Premiership Play-offs!

[The Armband]

Repellent concept. It works for the final promotion place because it doesn't affect the championship winners and runners-up, but adds huge excitement and interest for up to half the remaining clubs in the league. The clever thing about the play-offs for final promotion place is that the winning team gains enormous exposure, financial reward and promotion BUT have less time to recover and plan for the forthcoming season. So the rewards are great but the benefit of automatic promotion are stronger still.
I've travelled the USA extensively and like and admire the country greatly, but I don't care for their sport (baseball, gridiron, and 10 pin bowling are a nasty corruption of rounders, rugby and the bowls/petanque/kegelspiel, while basketball is the one sport I really dislike) and the all-pervading dilution of British culture in favour of the more unpleasant aspects of American culture (second-rate whisky and foul lager, revolting fast food, crass commercial music and hiphop, out of town shopping malls, corporate greed, etc) have had, in my opinion, a profoundly negative affect on our nation. So please leave our national sport alone and take your big macs, divas and Budweisers with you.

I know I shouldn't, but I really like Budweiser. I have a strange thing for that and millers.

Don't shoot!

 

[MrToontastic]

The whole point in a league format is to establish who can gain the most points of the course of a full season, not who can win 2 games to win the honours.

I hate American sports and to be frank, so do the rest of the world. Only a select few nations play their sports because they're ****.

Baseball (America, Canada, Cuba and Japan)
Basketball (America)
Ice Hockey (America, Canada, Russia)
NASCAR (America)
''Football'' (America)

Obviously others dabble a bit but no ****er else is interested in their **** ''sports'' with their **** formats. Baseball has even been removed from the Olympics for 2012 because it's not recognised as a world sport.

Although I do think 4th and 5th should battle it out for the final CL spot, there's plenty of quality in the English league nowadays. Also I think there should be a another play-off for relagation/promotion for Championship play-off losers vs 17th placed PL team meaning 4 team could be relagated/promoted.

 

[rabit71]

i like the idea in theory, however i think making it out of the top 8 would be too much

make it seeded and from the top 6. so the top 2 get a bye through the first round while 3 Vs 6 and 4 Vs 5. the winner of 3 Vs 6 then plays the league runners up and the winners of 4 Vs 5 the league champions.

plus you'd have to make it a separate event imo from the league title.


another idea to add to this:

make a play off for the champions league/european places. the league champions automatically qualify but 2nd - 7th enter a format similar to the one above with the 2 "finalists" and the winner of a 3rd place play off getting champions league and the 4th place getting europa (of course if the league gains more europa spots award them accordingly)

 

[Theoski09]

What a lot of you are forgetting, or dont realise, is that the playoff system is designed to favour the teams who finish higher in the league. The incentive to win the league is not only do you get a home draw but you get a second chance if you happen to lose that game.

Basically if Man City finish first. They play one game at home, if they somehow lose, they play again. so to be quite honest if they were to lose that as well...then they dont deserve to be champions.

Their is always incentive to win games and the league as the champions league places are their, plus the advantages you would get by finishing as high as possible, plus the recognition of finishing 1st.

Trust me, it would work.

 

[Tino's Machine Gun]

What a lot of you are forgetting, or dont realise, is that the playoff system is designed to favour the teams who finish higher in the league. The incentive to win the league is not only do you get a home draw but you get a second chance if you happen to lose that game.

Basically if Man City finish first. They play one game at home, if they somehow lose, they play again. so to be quite honest if they were to lose that as well...then they dont deserve to be champions.

Their is always incentive to win games and the league as the champions league places are their, plus the advantages you would get by finishing as high as possible, plus the recognition of finishing 1st.

Trust me, it would work.

What a load of rubbish. You must be on a wind up.

I don't agree with the playoffs in the football league and this is an even more diabolical idea. The only reason it would ever ever be implemented is money, and money has done enough to damage football.

 

[Theoski09]

What a load of rubbish. You must be on a wind up.

I don't agree with the playoffs in the football league and this is an even more diabolical idea. The only reason it would ever ever be implemented is money, and money has done enough to damage football.

Well if you dont like the playoffs in the football league, you will never like this idea!

The play-offs are awesome in the football league.

 

[Tino's Machine Gun]

Well if you dont like the playoffs in the football league, you will never like this idea!

The play-offs are awesome in the football league.

The games are often good because the stakes are high, but they are just a money-spinner. They should never have existed, it makes a mockery of the idea of winning on merit. It puts the team who have earned third place at a disadvantage more than anything as has been proven down the years as they basically never win it, how is that in any way fair?

Promotion is one thing, but having the top club in the whole of England decided by one or two games is quite frankly a total joke.

 

[Theoski09]

The games are often good because the stakes are high, but they are just a money-spinner. They should never have existed, it makes a mockery of the idea of winning on merit. It puts the team who have earned third place at a disadvantage more than anything as has been proven down the years as they basically never win it, how is that in any way fair?

Promotion is one thing, but having the top club in the whole of England decided by one or two games is quite frankly a total joke.

I agree with the fact its unfair to the 3rd team. However, with a top 8 system in Super League, its very very difficult for a team outside the top 2 to win it. Leeds Rhinos last year performed miracles.....so you could argue, actually deserved it.

I just despise the fact Man City can just buy the league. Its a joke.

 

[Soundbite]

Playoffs work in the US due to the league sizes. NFL only has 32 teams, meaning a lack of competition. The playoffs are used to try and keep more than 1 or 2 teams from dominating. The only thing i would consider implementing from franchise sports is a regulated wage cap for all teams to try and even it out a bit.

 

[LeazesParkProwler]

I hate American sports and to be frank, so do the rest of the world. Only a select few nations play their sports because they're ****.

Baseball (America, Canada, Cuba and Japan)
Basketball (America)
Ice Hockey (America, Canada, Russia)
NASCAR (America)
''Football'' (America)


Hmmm. Wish that were true. I lived in Spain for a couple of years and basketcaseball is certainly the second most popular sport there. It's certainly the second sport of several other European countries too. Can't understand it at all.

Ice Hockey was invented by a Briton in Canada, and is rgarded as the second sport of the Nordic countries.

Oddly, 'soccer' is regarded as a middle class sport in the USA but is widely played by children across the social spectrum.

The one TRUE North American sport is lacrosse (traditionally played by native Americans) which is played in the UK almost exclusively by public school girls.

Funny people the yanks....!

 

[cambadger]

I think as stated above the play-offs for first is a bad idea.

But we do have other rewards that may work for play-offs, I haven't thought this through fully just throwing it out there:

Take the 2 cup winners and 4th-9th (or 4th-11th if overlap)

so the rewards for this would be:
1: Champions league play-off
2: Europa
3: Europa
4: Europa play-off
5-8: nothing

with the chance to get into the Champions league through cups it may re-invigorate them a bit and means mid-table end of season boringness is less.

 

[nevfur]

I think as stated above the play-offs for first is a bad idea.

But we do have other rewards that may work for play-offs, I haven't thought this through fully just throwing it out there:

Take the 2 cup winners and 4th-9th (or 4th-11th if overlap)

so the rewards for this would be:
1: Champions league play-off
2: Europa
3: Europa
4: Europa play-off
5-8: nothing

with the chance to get into the Champions league through cups it may re-invigorate them a bit and means mid-table end of season boringness is less.

An excellent idea that gives the excitement of play offs and removes the mediocrity of mid table late season games as in lower leagues. With massive prizes as incentives this would be popular with fans,tv and sponsors. Also as with lower leagues the play offs do not affect the actual championship which is won as it should be by the best team based over the league season. (Most points in league = league champions - simples)
No matter how exciting or lucrative it would be i cannot agree with a championship being decided american style in a play off as happens in Super League and sadly now also in one of my favourite sports Speedway.
Agree with wage caps ideas but mega hard to police as we are seeing with UEFA fair play financial rules.
Also agree that it is soul destroying seeing teams like citeh and chelski buy all the trophies but another way is needed to sort this out than play offs, step up properly UEFA.

 

[...And Out Come the Wolve]

Doesn't everyone already complain about too many games?

 

[Freddd]

I hate American sports and to be frank, so do the rest of the world. Only a select few nations play their sports because they're ****.

Baseball (America, Canada, Cuba and Japan)
Basketball (America)
Ice Hockey (America, Canada, Russia)
NASCAR (America)
''Football'' (America)


Hmmm. Wish that were true. I lived in Spain for a couple of years and basketcaseball is certainly the second most popular sport there. It's certainly the second sport of several other European countries too. Can't understand it at all.

Ice Hockey was invented by a Briton in Canada, and is rgarded as the second sport of the Nordic countries.

Oddly, 'soccer' is regarded as a middle class sport in the USA but is widely played by children across the social spectrum.

The one TRUE North American sport is lacrosse (traditionally played by native Americans) which is played in the UK almost exclusively by public school girls.

Funny people the yanks....!

Lacrosse is a Canadian sport, and you need to watch a game or two before you start calling it a girls game.

I agree with the comments about the rest of the North American sports (despite having grown up on them) except basketball. Basketball is a good game: a few guys, a ball, not much else and not many breaks in play. All the ingredients of a classic contest. It's doing quite well all over Europe and will be the one North American sport to catch on globally. Hockey, the other Canadian game, will sadly remain a semi obscure rarity

 

[Jonnyaiston]

Terrible idea.

 

[MrToontastic]

Hmmm. Wish that were true. I lived in Spain for a couple of years and basketcaseball is certainly the second most popular sport there. It's certainly the second sport of several other European countries too. Can't understand it at all.

Ice Hockey was invented by a Briton in Canada, and is rgarded as the second sport of the Nordic countries

Like I said

Obviously others dabble a bit but no ****er else is interested in their **** ''sports'' with their **** formats. Baseball has even been removed from the Olympics for 2012 because it's not recognised as a world sport.

I'm aware their sports are played elsewhere, I was talking about main sports.

 

[Freddd]

Like I said

I'm aware their sports are played elsewhere, I was talking about main sports.

That's a bit like saying that the English aren't really interested in, or only dabble in, rugby or cricket, because football is the most popular sport. A country can have more than one "main" sport, as do England and the US. The point that some North American sports are the second sport of european countries doens't mean they aren't a main sport. Basketball (did I mention that was invented in Canada as well ?) is now getting pretty close ot being a main sport

 

[Colly NUFC]

I'd say there's a difference between dabbling and it being the second most popular sport in the country, unless we dabble in cricket and rugby? There's a basketball arena 50 yards from the Nou Camp.

Back on topic, playoffs are awful. You've been consistently the best team for 38 games? Sod that, wipe out your points tally and get ready to play Bolton in a cup game!

Edit: great minds eh Fred?

 

[MrToontastic]

Well Cricket is hardly a World Sport is it, only 10 nations play the original form of the game and the same goes for rugby only 12 or so are regulars in world competitions.

World sports imo Football, F1 Racing, Boxing and then to a smaller extent Athletics and Tennis. There may be one or two I've missed

 

[Nick]

Awful idea.

The winners should always be winners, runners up should be runners up, etc...

Im more than happy having the league finish that way and then the FA Cup/League cup on the side. That doesnt need changed.