After Coronavirus - What next for league football? (poll)

[Indian Dan]

Perhaps, trying to be positive, we can try and finish the season behind closed doors, providing the virus is contained at a sufficiently low level. Hopefully we wouldn't necessarily have to rely on a vaccine in the meantime.

Cue a lot of replies saying i am talking bollocks!!

Clubs can’t hang on indefinitely until football can take place. Come 30 June players are OOC and loan players returned to parent clubs. Be a farce with clubs cobbling together teams minus players that have left.

 

[Camborne Gills]

I thought they going to allow temporary contract extensions. Obviously not.

This cabin fever of mine is even worse than i thought

 

[Chris FGR]

Seating only - you know, like proper football clubs!

All seater stadiums are shite. Who the fuck wants to sit at football?

 

[Indian Dan]

People worried about Coronavirus!

I thought, obviously wrongly, that it was mandatory or any piss ass clubs with terracing had a time limit to convert.

 

[Indian Dan]

I thought they going to allow temporary contract extensions. Obviously not.

This cabin fever of mine is even worse than i thought

Allowing it and being able to afford it are 2 different things.

How long does a club carry on paying players, month by month, with no definitive start date.

 

[TimeyWimey]

Dawn of a new era for TFF. 300 page thread boasting about who has the lowest attendance coming soon.

 

[chipmunx]

Dawn of a new era for TFF. 300 page thread boasting about who has the lowest attendance coming soon.

behind closed doors won't all official attendances be zero?

 

[Indian Dan]

‘We can see you sneaking in’

 

[Vanni]

I'll say this again - this season will be scrapped and declared null and void. My club's going nowhere but I still don't want that to happen, and my personal opinion is that some clubs have done enough over 38 games as to warrant promotion, like Crewe and Swindon for example. But clubs want some kind of certainty and the longer this drags on the more the number of clubs folding.

I was not a fan of the ppg idea before but right now I'm thinking that it's the only other realistic alternative to null and voiding everything. To my mind, the worst suggestion of them all is to finish the season at all costs. I'm sure you've all seen this on the BBC - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52187049.
Yeah right, 'even if it takes to January 2021' And what about all those clubs that have gone bust by that time Mr Chairman?

 

[TimeyWimey]

behind closed doors won't all official attendances be zero?

You'd think so, but when pictures are analysed on said thread and Vale fans spot the extra unneeded St John's Ambulance driver watching on there will be havoc

 

[Indian Dan]

Ppg will piss off a small handful of clubs. Voiding it will piss off a whole lot more.

 

[valefan16]

I think it just stays on hold until it finishes including contracts even if it ruins 2020/21, it’s better to ruin something that hasn’t started than ruin one that is 80% through.

Clubs need fans to make it financially viable so just wait, but it needs money from the rich mega league to support the clubs who could mothball but still need some finance to tick things over.

Effectively pause the game full stop.

PPG is the next fairest but still has problems as teams have played varying difficulties. Northampton who have to play most of the top sides get advantaged say compared to a side who’s played the top sides but had the weaker ones left as the majority of their run in...

Promoting now has the same problems, if team a) in 2nd or 3rd has a tougher run in that gets cancelled but a team 4th or 5th has a favourable run in then there is an issue there.

The best option there would be to double your tally against opponents in the run in if cancelled to determine it...

So Vale 2 Carlisle 1 is repeated, Newport 1 Vale 0 etc.

This factors in opposing difficulty more than PPG

The problem is teams have different agendas... Crewe or Swindon will want cancelling and promotion likely, Cheltenham, Vale, Colchester would want to finish it at all costs, Mansfield and Carlisle won’t care and probably want it just cancelled and not care about who goes up and down from it... Stevenage or Bolton would want it cancelled and voided with no relegation...

How do you get them to all agree?

If it’s voided what about the results or the players achievements in that time? Does a year of a short career just get wiped out? It’s a huge mess to sort out!

 

[Andy Proctor]

I think it just stays on hold until it finishes including contracts even if it ruins 2020/21, it’s better to ruin something that hasn’t started than ruin one that is 80% through.

Clubs need fans to make it financially viable so just wait, but it needs money from the rich mega league to support the clubs who could mothball but still need some finance to tick things over.

Effectively pause the game full stop.

PPG is the next fairest but still has problems as teams have played varying difficulties. Northampton who have to play most of the top sides get advantaged say compared to a side who’s played the top sides but had the weaker ones left as the majority of their run in...

Promoting now has the same problems, if team a) in 2nd or 3rd has a tougher run in that gets cancelled but a team 4th or 5th has a favourable run in then there is an issue there.

The best option there would be to double your tally against opponents in the run in if cancelled to determine it...

So Vale 2 Carlisle 1 is repeated, Newport 1 Vale 0 etc.

This factors in opposing difficulty more than PPG

The problem is teams have different agendas... Crewe or Swindon will want cancelling and promotion likely, Cheltenham, Vale, Colchester would want to finish it at all costs, Mansfield and Carlisle won’t care and probably want it just cancelled and not care about who goes up and down from it... Stevenage or Bolton would want it cancelled and voided with no relegation...

How do you get them to all agree?

If it’s voided what about the results or the players achievements in that time? Does a year of a short career just get wiped out? It’s a huge mess to sort out!

Do you mean whatever points you got against the teams earlier in the season would be what you got against them now? So we beat carlise earlier but lost to Newport so that would be 3 points.

 

[Indian Dan]

It’s so obvious that games cannot and will not be finalised before 30 June. It is equally obvious the vast majority of clubs outside the PL will not survive this inertia much longer.

What is most important? The fag end of the 2019/20 season or the long term future of football as we know it?

Sure, I think we deserve promotion but we don’t deserve to be strung along to save the EFL from making a very difficult decision.

No club does.

 

[Camborne Gills]

People worried about Coronavirus!

I thought, obviously wrongly, that it was mandatory or any piss ass clubs with terracing had a time limit to convert.

Championship and above. That's why we had to erect that bloody golf stand

 

[Chris FGR]

I like the idea of working out teams ppg based on home and away form separately and then adding them together. Seems fairer.

 

[Indian Dan]

I like the idea of working out teams ppg based on home and away form separately and then adding them together. Seems fairer.

Yep

 

[chipmunx]

I like the idea of working out teams ppg based on home and away form separately and then adding them together. Seems fairer.

It does make a difference in some leagues;- in the National League on overall PPG the top 3 are Barrow, Harrogate and Notts County. But on separate home and away PPG Notts County drop to 5th place from 3rd overtaken by Boreham Wood and Yeovil - the difference is because Notts have 3 Home and 5 Away games left.

 

[Si Robin]

I agree with Chris, but only because it puts us above Exeter into 3rd.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Some interesting ideas.

If current standings aren't used then overall PPG is the best of the initially avoidable circumstances. I think home and away PPG complicates it slightly though and I wouldn't be in favour of that.

I'm staunchly opposed to "doubling the earlier season result" though. We beat Morecambe at home 5-0 and drew with them away 1-1. Were they to remain on our fixture list, it's totally unfair to give them a 5-0 loss on paper based on that given we're their bogey ground. They've scabbed a point off us in 3 of our last 5 visits there and were very unlucky not to get a point in the two games they lost. Conversely, on a post-war record home game winning run, I would've fancied us to avenge our 4-1 loss at Northampton which is a horrendous bogey ground for us with a win at Gresty Road. It's a very unfair way of resolving things because there are far too many variables to consider in the first place.

I've seen a lot more people call for the 22/24/24/22 idea of promotion, no playoffs and no relegation though. There's also growing murmurs Pan-European and international football competition could be put on hiatus for a season which contrasts with UEFA declaring their desire to finish the CL and EL in August. So the PL could fit in the extra games were a full season to be possible. Although I think we'll be looking at a single round-robin next year and no cups bar the FA Cup as opposed to the usual double.

 

[Indian Dan]

I think we can all agree - the season must end now. How league positions are formulated there are only 2 options. The Scottish way of just finishing where you happen to be right now, or use points per game average to attain relevant positions.

I’d say every single club wants the season to be finished now. The advance solidarity payment from the PL will be wasted on putting on a host of meaningless matches just to fulfil this season’s fixtures. If games are shunted even further down the timescale and beyond June 30 then clubs will be fielding virtually youth teams and a few pros still under contract, making a mockery of the previous 30-odd games.

Someone will know this, but is there actual prize money awarded on final league positions which was the reason behind the Scottish decision.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

I think we can all agree - the season must end now. How league positions are formulated there are only 2 options. The Scottish way of just finishing where you happen to be right now, or use points per game average to attain relevant positions.

I’d say every single club wants the season to be finished now. The advance solidarity payment from the PL will be wasted on putting on a host of meaningless matches just to fulfil this season’s fixtures. If games are shunted even further down the timescale and beyond June 30 then clubs will be fielding virtually youth teams and a few pros still under contract, making a mockery of the previous 30-odd games.

Someone will know this, but is there actual prize money awarded on final league positions which was the reason behind the Scottish decision.

I'm big into my Scottish fitba so I'll have a go. Aye so like the Premier League, it's scaled up depending on where you finish. I think the club that finishes 12th (So Hearts in this instance) get £1.125 million in prize money whereas Celtic get £3.35 million for winning the league. Ever since the Rangers fiasco in 2012, clubs in Scotland knew when they were forced to accept a smaller TV deal without Rangers in the PL and missed out on 1 or 2 home games vs them the following season that they had to cut their cloth accordingly. That's why Scottish football, despite its laughable administration balls ups of recent years, is actually very very good at regulating the finances of football clubs up there. And their mantra is quite simple. Spend what you can afford, pay your players on time. If unpaid, then the club is immediately punished. Something which we should be looking to do in our domestic system.

So the prize money would cover salaries without revenue for the Summer months. Obviously Celtic and Rangers would be able to foot the bill through sponsorship and European football, but for Aberdeen and below, this money is vital for them to keep running at the sustainable levels they're running at now. And I genuinely think outside the Old Firm, everyone bar one player (Aberdeen's Scott McKenna) will be on less than £250,000 a year basic wage. I disagree with the decision to relegate Hearts, Partick and Stranraer, but ultimately understand it as their TV deal is heavily reliant on four Old Firm games a season. So league reconstruction to 14/16/18 teams is totally out of the question. So the relegations were sadly needed. That's the reason they went through this controversial process in a nutshell unless I've missed anything out.

 

[Indian Dan]

But is there actual prize money in the EFL relevant to final league positions?

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

But is there actual prize money in the EFL relevant to final league positions?

Andy Holt said when Accrington won the league all they got was a cheque for £50,000. The money given to all clubs at the start of the year is the TV rights payment divided into 24. The solidarity payments from the PL fund are then paid to any club currently not in receipt of parachute payments from the Premier League. So there's no prize money bar a £50K bonus for winning each division which I believe has always been the case.

I also remember John Bowler saying when we went up in 2012 that it was actually more lucrative to go up through the playoffs than winning the division given the two or three TV games and shared Wembley gate receipts!

 

[Indian Dan]

In this instance that may be a good thing. Clubs won’t be squabbling about league position if there’s no money dependent on it.

Pretty cheapskate, though.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Rick Parry confirms there'll be no spectators at games for the rest of this season and that all games will be streamed online.

Can't see it happening even though it's the fairest solution. As many have said before, it only takes one player to contract the virus and that's it, finito...

 

[Chris FGR]

Given all our players are on furlough and our season was pretty much over anyway, if the season carries on after 30 June I doubt we will be extending contracts and would also imagine all our loans will have left. That would leave us with 11 players, 2 of who are gk's, 1 who's a kid and 3 who had been told they have no future at the club and were out on loan. In short we'd be massively weakened and there for the taking for anyone with something to play for. Would think quite a few others would be similarly weakened or worse, which will totally distort the last few games if they ever do get played.

 

[Greenacres]

Given all our players are on furlough and our season was pretty much over anyway, if the season carries on after 30 June I doubt we will be extending contracts and would also imagine all our loans will have left. That would leave us with 11 players, 2 of who are gk's, 1 who's a kid and 3 who had been told they have no future at the club and were out on loan. In short we'd be massively weakened and there for the taking for anyone with something to play for. Would think quite a few others would be similarly weakened or worse, which will totally distort the last few games if they ever do get played.

I get that, it had crossed my mind that quite a few clubs would be in a very similar position...unless we are going to be playing five-a-side some serious concessions would need to be made by the league for a lot of teams to be able to field a competitive eleven.

However, we must have been in contract negotiations with quite a few players before the current situation occurred...we must have more than 8 players (minus the three who will be leaving regardless) contracted for next season.

 

[Vanni]

It’s so obvious that games cannot and will not be finalised before 30 June. It is equally obvious the vast majority of clubs outside the PL will not survive this inertia much longer

What is most important? The fag end of the 2019/20 season or the long term future of football as we know it?

Sure, I think we deserve promotion but we don’t deserve to be strung along to save the EFL from making a very difficult decision.

No club does.

Well said. People need to start thinking about the future of the game and that of our clubs before coming up with ridiculous suggestions (like, for ex, the crap that the Yeovil chairman has been spouting).

Some may say that I support a club that's going nowhere so it's easy for me to say what I've been saying recently, but they would be wrong. My opinion has got nothing to do with all that, and I would still think the same way even if the U's were in a play off spot. I'm only thinking about what all this uncertainty really means to the lower league clubs in particular.

Bear in mind that as a U's fan, I would welcome the resumption of play 'cos we have nothing to play for and the remaining fixtures would be just like any pre season game, only this time against decent opposition. 9 games in which to fine tune the side for the forthcoming season

 

[Chris FGR]

I get that, it had crossed my mind that quite a few clubs would be in a very similar position...unless we are going to be playing five-a-side some serious concessions would need to be made by the league for a lot of teams to be able to field a competitive eleven.

However, we must have been in contract negotiations with quite a few players before the current situation occurred...we must have more than 8 players (minus the three who will be leaving regardless) contracted for next season.

Nope, apparently no formal/detailed negotiations had started yet with the likes of Shephard, the Mills bros, Rawson, McGinley, Stokes, Frear etc before they were furloughed. Dawson had a clause for a second year if he played enough games, (which he hasn't) so not sure what's happening there. From what I've heard we normally start negotiations properly in April, to help keep the players focused/motivated. As it is, it makes no sense to extend contracts at this point, why commit with so much uncertainty. Might as well cut costs as much as possible, we'd already cut the budget as it was and were probably in for (another) rebuild over the summer.

Might be hard to shift the likes of Smith, McCoulsky and Grubb in the forseeable future though, can't see many takers at this point