losers under this, but it will allow the season to complete without significant changes to the squad.

I think it will come down to a choice of whether we extend this season indefinitely and accept that it will all be a bit chaotic, or void this season and try to find a asy to start afresh in the summer? Neither are perfect, but I think a 9 game shoot out over 4 or 5 weeks at some point would be exciting and hopefully give a cup feel to the whole thing!
 
Did they say in which particular year that 30th April would be? :unsure:

It would be nice to just act like the pause button has been pressed on everything, including players contracts and loans. But that would rely on someone paying those contracts in the interim.....£1.5bn war chest you say....?
 
I would be nice to just act like the pause button has been pressed on everything

But that is pretty much all anyone can do right now.

No one really knows how long this will last, so, for once, I think the EFL are doing the right thing. They have agreed to an extended break to wait for more information, they have committed to seeing out this season if at all possible, even if it goes into the summer/autumn and have offered £50m support, even if this has yet to filter down to everyone.

I'm not sure what else they could do in the current climate.
 
Worth pointing out on the Bolton thing though that prior to picking up competent pros the only point they had managed to pickup was against the now-runaway league leaders.

Very true - that was the game where Coventry had 70% possession, and 24 goal attempts and somehow failed to score a goal!

So yes, that could have happened if we'd played the kids as well......but I reckon we would've mullered them like Rotherham did. We've generally proven ourselves pretty adept this season at beating down the terrible teams.
 
Of course the downside is that it will mean Wycombe (currently 8th, and in a down spiral) will move up to 3rd and get promoted.
Despite the fact that their game in hand is away to Coventry......and in the teams' current respective form, the chance of them winning that is very, very small indeed.

Of course it’s convenient to observe that they and Coventry have both played 34 games and Oxford 35, but that doesn’t necessarily make it their “game in hand”. Some clubs have played 36 and some others also 34.

Wycombe’s next game after the shutdown date would have been at Burton.

Coventry are so far clear at the top they wouldn’t need to play another game to reasonably claim the championship.

Wycombe playing away at Coventry is just the hardest test an Oxford fan could wish on them to make up to 35 games, but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the correct one.

Who would have thought the Bolton youth team fiasco, where Wycombe were ostensibly given three free points, would have come back with such a vengeance?!

My point - it’s a logistical and legal nightmare! Voiding does seem the easiest option. Poor old Swindling.
 
One proposal tha I heard was that all games be played when the virus was reasonably under control. And that in order to complete the season all games would be played behind closed doors and that every club had to play at least two games (and where possible three) per week. That way the season could be settled in 3 to 4 weeks. I don't expect that the pampered, over paid, premiership prima donnas would accept that since they seem to feel that their players would die if they were asked to play more than one game a week.
 
This might sound a bit crazy, but maybe it would be a good idea to void NEXT SEASON, along with scrapping the summer transfer window?

That way all clubs can concentrate right now on deep cleaning all their facilities, training grounds, stadiums, offices etc, and be under no pressure to return, allowing all staff and players to return to their families and loved ones, to keep themselves safe, and fit, and then return to training in August/September, ready to finish all remaining fixtures, in all competitions, so the season can be finished by the end of November, just in time before the inevitable return of the Coronavirus for the winter period, and then people can take the relevant precautions again, without disrupting another season and causing all the same issues all over again, leaving the months of January-July open for an extended transfer window, by which time, hopefully, various vaccinations and treatments would've advanced to the point where the Coronavirus is defeated once and for all, and all of society has returned to normal, just in time for pre season, and the start of the 2021/22 season.

Sounds mad I know, and no doubt sports broadcasters, agents etc would oppose such an idea, based on their own selfish greed, but it may be the only safe, logical and least disruptive way to conclude this season and tie up all the loose ends that will occur once it's finally finished.

Who knows, I haven't left the house for a week, so maybe I've finally lost my marbles ? but it seems a good idea to me!
 
This might sound a bit crazy, but maybe it would be a good idea to void NEXT SEASON, along with scrapping the summer transfer window?

That way all clubs can concentrate right now on deep cleaning all their facilities, training grounds, stadiums, offices etc, and be under no pressure to return, allowing all staff and players to return to their families and loved ones, to keep themselves safe, and fit, and then return to training in August/September, ready to finish all remaining fixtures, in all competitions, so the season can be finished by the end of November, just in time before the inevitable return of the Coronavirus for the winter period, and then people can take the relevant precautions again, without disrupting another season and causing all the same issues all over again, leaving the months of January-July open for an extended transfer window, by which time, hopefully, various vaccinations and treatments would've advanced to the point where the Coronavirus is defeated once and for all, and all of society has returned to normal, just in time for pre season, and the start of the 2021/22 season.

Sounds mad I know, and no doubt sports broadcasters, agents etc would oppose such an idea, based on their own selfish greed, but it may be the only safe, logical and least disruptive way to conclude this season and tie up all the loose ends that will occur once it's finally finished.

Who knows, I haven't left the house for a week, so maybe I've finally lost my marbles ? but it seems a good idea to me!
Far be it from me to shoot down anybody’s suggestions but clubs are already suffering financially from having the Season delayed just a few weeks. How on earth would they generate sufficient revenue to survive over a nearly year-long hiatus?!
 
Far be it from me to shoot down anybody’s suggestions but clubs are already suffering financially from having the Season delayed just a few weeks. How on earth would they generate sufficient revenue to survive over a nearly year-long hiatus?!
Good point, I knew there was something I hadn’t thought of!

Bloody cabin fever already! ?
 
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