Problem is, there is no possible date between now and the 31st to get the game played so I get why it won’t be played. Switzerland and Linfield have both been awarded wins in games before because their opponents couldn’t play because of covid so Spurs won’t be the first team to lose a game because of it.
Personally I don't think that UEFA can do anything other create scenario where Vitesse go through. If they say that it was no ones fault and award a draw we can't complain and even if they award the win to Rennes. We only have ourselves to blame for being in this situation if the players had put in some effort and delivered half decent performances in Arnhem and Slovenia then the postponement of this match would have been irrelevant.
I completely agree with the fact it shouldn't matter because we should have done better, but it's the principle of it. And as for not being able to rearrange before the 31st, surely that's a date that is set by UEFA and therefore can be changed by UEFA?
Look on the bright side, no more taking part in this mickey mouse competition which Spurs wouldn’t have won anyway. Imo this is the best way to exit the competition, saves the humiliation and keeps players fresh for more important games.
100% agree, we’ve embarrassed ourselves, or more to the point, a good number of players embarrassed the club. As much as I don’t want to see the game forfeited and us being knocked out it almost feels like we deserve it, not because of covid, but because of the prima donna squad players that didn’t take their chances seriously and then probably wonder why they’re not in the first XI. The one potential plus is that we won’t see any of them again in our shirt hopefully. We were favourites for this tournament and none of the Europa League dropouts would’ve changed our pre-tournament odds either with possibly Leicester aside who themselves have had a poor season so far. At the worst we should’ve been losing finalists and yet it’s now looking very possible we won’t even get out the group stage… what an absolute **** show.
Would have been like most Europa situations and Spurs would have been knocked out by a team from Croatia or Switzerland like usual even if they had got out the group. The pre tournament favourite thing was nonsense, bar 2019 Spurs rarely do anything of note in Europe regardless of which tier of competition they’re in.
It doesn’t make it nonsense though, if you’re a favourite for something then it’s because you’re regarded as the best/ one of the best. Looking over this competition is exactly what’s wrong with this club and even some fans. We think we’re better than what we are and chase unrealistic expectations. This was something we could’ve/ should’ve won, or certainly been in the final and that could’ve then provided building blocks and the right attitude to trying to win things. And so what now? We go and chase a top six finish? We go and try winning a domestic cup where our chances of winning those are much, much slimmer? This club is its own biggest enemy at times.
Losing to Mura has caused this issue so it's our own fault. No time for Rennes though ... classless imho
There's a simple solution that sets the right precedent for UEFA: expel Rennes. Don't want to fulfil your fixtures in this competition? Fine. Don't play any more. Bye. They're just acting like ****s because they think that there can be no negative outcome for them. Award Spurs the win? Doesn't affect them. Give them the win? They get more money. Show them that playing the game is a positive for them and they'd suddenly find space for it. They've got a very, very light schedule and have no excuse.
As much as I don’t like the competition and think it should never have been created, I don’t think Spurs are too good for the competition, I just don’t think they are good enough to win it. Winning the league cup and fa cup is a lot easier than any European competition.
I’d be very disappointed but not surprised if they just let Rennes not play the game and get a positive result. It seems to me that there is a clear understanding that Covid cases are different than normal injuries or illness. France have a winter break and there is precedent for clubs playing non-domestic fixtures during these breaks. I hope that any decision of who is at fault focuses on the negotiation of when the game is to be played, not the initial postponement, which is allowed under the rules.
I don’t think they are at the moment because you’re not gonna face sides like City, Pool or Chelsea in the ECL or even the EL. Those three are currently three of the best five sides in Europe I’d say (with Bayern and PSG) so being in a comp where none of them would’ve been potential opponents would’ve given us a better chance of winning. We just approached it the wrong way as per usual, just like last season against Zagreb. It’s a mentality issue at this club and it’s been there for some time. Quality-wise there’s no reason we couldn’t have got to last season’s EL final or this season’s ECL but it’s looking like we’ll have crashed out of both a lot earlier than expected. The club needs a serious shakeup and I’d include the fans in that too as I think too many of ours overlook competitions but then complain at the end of each season that we’re trophyless again.
The most interesting thing to me is that they've made this a two-parter. Tune in tomorrow and find out which way the decision will go! The second most interesting thing is that they apparently asked Rennes to find a place in their schedule and when they said, "How about never? Does never work for you?", rewarded them with a win. The third most interesting thing is the there's already a precedent for punishing clubs that fall victim to a pandemic. The problem with that is that it rewards trying to hide being affected. Why is a club not responsible for the workings of the weather, but is responsible for the workings of a pandemic? On the face of it, calling matches which can't be rescheduled due to COVID draws looks like the least stupid thing that can be done...unless I'm missing something, which happens frequently. Whatever the decision, Spurs deserve on their merits to be out of this competition.
Looks like Spurs will be kicked out of the Conference as they can't raise a fit team.I can remember clubs "giving" Man U players after the Munich crash and they went on to Wembley before Nat Lofthouse beat them for Bolton.
Rennes will obviously want Spurs out of it, as it strengthens their chances of winning it, they will do us no favours and hope we are dumped out.
Just to make sure, in case I was imagining it in my febrile state: are UEFA really looking to punish us for Rennes acting like a bunch of tarts?
I think two things are being conflated here, unsurprisingly, but it's too different arguments. The first argument is whether we deserve (or should) be in this competition by merit. Our performances have been awful and it's very easy to agree that we don't deserve it. However that is very different from the second argument which is about the the rules and principles. On that basis UEFA have effectively ejected a team from one of their competitions for getting Covid. The right or wrongs of this should not consider the first argument at all. As has been said, weather (an act of God if you like) means that the game must be rescheduled, but Covid does not? The argument that it must be done before the end of the month is also invalid because it's UEFA that made that rule, so they can rewrite it. I'm not surprised that Rennes don't want to play the game but again that's irrelevant. You have to take out the equation the actual teams that are involved. And analyse what is actually happening, and I have to conclude that it's plain wrong. And I also think that they will simply not follow this through as a principle and will reschedule matches for other teams that get Covid. No I don't think they are picking on us specifically, but they are not trying that hard to make their own competition work either.
There's also a third argument: are we being punished because Sky, BT and Amazon want to swamp the festive period with football fixtures? It needs to be asked, because when you put our fixture list against Rennes', you can see a world of difference 12th December: Spurs vs Brighton, Rennes vs Nice 16th December: Spurs vs Leicester 18th December: Rennes vs Lorient 19th December: Spurs vs Liverpool 22nd December: Spurs vs West Scam, Rennes vs Monaco 26th December: Spurs vs Palace 28th December: Spurs vs Southampton So between today and the 31st, we have six scheduled fixtures while Rennes have three, and the fact we have fixtures on the 26th and 28th on its own is a damning indictment of how much television is allowed to dictate football in this country
The regulators are the problem. The fixture lists are so congested that they are unable to have a Plan B at all for this scenario. It’s a perfect storm of over congested domestic, European and international fixture lists. If West Ham progress in all competitions, Declan Rice could theoretically play almost 80 club and international games. Crazy.
UEFA will throw us out. It will happen to someone else in the next couple of months, and they will realize that the rule needs changing.
