Latics and England Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 With Huddersfield taking on a team who finished 8 points behind them for a place in the Championship on Sunday, do the play-offs benefit or harm the integrity of the league campaign? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razza699 Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 With Huddersfield taking on a team who finished 8 points behind them for a place in the Championship on Sunday, do the play-offs benefit or harm the integrity of the league campaign? Didnt it happen to us the first season they were introduced ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBosch Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 When they were brought in - no Now - yes. We're used to them now. I don't watch much Premiership so the playoffs are amongst the biggest, most important games I do watch on TV. Thoroughly enjoyed this years so far and I'm looking forward to the finals more than I am the CL final. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaskedOwl Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I like the playoff system. Gives the underdog a chance and also generates more cash for clubs. Most exciting and nerve wracking games of season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeP Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 It’s a brilliant system – the Swansea v Forest match in the semi-final of this year’s Championship play-off was one of the best matches I’ve ever seen. If promotion was limited to the top three going up automatically, it would further reduce the likelihood of a team such as ourselves having a chance of going up as the places would undoubtedly end up going to the comparatively rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losesome Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 With Huddersfield taking on a team who finished 8 points behind them for a place in the Championship on Sunday, do the play-offs benefit or harm the integrity of the league campaign? Best thing that's happened in football for a long time. Even in the first year when we lost to leeds after finishing a similar number of points above them. Keeps the interest up until the end of the season and there are very few "end of season games" now that are boring. Whilst it does look unfair that a team finishing 8 points clear have to play each other it is only like someone in the olympics 100m heats , winning by 3 yards in world record time they still run against the same people in the final who may then go onto beat them ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimsleftfoot Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Without doubt they are fantastic and provide a great spectacle at the end of the season. If you come in third, then your not good enough to be promoted automatically and so should fight as a gladiator to prove your worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaticsPete Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Didnt it happen to us the first season they were introduced ? Yes, never out of the top three all season in 86/7 which in previous years would have seen us automatically promoted. Instead of which the heartache of losing to leeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spadam Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 simply yes Huddersfield finished 3rd which means they have to fight though the play-offs to go up. It adds much needed cash to these teams (not in Huddersfield's case). It also gives a chance to go to Wembley (not this season) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beag_teeets Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 No, the play-offs are an abomination and should be scrapped. I still haven't got over losing out in the first season on away goals, any other season we would have been up as we finished 3rd but some bureaucrat at the football league had come up with some dumb idea to "make the season more exciting". What part of the 46 games know as "a season" are not exciting? Top 3 go up, bottom 3 go down. If you aren't involved with either of those scraps then tough, play the kids and do better next season. At the end of 46 games let's add on 3 more games and only these games count or mean anything, the other 46 are pretty irrelevant, falling short of the top 2 positions, that's ok, just finish 6th and you'll be ok, you still get a shot of promotion. Doing ok going in to the 2nd half of the season? Splash some cash your club doesn't have on some new players and have a bid for 6th, squeak promotion then start your preparations for life in a higher division 2-3 weeks behind everyone else. So in short, I don't think the play-offs are good for football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaskedOwl Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 (edited) No, the play-offs are an abomination and should be scrapped. I still haven't got over losing out in the first season on away goals, any other season we would have been up as we finished 3rd but some bureaucrat at the football league had come up with some dumb idea to "make the season more exciting". What part of the 46 games know as "a season" are not exciting? Top 3 go up, bottom 3 go down. If you aren't involved with either of those scraps then tough, play the kids and do better next season. At the end of 46 games let's add on 3 more games and only these games count or mean anything, the other 46 are pretty irrelevant, falling short of the top 2 positions, that's ok, just finish 6th and you'll be ok, you still get a shot of promotion. Doing ok going in to the 2nd half of the season? Splash some cash your club doesn't have on some new players and have a bid for 6th, squeak promotion then start your preparations for life in a higher division 2-3 weeks behind everyone else. So in short, I don't think the play-offs are good for football. latics do the opposite! sell/loan out their leading goal scorer and play in a manner that guarantees us not to get promoted lets go for it! Edited May 26, 2011 by MaskedOwl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykelatic1 Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 latics do the opposite! sell/loan out their leading goal scorer and play in a manner that guarantees us not to get promoted lets go for it! Yes they are good for the game imo. At the start of each season all teams know the crack and know that the top 2 will automatically go up and that if you finish 3rd and 1 point or 100 points ahead of 4th it's tough! you haven't been good enough to finish top 2! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlayItLivo Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Bournemouth finished 16 points behind Hudders and they were close to knocking them out. That would have been amazing. Playoffs give more teams a chance to play for something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pukka Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 The play offs are the one thing the premier league doesn't have. IMO They are vital to lower league survival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forte_Baby Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I have grown use to the play offs it add excitement to the end of the season and ok 3rd place may miss out but they can only blame themselves for not finishing second. Would much rather play offs stay as they are. I do not agree with play offs to be crowned Champions. As finishing top of your league reflects you where the best team in that division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSH Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Town fan here - as much as I'd rather already be in the Championship, the Play Offs are good for football. Think of how many teams in this division would have been playing meaningless matches from January if they didn't exist... they haven't gone for us this season, but they went for us last season, when we scraped into them in the last few weeks. If we go up on Sunday, I'll be glad that we went through the Play Offs; last Wednesday was probably my greatest moment watching Town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Ritchie Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Town fan here - as much as I'd rather already be in the Championship, the Play Offs are good for football. Think of how many teams in this division would have been playing meaningless matches from January if they didn't exist... they haven't gone for us this season, but they went for us last season, when we scraped into them in the last few weeks. If we go up on Sunday, I'll be glad that we went through the Play Offs; last Wednesday was probably my greatest moment watching Town. Those are my feelings exactly. Take this season for example. The season would have been over for every team bar the top three with about 8 games to go. The increases in attendance of teams who are seventh and eigth are the life blood of the league, home and away followings are much bigger when teams have something to play for. There is always the chance of nicking the sixth spot and causing an upset in the play-offs. If they don't exist the teams that spend the most money and have the biggest squads automatically get promotion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookers_Carl Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 (edited) Do I think the Playoffs are a good thing? Absolutely yes. Although I will acknowledge I am way too young to remember the days of 3 up 3 down, hence I was brought up with the playoffs, it keeps the league interesting and gives smaller clubs, whom may be good enough for top 6 rather than top 3, something to aim for. As the blog says, on the penultimate weekend of the season, there was only one game with nothing to play for Do I like the current system? Not really. Look at the following stats for playoff winners 2011 - Huddersfield or Peterboro (3rd or 4th) 2010 - Millwall (3rd) 2009 - Scunthorpe (6th, 11 points behind 3rd placed MK Dons) 2008 - Doncaster (3rd) 2007 - Blackpool (3rd) 2006 - Barnsley (5th, 4 points behind 3rd) 2005 - Sheffield Wed (5th, 7 points behind 3rd) 2004 - Brighton (4th, 5 points behind 3rd) 2003 - QPR (4th, level on points with 3rd) 2002 - Stoke (5th, 3 points behind 3rd) 2001 - Walsall (4th, 5 points behind 3rd) I know there is the argument 'if it aint broke dont fix it' but my argument is that it is broke and it needs fixing. If huddersfield don't win this season, then out of the last 10 playoffs, the 3rd placed teams have only won the playoffs 3 times out of 10. I am not saying that the 3rd placed team ought to win it every year, but I think we need a system where your league position counts for more, which is the main gripe I have with the current system. What does finishing 3rd or 4th get you over finishing 5th or 6th, home advantage in the 2nd leg. Thats all well and good but - If you get absolutely slaughtered in the first leg, then that advantage aint going to count for much in the 2nd leg - Having home advantage as a 2nd leg is not necessarily an advantage. I am sure there are some managers out there who would rather have the home leg in the first leg. Theres a few alternative systems which I think are considerably fairer than the current system on the basis that you get more of an advantage the higher up the league you finish. 1) The system previously used in the Super League (which I think is an adaptation of the mcintyre final 6 system). Since the playoffs were introduced in the super league, the League Leaders have been crowned champions 8 out of 13 times, and have appeared in the final 12 out of 13 times (only in 2005 did the league leaders not make the final) If implemented in this league the games would be as follows (all one off games, home advantage determined by league position in all games prior to the final) ROUND 1: Game A: 3rd vs 4th (winner qualifies for final) Game B: 5th vs 8th Game C: 6th vs 7th Game D: Winner of B vs Winner of C Game E: Loser of A vs Winner of D Final: Winner of A vs Winner of E 2) The Page - Mcintyre system, 4 teams, home advantage decided by league position prior to the final A: 3rd play 4th B: 5th play 6th C: Loser of A vs Winner of B Final: Winner A vs Winner C 3) Mcintyre Final 5 System. Home advantage decided by league position prior to the final ROUND 1 A: 6th vs 7th B: 4th vs 5th ROUND 2 C: Loser of B vs Winner of A D: 3rd vs Winner of B PRELIMINARY FINAL: Loser of D vs Winner of C FINAL: Winner of D vs Winner of E Edited May 26, 2011 by Lookers_Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonesyOAFC Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Yes. They keep the league exciting and competitive right until the last game. A lot of the time anyone in the top 10 or 12 still has a chance of sneaking in up until the last few games. This couldn't happen if it was just a straight forward top three go up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 no need to make it complicated 6th plays 5th away winner plays 4th away winner through to final with third that way you get a reward for finishing higher ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lookers_Carl Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 no need to make it complicated 6th plays 5th away winner plays 4th away winner through to final with third that way you get a reward for finishing higher ! Somethingmlike this would work but you would have to remember, the current system consists of 5 games, of which the FL will undoubtetly get a share. Any new system would have to consist of at least five games or the FL would rule out. I don't think any playoff system gets overly complicated until you go past 6 teams. Personally like the adaptation of the Mcintyre final 6 system used previously prior to the SL expansion as its been tried and tested in Rugby League for a while now, although I think the Mcintyre final 5 system may be more appropriate for football as we are used to not having as many teams in the football playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razza699 Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I dont see how they are a bad thing tbh ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie_J Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 I think they're good for football for many of the reasons stated, in spite of the fact we can't do play-offs. Also, they make mid-table a lot smaller, meaning more teams have something to play for at the end of the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlossopLatic Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 While the game at Bloomfield road and the trip back felt a particularly miserable experience on a personal level, on a footballing level they are the best thing to happen to British football in the last 30 years. The last 20 minutes of Swansea versus Forrest was the best 20 minutes of football I have seen this season at any level of football. Are they fair no, not really but that adds to the excitement it gives that team who have had a bad start a chance to get promotion thats the point. The team who loses the champions league final on saturday will get over it pretty quickly, the team that loses the play off finals are reminded of it every single day for the next 12 months as they look at the forthcoming fixture lists. The system doesn't need changing either just to make it fair keep it simple it works. Full houses, popular with tv companies and even a trip out to wembley are all possible and a chance to make a hell of alot of money, and the most exciting games in world football (I would go that far) mean that the play offs should stay as they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueJazzer Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Remember when they had playoffs at the bottom end too? Tighten the bumhole even more towards the end of the season. Also, when Leeds beat us in the playoffs they didn't go up cos they lost to charlton ( iirc, might be wrong) who were already in division one and who ended up staying there. That bit I didn't like (apart from it happening to Leeds!) and wouldn't like to see back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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