Spring News

And safer................ considering they are standing anyway.

 

I don't always get this mamby pamby attitude to grown ups although I do acknowledge that some who look grown up often aren't. Standing happened for donkeys years and there were accidents yes but not that many considering the amount of standing there was. Not sure I'd do it now but I liked to stand watching football. Always a personal choice I'dd accept. It isn't unsafe as long as you don't do the sardine trick of putting twice as many people in it was not designed for. If you banned everything that had been responsible for an accident then there would be no transport, windows in properties, electronic equipment and so on and so on. Actually it would be easier to say there would be nothing at all allowed. When you are younger there is nothing better in a football ground than to be part of that area that goes for it every match. Standing is much more attached to that than sitting down. Treat them like adults and maybe the majority would act like it.

 

But the regulations say all seater..................

 

Encouraging news for Liverpool.....that Paris St-Germain have been awarded the Ligue One title in France after the French season was ended.

 

I know notdistant and where there are seats then people should sit down. But, take the seats out and make it all standing and I fail to see the problem.

 

No I agree: I'm all in favour of safe standing in the right part of the ground.

I'm not sure that those that some understand though that safe standing is seating by another name in that you buy a ticket for a numbered place and that's where you stand. You can't buy a seated ticket in an adjacent block and then go and stand where you want.

I presume that was behind the attempt to check tickets in the Devonport End, which was criticised in some quarters. The implication was to me that there were more people standing in the centre blocks of the Devonport End than there were seats for. That's the sort of overcrowding that can't be allowed.

 

Two interesting articles in today's Daily Telegraph....

1.....The English Football League would need 66,000 coronavirus tests to be carried out on players and staff to complete the season, heightening fears the campaign will have to be abandoned.

Testing was discussed at a board meeting on Wednesday, with concerns that if football was given priority it would be a PR disaster, with EFL consulting medical experts and government advisers.

Next Thursday's review of the lock-down is crucial to football's hopes of resuming. Even if games are played, it is not now expected that fans will be allowed into stadiums until January.

Even though the EFL had said that all games were likely to be played behind closed doors if the season were to restart, there was hope that fans might be allowed in by the autumn. That is increasingly unlikely, which raises huge questions over the viability of many of the 71 clubs, who are dependent on match-day revenue. There are 326 EFL matches left in the regular season.

It means that if testing is not widely available soon then there is a strong possibility the season cannot be finished and will have to be decided on "sporting merit", which was also raised at Wednesday's meeting .........

Article continues.....Daily Telegraph...Fri...01/05/2020.




2.....A group of French football clubs are considering a legal challenge after Paris St-Germain were crowned champions and the league was decided on a point-per-game basis yesterday.

Lyon, who missed out on European football, issued a statement last night in which they reserved the right to appeal and seek damages, claiming that the decision had cost them "several tens of millions of euros", while Toulouse and Amiens, who were both relegated, are also believed to be considering a challenge.

Another group of French football clubs are asking for emergency loans to secure their future and it is understood that talks have been held with the French government.

Frank Leboeuf, the former Chelsea defender, said that curtailing the season was "killing football" in France economically and, according to L'Equipe,
broadcast payments of more than £200 million would now be lost.

The decision to end the French league was taken by the government and a swift ruling was made on the sporting consequences, with positions decided on a point-per-game basis and only two clubs relegated and promoted.

Marseille and Rennes are due to join PSG in the Champions League, while Toulouse and Amiens are replaced by Lorient and Lens in Ligue 1.

A decision on whether the Bundesliga can resume this month has also been delayed until next week following an increase in coronavirus cases in Germany.

Daily Telegraph...Fri...01/05/2020.


My thoughts.....PSG had a 12pt lead over second spot and we also know that Liverpool are unassailable with a massive 25pt lead.....so both logically should be champions.

The EFL situation to finish the season is becoming harder each week to accept.

 

You can kick what happens next around and around the pitch and still come up with half a dozen different ends. I know what I want to happen if the league cannot finish the season in the normal way which is as it stands to be carried through but I'm not going to lose and more sleep over it. What ever is just is now. I for one am getting sick to death (not literally) of the only news being the Virus. Nothing else in the World happens anymore. If it does it just isn't reported. And may I add that I do not believe for one minute that the Government has hit it's test target. If ever there was proof that stats can be made to cover any answer you want then that one is it. This is not a time to try to look good it is a time to prove you are good by results. I have no faith in this bunch of idiots at all.

 

A bit premature... but it is said that Argyle could be interested in Leon Clarke out of contract this summer with Sheffield United and also striker Joe Dodoo out of contract with Bolton.
Also Yann Songo'o is on the market having been released by Scunthorpe.

 

First signs of football re-starting.....Angela Merkel the German Chancellor has said that the Bundesliga will restart mid-May behind closed doors.

That's going to cause pressure on the EPL & EFL to get their acts together.....even if they follow suit we will be weeks away from starting in this country.

 

I cannot see how you can play any sport, not just football, behind closed doors. A boxing match with nobody in the stadium watching????? Whats that all about. Sport is for spectators and without them there is just no atmosphere to any of it and it is pointless.

 

A crucial vote is expected to be held next week on whether League One and Two should be abandoned this season, with fears that the majority of clubs do not now want to carry on.

The 'Daily Telegraph' understands that curtailing the season will be formally raised by the English Football League at a conference-call meeting today, with clubs informed of the intention to put it to a vote
.
The 23 clubs in League 1 and the 24 in League 2 will be told to cast their votes at next week's meeting. The EFL has spent the past few days informally canvassing opinion, which appears to show there is an overwhelming desire to not carry on. The vote will not involve clubs in the Championship and the EFL is hoping that it will still be played to a conclusion.

It is understood as few as three League One clubs want to complete the season, and that there has been threats of legal action from some if they are forced to play. Clubs are citing health concerns, but have also stressed the ruinous cost of playing behind closed doors.

An independent report by the the consultants Oakwell Sports Advisory has estimated that it will cost clubs "a minimum of £700,000 each with no possible offset from match-day income". The Professional Footballers' Association has appointed Deloitte to take independent views on finances.

Rick Parry, the EFL chairman, told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports select committee on Tuesday that the clubs were facing a £200 million deficit.

It is understood that they have been discussing about reducing the number of games remaining in League 1 and 2 to cover play-offs for promotion and relegation, but there also appears to be resistance to this idea.

If the season is curtailed....and it is understood that the vote needs a 75% majority to be carried....it will raise the delicate issue of how the EFL will decide promotion and relegation, which is still expected to go ahead for all divisions. Parry told the DCMS committee that voiding relegation from the Premier League would be a "breach of the tripartite agreement between us, the Premier League and the FA" and would lead to legal action.

The favoured means of deciding promotion and relegation, should the games not take place, would appear to be on a points-per-game basis, although this would be controversial.

Daily Telegraph Sports...Thursday...07/05/2020.


My thoughts....the only decision is .....Cheltenham or Exeter for 4th promotion spot....I think Exeter will miss out because Cheltenham have a game in hand......

 

Macclesfield have had a points deduction for failing to fulfill their fixture against us what seems like years ago now and for failing to pay their players.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52574839

This means that if the season was to be completed, Stevenage are only three points from safety with a game in hand. They'll feel hard done by if they are relegated by default.

 

It's a joke notdistant. Surely. If they don't get relegated for breaching the regs twice or even more then how can it be just. Stevenage deserve to go down because they have been rubbish all season but that isn't really the point. They have paid players and attended all of their fixtures. Macclesfield are a liability and cannot be trusted to do either..

 

Couldn't agree more. Firstly its unfair competition: look at all the well known names who've been ousted from the league eg Tranmere.

Secondly, it puts those clubs at risk. We know what it's like nearly to lose our beloved PAFC. No fan deserves that.

 

LEAGUES ONE AND TWO IN CHAOS.

League one and two clubs are on a collision course over how to determine the final tables in the increasingly likely event that their seasons are abandoned.

Clubs are expected to vote as early as Tuesday on whether to terminate the campaigns amid a raft of safety. logistical and financial worries.They include concerns about the ability to fund a projected £8 million bill for coronavirus testing across the English Football Leagues. As many as 66,000 tests would need to be carried out on players and staff to complete the campaign.

Gary Neville, co-owner of League Two Salford, said yesterday that he was "99% sure" the season would be abandoned. If approved, the discussion would turn to establishing a method to finalise league standings in what threatens to be a divisive process that could culminate in legal wrangles, according to multiple club sources.

A number of proposals have been raised, including deciding promotion and relegation on a points-per-game (PPG) basis using the current tables, scrapping relegation or even voiding the campaign altogether.

Under PPG, Wycombe, eighth in League One, would leapfrog third place Oxford to claim the final promotion spot behind Coventry and Rotherham. In League Two, Cheltenham in fifth, would swap positions with fourth-placed Exeter and secure the last promotion place.

One club advocate a "weighted" PPG model that accounts for the number of games played home and away, a system used by the Rugby Football Union below the second tier. Neville told Sky Sports: "there are going to be some very unhappy people in the next few weeks if the points-per-game method is used."

Some clubs...such as Southend, who would be relegated from League One via either the PPG model or through existing standings....favour declaring the season null and void, but that has appeared the least-favoured option.

The prospect of scrapping relegation is also expected to be on the table, although that could face opposition as there are fears it would lead to a fixture congestion next season and complicate the distribution of central income.

The EFL will await the outcome of a Premier League shareholders' meeting on Monday before asking League One and Two clubs to vote on terminating their seasons.

Meanwhile, League One Sunderland's accounts are understood to show a £20 million shortfall that is deterring potential buyers.

Daily Telegraph Sport...Saturday 09/05/2020.


My thoughts....The seasons over, the pandemic is still too dangerous to wait any longer to play games even behind closed doors, and as above, too expensive regarding testing costs to continue.
The only result to stop Argyle getting promoted, would be making the season null and void....and I can't see that happening.

 

Well we can speculate all we want to and think option A or B or C or whatever is the outcome but it is going to be down to the fairness in my opinion of the clubs on what should happen morally. That's if there is any morally to be had of course. We will find out once they have voted I guess.

 

It seems that Ryan Lowe is preparing to contact all fifteen of his out of contract players soon regarding the 2020/21 season.....it is being suggested that most of them will be offered new contracts.....this is at a time when we are not fully sure which division we will be playing in.....but it is thought that this Thursday could be the date when we will find out.

 

Six Div 1 clubs are rocking the boat and want to finish playing their matches this season....how will that effect any decisions made today ?

Some influential names amongst the six.....Peterborough, Oxford, Sunderland, Fleetwood, Portsmouth & Ipswich.

Will this cause a problem and swing any vote in Div 2 to want to finish the season as well....or will the cost involved decide a majority of clubs to finish on 36/37 games now.

 

It seems crazy to me that different divisions could do different things, perhaps with the exception of the Premier League where the finances are so different.

One way or another though we have to have promotion and relegation. Too much water has passed under the bridge to just annul it.