Match Day Thread 2016/17 Premier League, Cups & Euro Watch

Just take away semis being played at Wembley.

Should be some pride for playing there not fecking semis

Bigger teams will always prioritise. Give them a sense of pride back and will sort itself out hopefully.

Can't speak for wenger though sadly lol.

 

Chelsea play their home games there for 3 seasons while the Bridge is modernised, during that time they could get home games from the 3rd round to the final and win it on "home" soil.......

 

We were talking about getting interest back in the FA Cup though.

Maybe the playoff idea you suggest but 3rd, 4th & 5th plus the cup winners? That wouldn't offer much incentive for teams to take the cup more seriously though as the top teams will be confident of getting top five and the lesser teams will see it as a unlikely route if they have to play the 3rd to 5th placed sides.

Maybe the only genuine answer is money. Offer the FA Cup winners a CL spot or maybe a £10m prize fund or something?

 

Just as a general principle what do you think about the current play offs in football? I don't like it. Last year for instance, if I was a Brighton fan ... cough.... Bisc ...I would have been mad as hell to finish the season on the same points as the Middlesbrough and lose out on promotion because of the play offs. Even worse, had Wednesday who finished 15 points below been promoted I think is a mockery.

 

Its **** imo, especially in rugby where a team could finish top by umpteen points only to lose the league title in a one off game.

 

Well... yes but the rules were known so thems the breaks.

I dont really like play offs either but i think its better than say thrid bottom of the prem playing third top in Championship to see who would get the prem spot

 

Tough one really, as I've not really got any perspective on it having never been part of it.

Sure for Brighton that must have been gutting, but the converse applies to the other side I suppose. All I'll say is that they all know the rules before a ball is kicked. Don't make the top 2 and you're into the play offs.

As a neutral I like watching them, the prize of the PL is now so vast in financial terms the Championship final is the most lucrative game in World football. Mad really.

 

Some changes aren't good. 'New and improved' always makes me suspicious.

 

You're right, they all know the rules and what could possibly happen in order to be promoted - but it doesn't make it a good idea. I would rather go back to straight promotion based on league finish. The main reason for play offs as I see it, once again, is all about money

 

Yes, it does basically give all teams form 3rd to say 9th or 10th a chance in the last ten games of season and keeps the crowd in.

In theory it is sort of like if there was no top 4 trophy for CL qualification. Most sides like spurs never win anything and just chase 4th, if 4th was meaningless i suppose they'd try win an fa cup but once out nobody would be interested.

I would presume when it was brought in it was done so to give crowds something to turn up for.

They only started in the 1980s? there was probably some element of TV money in there as well at the end of a season too...

 

I just read a little extract from The Agony and the Ecstasy - a book about the history of the play offs. Apparently the inspiration for the play offs was the American model of all four major league sports. [Although they don't do promotion relegation, they decide overall champions.]

Declining attendance numbers throughout the 80's led to a working party being set up in 1985 to address the issue and try and get more excitement into the game. Measures to make football more attack minded to make it more enjoyable for spectators and awarding 3 points for a win instead of 2 weren't successful as numbers continued to dwindle. The 'top' teams were pushing for changes - hence the ensuing PL - and Murdoch got interested and started investing in football. Basically that whole 'package' was deemed to have 'rescued' football. Maybe it did, but I still don't like the idea

 

I like the play offs. It's ruthless and it's cruel.

I don't watch it cause I don't really give a ****, but I like it for those two reasons.

 

It's a disgrace that Spurs and then Chelsea are being allowed to use the NATIONAL stadium as their temporary home.

It completely devalues the achievement of getting to play there.

 

I think it's partly about money and partly about creating a more exciting 'product' in the lower leagues tbh.

 

You didn't used to pull the legs off daddy long legs did you?

 

No. Just kittens.

 

I've just read a bit about it and you're spot on. I still don't like the idea though.

 

Don't let the DR hear about this.

 

I think a lot of it is for fairness as well. If you didn't have the playoffs there would be a lot more teams playing for nothing.

If you didn't have playoffs it would be something like only the top 4 and the bottom 6 or 7 playing for anything meaningful in the last 10 games.

That would leave over half the teams playing for nothing, and it causes teams to maybe have easier fixtures than their opponents.

 

There's nothing 'fair' about it

We're always told the table doesn't lie .... the best teams are the ones who do best over a 'x' amount of game season ...you're in the position you deserve .... Then come the end of season you finish equal points to 2nd place team and a team two below in the league gets promoted over you - that's about as unfair as it could be.