Let's Call The Whole Thing Off?

Stuck in work and ****ing bored ****less. We've ran three trains all morning. Can't wait to walk the dog this afternoon though. He was a fluffy little Labrador puppy once too. Now he's an arthritic, gnarled old curmudgeon. Crikey, a bit like, er… someone else.

 

"Liverpool “deserve” to be crowned Premier League champions but relegation from the Premier League will have to be scrapped if the season is abandoned due to the coronavirus crisis, the owner of Brighton & Hove Albion has proclaimed.

Tony Bloom said a points-per-game calculation could be used to determine the final standings – including to award Liverpool’s first English title for 30 years – but warned there was no chance clubs would vote to condemn any of their number to the drop.

There have been no formal discussions about the precise outcome to an abandoned season during the Premier League shareholders’ conference calls staged since the coronavirus crisis began, with Friday’s summit focused on plans to play out the remaining 92 fixtures behind closed doors.

It also saw clubs warned the 2020-21 campaign must start by the first week of September, meaning football resuming no later than July – although there is hope it can do so as early as week commencing June 8.


However, Telegraph Sport has been told league officials have been drawing up contingency plans in case the season is abandoned, including for the likely crowning of Liverpool as champions and scrapping of relegation.


Bloom, whose side sat 15th in the table when football in England was suspended, said: “I don’t foresee a situation, if the season’s not played out, that teams will get relegated on a points-per-game basis.

“I just don't think it’s fathomable that a team which is not allowed to play out the season may lose out on point-two-of-a-point based on this system and also it does not take into account the strength of the teams you have not played.

“You may get a title winner – obviously Liverpool deserve it – you may use that criteria for European qualification, but I do not see how anyone can vote for that, certainly the [70] per cent needed, for teams to get relegated. I really cannot foresee that.”

Scrapping relegation would raise the prospect of the door being shut on promotion to the Premier League, something the Telegraph has also been told is on option under consideration.

English Premier League
Pos Team P W D L GD Pts
1 Liverpool 29 27 1 1 45 82
2 Manchester City 28 18 3 7 37 57
3 Leicester City 29 16 5 8 30 53
4 Chelsea 29 14 6 9 12 48
5 Manchester United 29 12 9 8 14 45
6 Wolverhampton Wanderers 29 10 13 6 7 43
7 Sheffield United 28 11 10 7 5 43
8 Tottenham Hotspur 29 11 8 10 7 41
9 Arsenal 28 9 13 6 4 40
10 Burnley 29 11 6 12 -6 39
11 Crystal Palace 29 10 9 10 -6 39
12 Everton 29 10 7 12 -9 37
13 Newcastle United 29 9 8 12 -16 35
14 Southampton 29 10 4 15 -17 34
15 Brighton and Hove Albion 29 6 11 12 -8 29
16 West Ham United 29 7 6 16 -15 27
17 Watford 29 6 9 14 -17 27
18 Bournemouth 29 7 6 16 -18 27
19 Aston Villa 28 7 4 17 -22 25
20 Norwich City 29 5 6 18 -27 21
Another would be promoting the top two in the Championship – currently Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion – into an expanded top-flight, something that would avoid legal action by those clubs.

The nuclear option would be declaring the entire campaign null and void, something the Football Association has controversially already done at grassroots level but which is said to have been all but ruled out in the professional game.

One source told the Telegraph the Premier League had taken legal advice on the consequences of denying Championship clubs promotion – particularly those below the top two.

It was said to have been advised that any team that sued for damages would struggle to convince a tribunal or court they had been denied a cash windfall because almost every side to have been promoted to the top flight had actually lost money through transfer fees and wages.

But another source said any Championship club who felt they were unfairly denied promotion would not seek damages but a ruling overturning the decision to block their ascent.

English Football League - Championship
Pos Team P W D L GD Pts
1 Leeds United 37 21 8 8 26 71
2 West Bromwich Albion 37 19 13 5 27 70
3 Fulham 37 18 10 9 14 64
4 Brentford 37 17 9 11 31 60
5 Nottingham Forest 37 16 12 9 10 60
6 Preston North End 37 16 8 13 5 56
7 Bristol City 37 15 10 12 -2 55
8 Millwall 37 13 15 9 4 54
9 Cardiff City 37 13 15 9 2 54
10 Blackburn Rovers 37 14 11 12 7 53
11 Swansea City 37 13 14 10 1 53
12 Derby County 37 13 12 12 0 51
13 Queens Park Rangers 37 14 8 15 -4 50
14 Reading 37 13 9 15 4 48
15 Sheffield Wednesday 37 13 9 15 -3 48
16 Birmingham City 37 12 11 14 -9 47
17 Stoke City 37 12 6 19 -6 42
18 Huddersfield Town 37 11 9 17 -13 42
19 Middlesbrough 37 9 14 14 -10 41
20 Wigan Athletic 37 10 11 16 -12 41
21 Hull City 37 11 8 18 -14 41
22 Charlton Athletic 37 10 9 18 -10 39
23 Luton Town 37 10 5 22 -28 35
24 Barnsley 37 8 10 19 -20 34
Bloom said: “I don’t want to predict what is going to happen in terms of promotion and it’s very difficult.

“Obviously, I am aware what’s happened down the league. It’s not as significant financially but a lot of players have put a whole season’s effort in and some of them have been automatically promoted at Steps 7, 8, 9, and the FA’s rule is that no clubs will be relegated or promoted.

“There is no perfect solution here. There will be some clubs that have the wrong end of the stick and there are some that have got a bit lucky. I don’t know what will happen but the best solution would be to play the season out.”

Bloom said he had not spoken to other club owners about potentially expanding the Premier League to 22 teams.

He added: “When we are talking with the Premier League clubs and the Premier League itself, I think it’s about finishing this season.

“If we get to a situation whereby it’s decided that the season can’t be concluded then that’s when we need to have serious conversations about what’s going to happen for next season.”

 

If you are not going to finish the season and will call positions as they stand then the only fair way to sort relegation would be a play-off of the bottom 4 - I suspect they would take that ... I did say "If" ... my preference is that the season gets finished and the next one is a delayed start ... the Carabou could be sacrificed for one season if necessary ... the players will have already had a longer break than the norm, albeit that some have missed their cultural educational trips to Magaluf and Ayia Napa

 

#calledit

Liverpool champions but no relegation.

I just can’t see the PL not giving the title to Liverpool. If it was City, United or Chelsea they’d just bin the season off.

 

Taken with great grace Stan. And there was you saying that if the campaign continued then Liverpool, on current form, probably wouldn't get the six points needed to win it anyway. We may now never know. Got to be said though, that Liverpool's current league form is 5 wins in 6: their only challenger, City, was 3 wins in 6. Hmm. You called that too.

 

That was very clearly a joke. If the season finishes you will of course get the points required very quickly.

That doesn’t change my view that the PL are agonising over this because it’s Liverpool and they’re aware of the incessant media campaign by the likes of Thompson and Carragher.

 

I don't wanna see the league cup scrapped for a season, it will never return.

 

It's a risk ... did say "if" ... the easiest 'catch up' would be to ditch the league formats in European competitions and go straight knockout ... and I'm saying that as a supporter of a club that would therefore lose out financially ... but UEFA are unlikely to change the cash cow ...

 

Oh Stan, behave! Carra and Thommo hold more weight than 5 Live, The Mail, The Mirror SkySports and a whole plethora of your current and former players calling for null-and-void? Give your ****ing head a wobble.

 

There are proportionally a lot more ex-Liverpool players fronting the media than players from any other club. That’s been the way for a couple of decades.

Which ex-United players have a media presence and have called for null and void? Links please.

 

The bottom 4? WHU are 5th from bottom and have the same points. No chance that’s an equitable outcome.

 

Off the top of my head, Rio, Schmeichal, Rafeal, Shaw and Graeme Sharpe.*

* Blueshite, so an honorary Uniturd plater.

 

Rafael and Shaw? What prime time football shows are they on? I rarely see Schmeichel on telly.

When did Rio call for the season to be binned?

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/fo...emier-league-season-coronavirus-a4400516.html

Not just null and voided - Saint Rio of Drug Testing Dodging also wants Liverpool fans to know they're deliberately killing the nation's favourite grannies in their evil pursuit of the title. We should get Kustard and his mates onto that meme.

 

So Rio then.

 

Again, graciously accepted by you. Can't believe you didn't know. Maybe he needs to stop appearing in so many papers and on Tv all the time and just speak with the same, grating Scouse twang of Carra and Thommo to get your attention?

 

You and Pool and all the other clubs will just have to take it on the chin like a few teams in the lower leagues have had to.

One team in the lower leagues had won 27 out of 27. Another team had already guaranteed promotion...both null and void.

They were both having better seasons than Lesta and Pool are/were

I don’t see why it should be any different for the PL teams

 

Carra, Thompson, Aldridge, Barnes....there are loads of them, interviewed on what seems like a daily basis, crapping on about the integrity of the PL when what they mean is that football can **** itself as long as Liverpool get their title. You said they were outweighed by ex-United players but have only managed to provide Rio as an example.

Most ex and current United players want the league finished as they think there is a better than even chance that we'll get CL football next season.

 

Do want to read that again? I listed several news outlets AND United players, past and present. Gary Neville (whom I've always liked, even when the Manc **** do a victory dance in our faces) is the only one, with the possible exception of Fletcher that I can recall who has definitely stated he wants it to finish - but even he's now wavering (though, as he is a chairman of a lower league team, I 100% accept his genuine reasoning). As for your better than even chance of CL football next season- yeah, if City are banned. And Wolves don't beat you to fifth.

 

You provided one link to Rio’s comments.

City are banned and we were the form team in the PL for the 6 weeks before the season was paused. If the season finishes we could get CL, if it’s binned we definitely won’t.