Could they void the PL due to the Coronavirus? | No | Resuming June 17th

dwd

Saturday Night Spies
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Messages
16,326
Location
Under soil heating.
I'd personally love 2 games a week for the whole of next season!
I'd love 4
It’s only an extra 4-6 games spread over the course of an entire season. Not beyond the realms of well paid professional footballers is it. Cancel league cup if you want.
For every team yeah. So potentially an extra 126 fixtures to somehow fit in. I don't think 'the realms of well paid professional footballers' will be the main issue with that.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,458
Location
Manchester
Whilst I don't agree with them, I can appreciate all the arguments for voiding in terms of logistics, timeframes, legal implications and of course sitting above all that is public health. But if you still think that a void will affect all teams equally then I think its at this point we should agree to disagree on the meaning of the words Affect and Equal. But I'm quite happy to stand corrected if you can show me a dictionary where those words mean something else.

I don't see a way that they can essentially void the season for only 19 teams - and I wouldn't want them to. The PL will be watching what happens very closely in Germany (even though the UK's handling of covid19 has been woefully inept in comparison). If players or staff go down with the virus either during training or games then that will be game over for finishing the PL. In that case I think they will move swiftly to some sort of fudged middle ground where current standings are final, but with no relegation. Voiding is the nuclear option that I don't think any of the bigger leagues will choose because they will prioritise the rewarding of 75% of a season vs the trashing of 75% of a season. But some might disagree :wenger:
And this seems to be what some of you lot can't/don't want to understand.

Whatever they decide to do will affect teams differently. Much of how teams are affected on an individual basis is out of everyone's control. What is in control is how teams are treated and null and void treats every single team the same.

Surely you understand this?
 

Finn MacCool

New Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2016
Messages
1,535
Supports
Liverpool
And this seems to be what some of you lot can't/don't want to understand.

Whatever they decide to do will affect teams differently. Much of how teams are affected on an individual basis is out of everyone's control. What is in control is how teams are treated and null and void treats every single team the same.

Surely you understand this?
Agreed.
 

redman5

New Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Messages
5,241
Location
In a world of my own. People know me here.
And this seems to be what some of you lot can't/don't want to understand.

Whatever they decide to do will affect teams differently. Much of how teams are affected on an individual basis is out of everyone's control. What is in control is how teams are treated and null and void treats every single team the same.

Surely you understand this?
When a new season commences we all start on equal footing with zero points. What happens after that is that every club, team, & player, is fundamentally in some sort of control of their respective club's destiny for that season. So the bolded bit isn't really true is it ? You have some teams who do really well, some just OK, & some very poorly. Therefore, by voiding the season you're effectively saying it never existed, so those who didn't make the full use of the control they had get another free hit, whilst the likes of Leeds & West Brom who have battled their way into a great position for automatic promotion get penalized & have to start all over again next season in The Championship. I'm pretty sure this narrative of treating all clubs the same would die a very quick death in the courtroom.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,458
Location
Manchester
When a new season commences we all start on equal footing with zero points. What happens after that is that every club, team, & player, is fundamentally in some sort of control of their respective club's destiny for that season. So the bolded bit isn't really true is it ? You have some teams who do really well, some just OK, & some very poorly. Therefore, by voiding the season you're effectively saying it never existed, so those who didn't make the full use of the control they had get another free hit, whilst the likes of Leeds & West Brom who have battled their way into a great position for automatic promotion get penalized & have to start all over again next season in The Championship. I'm pretty sure this narrative of treating all clubs the same would die a very quick death in the courtroom.
So you don't think null and void treats every team equally? You're talking about the affect again after the event. That's irrelevant.
 

redman5

New Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Messages
5,241
Location
In a world of my own. People know me here.
So you don't think null and void treats every team equally? You're talking about the affect again after the event. That's irrelevant.
You do realize that quite often, treating people equally doesn't equate to treating people fairly, this obviously is one of those occasions. Why do think the footballing powers have not even brought this null & void nonsense into the discussion ? There's a massive disparity between those who'd gain from it & those who'd lose out, & that's why the lawyers employed by the likes of Leeds United would have a field day. Can you honestly not see that ? Why is the idea of finishing the season with current placings as final, but having no relegation & promoting Leeds & WBA not a better suggestion in your eyes ? If needs be the domestic cup competitions can be axed for the one season to accommodate the extra fixtures.
 

Sandikan

aka sex on the beach
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
53,111
You do realize that quite often, treating people equally doesn't equate to treating people fairly, this obviously is one of those occasions. Why do think the footballing powers have not even brought this null & void nonsense into the discussion ? There's a massive disparity between those who'd gain from it & those who'd lose out, & that's why the lawyers employed by the likes of Leeds United would have a field day. Can you honestly not see that ? Why is the idea of finishing the season with current placings as final, but having no relegation & promoting Leeds & WBA not a better suggestion in your eyes ? If needs be the domestic cup competitions can be axed for the one season to accommodate the extra fixtures.
Because that approach warps the structure of the league.
Relegation and promotion work hand in hand.
 

Sandikan

aka sex on the beach
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
53,111
It’s only an extra 4-6 games spread over the course of an entire season. Not beyond the realms of well paid professional footballers is it. Cancel league cup if you want.
Next season is already likely to start at least a month late, with the Euros making the end of the season tight.

It's one thing saying in that circumstance dropping the league cup - which has to be the last option versus tradition.

But to mess about with the format of games to add league games, while dropping a cup makes no sense.
 

Rajma

Full Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2012
Messages
8,579
Location
Lithuania
Just give them the title and move on, it's always going to be a win on paper only with a big asterisk next to it anyway.
 

stevoc

Full Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
20,262
Whilst I don't agree with them, I can appreciate all the arguments for voiding in terms of logistics, timeframes, legal implications and of course sitting above all that is public health. But if you still think that a void will affect all teams equally then I think its at this point we should agree to disagree on the meaning of the words Affect and Equal. But I'm quite happy to stand corrected if you can show me a dictionary where those words mean something else.

I don't see a way that they can essentially void the season for only 19 teams - and I wouldn't want them to. The PL will be watching what happens very closely in Germany (even though the UK's handling of covid19 has been woefully inept in comparison). If players or staff go down with the virus either during training or games then that will be game over for finishing the PL. In that case I think they will move swiftly to some sort of fudged middle ground where current standings are final, but with no relegation. Voiding is the nuclear option that I don't think any of the bigger leagues will choose because they will prioritise the rewarding of 75% of a season vs the trashing of 75% of a season. But some might disagree :wenger:
Yeah we could go round and round in circles on it and i fully understand a Liverpool fan not seeing how a null and void might be the fairest option.

You say you can't see how they can void the season for 19 teams but if if current standings were made final but with no relegations as you suggest. And with the possibly of no european football next season isn't that basically the same as voiding it for 19 teams?

Yes voiding the season is not something they will want to do, but i think the longer the suspension goes on it becomes more and more a possibility.
 

noodlehair

"It's like..."
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Messages
16,308
Location
Flagg
A lot of people will be losing money over this pandemic. So I'm not so sure exactly where all of the people are, who will be ready to sign up to BT Sport and Sky Sports as soon as its back to normal. Right now there's no indication of when that might even be, so I think you are way off the mark that Sky and BT will have all of these new customers, as soon as football starts up again, especially at the price points that they have.
Of course they will get new customers. Not sure what your point is with the pricing...they'll adjust that to whatever gets them the best custom, no different to how they always do.

It will really depend on where we're at when they start playing again. If we're all allowed back to work and relatively normal, they'll get a fair chunk of their customers back quite quickly. If it's all behind closed doors and we're all still stuck at home, there'll be a problem, but I suspect if that's the case they just wont start the games up again.

I'm not really sure what the argument is. There's been evidence produced in the past that showed every PL club could afford to let every fan in for free all season and still make MORE of a profit than they would have 10 years ago.

Liverpool spend over £250m a year on wages. Sheffield United spend about £13m...and even in Sheffiled United's case a very vast majority of that amount is on player salaries. Even if you took the gate receipts AND TV money away, working staff salaries isn't the problem for any of these clubs so there's no reason at all why they shouldn't be paying them.
 

stevoc

Full Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
20,262
You do realize that quite often, treating people equally doesn't equate to treating people fairly, this obviously is one of those occasions. Why do think the footballing powers have not even brought this null & void nonsense into the discussion ? There's a massive disparity between those who'd gain from it & those who'd lose out, & that's why the lawyers employed by the likes of Leeds United would have a field day. Can you honestly not see that ? Why is the idea of finishing the season with current placings as final, but having no relegation & promoting Leeds & WBA not a better suggestion in your eyes ? If needs be the domestic cup competitions can be axed for the one season to accommodate the extra fixtures.
In other words they should do everything and anything to ensure that Liverpool get a league title. No matter how disruptive it is to 92 league clubs in English football.

Upto and including scrapping relegation, scrapping domestic cup competitions, promoting teams who haven't yet earned promotion and are only a few points ahead of others teams who might have finished ahead of them. Deny the teams placed 3-6 the chance to earn a place in the PL through the playoffs.

And we can of course assume this upheaval will be replicated right down the professional football pyramid in England. They could do all that or they could just null and void the entire season. Much easier and doesn’t have the knock on effect of disrupting the next few seasons.

As to why the authorities aren’t publicly mentioning the possibility of null and voiding the season. Well I assume they want to make it seem like they exhausted every avenue to play out the season. With a view to negotiating financial settlements with broadcasters and sponsors if the season can’t be completed.

I’m not saying it will happen but don’t kid yourself that it’s not being discussed as an option behind the scenes.
 

diawl_coch

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
109
Location
North Wales
Next season is already likely to start at least a month late, with the Euros making the end of the season tight.

It's one thing saying in that circumstance dropping the league cup - which has to be the last option versus tradition.

But to mess about with the format of games to add league games, while dropping a cup makes no sense.
Absolutely agree.
League Cup is a vital income stream for lower league clubs.

If there is spare capacity it should be to help them not awarding an already tarnished title to a desperate club. It's gone for Liverpool now. No parades.
 

redman5

New Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2007
Messages
5,241
Location
In a world of my own. People know me here.
In other words they should do everything and anything to ensure that Liverpool get a league title. No matter how disruptive it is to 92 league clubs in English football.

Upto and including scrapping relegation, scrapping domestic cup competitions, promoting teams who haven't yet earned promotion and are only a few points ahead of others teams who might have finished ahead of them. Deny the teams placed 3-6 the chance to earn a place in the PL through the playoffs.

And we can of course assume this upheaval will be replicated right down the professional football pyramid in England. They could do all that or they could just null and void the entire season. Much easier and doesn’t have the knock on effect of disrupting the next few seasons.

As to why the authorities aren’t publicly mentioning the possibility of null and voiding the season. Well I assume they want to make it seem like they exhausted every avenue to play out the season. With a view to negotiating financial settlements with broadcasters and sponsors if the season can’t be completed.

I’m not saying it will happen but don’t kid yourself that it’s not being discussed as an option behind the scenes.
This idea was brought up in the early days of the season suspension, & in terms of fairness is the much better option, not just for Liverpool but for other clubs too. I laughed when you brought up the disruptive angle. Like life isn't going to be disruptive anyway. & what makes you think there's still going to be 92 clubs left when all this has been sorted ? A lot of clubs are going to go to the wall regardless. But it's all irrelevant anyway, because until/unless the EFL throw the towel in, there's nothing The Premier League can do about it.
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

New Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2013
Messages
16,946
Chris Whitty has said today that social distancing will be in place for ages (at least this calendar year), so won't that rule out football for a long time also?
 

jymufc20

Last Man Standing finalist 2019/20
Joined
Jan 5, 2015
Messages
3,584
Location
planet earth
Absolutely agree.
League Cup is a vital income stream for lower league clubs.

If there is spare capacity it should be to help them not awarding an already tarnished title to a desperate club. It's gone for Liverpool now. No parades.
No matter what happens, there will be a parade with these idiots.
 

Roboc7

Full Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
6,656
It’s going to be very difficult to make next season work properly, completing the current season is a pipe dream.
 

Dancfc

Full Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2016
Messages
7,406
Supports
Chelsea
Chris Whitty has said today that social distancing will be in place for ages (at least this calendar year), so won't that rule out football for a long time also?
To certain levels, it won't be this extreme (can't get closer than 2m to people out of your household) for the duration.
 

cyberman

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
37,331
Chris Whitty has said today that social distancing will be in place for ages (at least this calendar year), so won't that rule out football for a long time also?
I think exceptions will be made with extreme testing. Following regulations would mean no soaps etc being recorded for a year which would never happen
 

Megadrive Man

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Mar 29, 2019
Messages
367
Supports
Liverpool
Next season is already likely to start at least a month late, with the Euros making the end of the season tight.

It's one thing saying in that circumstance dropping the league cup - which has to be the last option versus tradition.

But to mess about with the format of games to add league games, while dropping a cup makes no sense.
The Premier League could be played over 19 weeks next season if needs be. There is around 5 weeks worth of league football left this season.

If you rest the league cup and charity shield for a year and all those International breaks there is plenty of time to complete this season and next season before mid May 2021.
 

cyberman

Full Member
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
37,331
The Premier League could be played over 19 weeks next season if needs be. There is around 5 weeks worth of league football left this season.

If you rest the league cup and charity shield for a year and all those International breaks there is plenty of time to complete this season and next season before mid May 2021.
Theres Euro play offs to be played. This isnt going to happen. What about European games?
Players would be burned out mid way through
 

Heinzesight

Full Member
Joined
May 12, 2005
Messages
6,402
Location
Manchester
That's the weirdest reasoning I've read in this thread I think. Liverpool are also mathematically champions (without the last 9 games). What the feck :lol: The playoffs in Belgium are as much part of the season as the last 9 games of the PL.

Bruges aren't top at the end of the league either. They're top at the first phase of the league, which means the grand total of nothing.
Their league format was pretty much done. One game left, Brugge 15 points clear of second place with one game to play. Impossible to be caught mathematically. I appreciate the 5 game play off (edit: 10, they play each other twice) is the next stage but there’s a clear break in proceedings so can see why they’ve halted it at that juncture.

Liverpool have 9 games left but can be caught. Virtually impossible, but possible, mathematically.
 
Last edited:

Offside

Euro 2016 sweepstake winner
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
26,713
Location
London
BBC saying Champions League and Europa League likely to be played in August exclusively.
 

Offside

Euro 2016 sweepstake winner
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
26,713
Location
London
Their league format was pretty much done. One game left, Brugge 15 points clear of second place with one game to play. Impossible to be caught mathematically. I appreciate the play off is the next stage but there’s a clear break in proceedings so can see why they’ve halted it at that juncture.

Liverpool have 9 games left but can be caught. Virtually impossible, but possible, mathematically.
Bang on.
 

Offside

Euro 2016 sweepstake winner
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
26,713
Location
London
Chris Whitty has said today that social distancing will be in place for ages (at least this calendar year), so won't that rule out football for a long time also?
I mean they could make an exception with extreme testing but I think the social distancing that will be in place after the lockdown will ban crowds of 20+ or something really low, you would wonder how matches of 30-70k people can start up again. Maybe they will only allow 50% capacity with spaces between spectators. Honestly wouldn’t surprise me that. They will do everything to bring football back once the lockdown ends.
 

RobinLFC

Cries when Liverpool doesn't get praised
Joined
May 20, 2014
Messages
20,924
Location
Belgium
Supports
Liverpool
Their league format was pretty much done. One game left, Brugge 15 points clear of second place with one game to play. Impossible to be caught mathematically. I appreciate the 5 game play off is the next stage but there’s a clear break in proceedings so can see why they’ve halted it at that juncture.

Liverpool have 9 games left but can be caught. Virtually impossible, but possible, mathematically.
Man, just stop talking about stuff you clearly haven't got a clue about. The league format is far from done. There's not one game left but 11, and I won't even ask where you get a "5 game play off" from. It was 48654145 times more likely that Bruges got caught than Liverpool.

It's not because our regular season was "almost finished". The playoff spots still needed to be decided, relegation was still up in the air, there was literally all to play for. They would've made the same decision if the play-offs were already underway, same decision if there were multiple games left in the regular season - current standings final, that's it. Nothing to do with league format or anything.
 

Dancfc

Full Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2016
Messages
7,406
Supports
Chelsea
I mean they could make an exception with extreme testing but I think the social distancing that will be in place after the lockdown will ban crowds of 20+ or something really low, you would wonder how matches of 30-70k people can start up again. Maybe they will only allow 50% capacity with spaces between spectators. Honestly wouldn’t surprise me that. They will do everything to bring football back once the lockdown ends.
The whole lockdown/future measures is/will be solely based on one thing, keeping the R below 1 so the NHS can cope.

If by some absolute worldly miracle we get to June and all off a sudden it appears we can go back to normal while keeping the R below 1 we will.
 

Megadrive Man

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Mar 29, 2019
Messages
367
Supports
Liverpool
Theres Euro play offs to be played. This isnt going to happen. What about European games?
Players would be burned out mid way through
Plenty of time for those also.

Not to mention world cup qualifiers.
The world cup doesn't start until November 2022. There is no urgent need to play them yet.

The reality is football is going to come back behind closed doors. Clubs should be given 3 weeks to prepare for the resumption of the season then the remaining 5 weeks of the league season can be played out, should also factor in 2 weeks for the FA Cup as well. There are 4 English teams left in European competition, soon to be 3 as Chelsea are all but gone.

United are arguably the English team that are likely to have the most games left if they go all the way to the final of both competitions, but could realistically play out all those fixtures in about ten weeks?
 

Dave Smith

Full Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2019
Messages
2,516
Supports
Anything anti-Dipper
Has anyone got a link to the video where the high/drunk kid gets told Liverpool have not won the league due to Coronavirus and starts dancing? I have been looking for it but cannot find it anywhere.
 

stevoc

Full Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
20,262
This idea was brought up in the early days of the season suspension, & in terms of fairness is the much better option, not just for Liverpool but for other clubs too. I laughed when you brought up the disruptive angle. Like life isn't going to be disruptive anyway. & what makes you think there's still going to be 92 clubs left when all this has been sorted ? A lot of clubs are going to go to the wall regardless. But it's all irrelevant anyway, because until/unless the EFL throw the towel in, there's nothing The Premier League can do about it.
With European football perhaps not possible next season then for every club in the PL bar Liverpool your suggestion and voiding the current season are pretty much the same.

Of course things are already being disrupted, so it would be stupid to make the situation worse by causing even more disruption.

Some clubs might go out of business, i hope they don't but it could happen.

Well i'm not so certain that the PL are as enthralled to the EFL as you think. At least you should hope they aren't, because i can see the vast majority of EFL clubs soon wanting some sort of resolution to this season if it can't be completed in the next month or two. And them wanting to move towards making plans for the next one.
 

Eli Zee

Full Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2017
Messages
1,061
With European football perhaps not possible next season then for every club in the PL bar Liverpool your suggestion and voiding the current season are pretty much the same.

Of course things are already being disrupted, so it would be stupid to make the situation worse by causing even more disruption.

Some clubs might go out of business, i hope they don't but it could happen.

Well i'm not so certain that the PL are as enthralled to the EFL as you think. At least you should hope they aren't, because i can see the vast majority of EFL clubs soon wanting some sort of resolution to this season if it can't be completed in the next month or two. And them wanting to move towards making plans for the next one.
Let’s teams pick 3 players and have 3v3 indoor games to decide the season... keep everyone who decides to play quarantined for 2 weeks or tested before starting the tournament. Finish the tournament in like a week or something.
 

Offside

Euro 2016 sweepstake winner
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
26,713
Location
London
There's going to be 4 or 5 games a week in August isn't there?

Thank god Pogba's had a long rest :lol:
Apparently the plan is the finish the league season with an intensive schedule in July and then do the European competitions in August.
 

Sad Chris

New Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Messages
1,641
I expect the Caf analogy award 2020 for this one, so hold tight:

You go to a restaurant and order Spaghetti Bolognese. The chef has cooked the pasta but can‘t finish the sauce due to a lack of ingredients. His options are:

a) he asks you to come back at a later time for the completed meal​
b) he apologises and says he will not be able to serve you the dish​
c) he serves you the dish as is and adds a new item to the menu called Spaghetti Bolognese*, which some people who haven‘t eaten Bolognese in say 30 years, refer to as „just as good as the real thing“​