Rival watch

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That's the cruelty of the play-off system. No sympathy for Leeds as under Bielsa they've reverted to the nasty, spiteful side they were back in the day. But they accumulated 9 more points than Derby across a season and after 90mins of football all that counts for nought.

No idea why the top 3 just don't get automatically promoted. Is there really that much money in the play off system? One game between 3rd and 4th I can understand, but there have been seasons in the past where teams have been promoted having finished more than 10 points away from their play-off rivals, which is a joke.
 
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C. Kane said:
That's the cruelty of the play-off system. No sympathy for Leeds as under Bielsa they've reverted to the nasty, spiteful side they were back in the day. But they accumulated 9 more points than Derby across a season and after 90mins of football all that counts for nought.

No idea why the top 3 just don't get automatically promoted. Is there really that much money in the play off system? One game between 3rd and 4th I can understand, but there have been seasons in the past where teams have been promoted having finished more than 10 points away from their play-off rivals, which is a joke.
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Should be 1 goal for every 3 points you have gained more than your opponent
 
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Spurlock said:
Should be 1 goal for every 3 points you have gained more than your opponent
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I was thinking something like this, but then you'd end up with mind-numbingly boring games with sides looking to protect a lead and not do anything stupid. The whole system is bonkers. Imagine it happened to us - 14 points clear of the bellends in 6th but we pick up a couple of injuries to key players ahead of the tie and we're fecked. 46 games of effort down the drain thanks to an unfortunate 180 minutes. Why is it so hard to just promote the top 3 and tell the rest of them to get stuffed?
 
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C. Kane said:
That's the cruelty of the play-off system. No sympathy for Leeds as under Bielsa they've reverted to the nasty, spiteful side they were back in the day. But they accumulated 9 more points than Derby across a season and after 90mins of football all that counts for nought.

No idea why the top 3 just don't get automatically promoted. Is there really that much money in the play off system? One game between 3rd and 4th I can understand, but there have been seasons in the past where teams have been promoted having finished more than 10 points away from their play-off rivals, which is a joke.
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Yes the play offs can be cruel, and I am sure that fans of Leeds and Mansfield, and maybe Portsmouth after tonight will be in total agreement with you.

But the play offs do make money and they do keep clubs interested in the league season for longer and create more meaningful fixtures in the last few weeks of the season.

As someone who has been to 3 play off finals I can assure you that there is no better way to be promoted than by winning the final at Wembley. Equally it's a terrible place to lose more so if you did finish 3rd I guess, the one we lost we finished 4th Man City finished 3rd and beat us on penalties. The following year we were finished 3rd blowing automatic promotion on the final day, but it was our year when we beat Wigan 3-2 after extra time scoring a last minute winner, that was as good as it gets.

The last time we won in the play offs we finished 5th and beat Shrewsbury who finished 7th in the final and they had beaten us 7-0 in the league match at their place and we scored another last minute winner, from a corner that should have been a goalkick, How bad do you think that they felt!

There is no denying that the play offs regularly produce great matches and great drama, and you know at the start of the season what you have signed up for, I love them. But I still hate City!
 
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Alfie Conn said:
Didn't this happen at one time, seem to remember Chelsea were involved
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Yes the original play offs included the side that finished 3rd bottom and 3,4,5 from the league below. We played Sunderland who were third bottom in the old 2nd div (now the championship) we were 5th in div 3 and we relegated them, and in those days it wasn't a Wembley final, but a 2 leg home and away, and we were level with Swindon after 2 legs and lost in a replay played at Selhurst Park!
 
AshfordGill said:
Yes the original play offs included the side that finished 3rd bottom and 3,4,5 from the league below. We played Sunderland who were third bottom in the old 2nd div (now the championship) we were 5th in div 3 and we relegated them, and in those days it wasn't a Wembley final, but a 2 leg home and away, and we were level with Swindon after 2 legs and lost in a replay played at Selhurst Park!
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They have that system in the Bundesliga and Eredivisie, and it's nakedly a closed shop to try and keep as many teams from being relegated as possible

Case in point, here's how relegation this season's Eredivisie breaks down
NAC Breda automatically relegated
Excelsior Rotterdam & De Graafschap in the relegation playoffs
The teams between 6th-9th (or, this season, 7th-10th as Jong PSV finished in the playoff places) enter the first round of promotion playoffs
The teams which finish 2nd-5th (or, this season, yadda yadda) enter the second round of the playoffs
The first round winners face the two Eredivisie teams in the second round, so De Graafschap face Cambuur while Excelsior face Waalwijk this season
The two winners from the 2nd-5th block face the winners of the Eredivisie/cannon fodder playoffs, with the winners playing in the Eredivisie next season

Or, to break it down another way
* Four midtable Eerste Divisie teams slug it out over two legs for the right to get gubbed by a couple of Eredivisie teams
* Four upper midtable teams slug it out among each other over two legs while the Eredivisie teams stroll to likely victory over two legs
* The remaining teams have another two-legged tie, presumably with the Eerste Divisie teams too knackered to continue and getting picked off
 
You know the rules at the start of the season and your task is to get into one of the automatic places.
It makes for a much more interesting league when clubs down to about half way still have promotion to play for in the last couple of months. If only two get automatic promotion you should get there - if not and you think you are best of the rest you can prove it in the play offs.
As AshfordGill says the play off final is an amazing way to get promoted.
 
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Shame,after all that celebration in the Derby dressing room,that Frank Sinatra...err Lampard, get stuffed by Villa.
 
humanbeingincroydon said:
The Glazers are already on the phone...
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It is a bizarre one. Such a fulsome positive endorsement of him as a manager and a person, just leaving 1 question unanswered - why is his contract not being renewed (unless it is his decision, but I doubt it by the way it is phrased)?
 
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