So, What Happens . . .

[NotHarryAgombar]

There is not enough  room in the calendar with European dates to fit in a 22 team PL.

The issue for most teams in L1 and L2 is that waiting to finish the season - extending player contracts beyond 30 June with no income and no certainty about when games can restart - is too expensive hence the urgency of finding a solution. PPG is the fairest way of doing this unless they can work out something only a little more complicated - weighting PPG for the mix of home and away games left to play could be done quickly and easily explained.

No doubt some statisticians could use the expected goal data to develop a football equivalent of Duckworth Lewis and use that to calculate a points total for each club  for the remaining games, but that would cause so much argument that it wouldn’t be accepted even if it can be done in the time available.

[Ardiles]

No doubt some statisticians could use the expected goal data to develop a football equivalent of Duckworth Lewis and use that to calculate a points total for each club  for the remaining games, but that would cause so much argument that it wouldn’t be accepted even if it can be done in the time available.

I agree.  As soon as you introduce subjective judgement in to the equation (as would be the case there) you open yourself up to challenge.  So it's a bit of a non-starter.  Voiding sets a really difficult precedent, so I'm starting to feel a bit more confident that PPG will be seen as the least worst option.

[JBZ]

I agree.  As soon as you introduce subjective judgement in to the equation (as would be the case there) you open yourself up to challenge.  So it's a bit of a non-starter.  Voiding sets a really difficult precedent, so I'm starting to feel a bit more confident that PPG will be seen as the least worst option.

But you say that from the perspective of supporting a team which will benefit from any outcome other than voiding the season.

[Batch]

let's hope tomorrow brings a favourable hint at what's what

[pauld]

Some rumour sites speculating Bundesliga could resume BCD on May 9th

[flammableBen]

I think they should randomise the Premier and Football leagues. We've got just under a 3/4 chance of finishing higher than we are. 1/92 of winning the premier league, and a sexy 2/47 of Champions League football next year.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

But you say that from the perspective of supporting a team which will benefit from any outcome other than voiding the season.

True. But promoting teams from L2 has absolutely no detrimental bearing financially on the other club’s - apart, maybe, from the 1 out of the present top 5 to miss out.

Fucking every club over to appease those who have done jack shit all season is just wrong.

It’s just schadenfreude.

[JBZ]

I suppose the trouble is that you need to know what the rules are before the season starts. 

It's a poor example but with a one day cricket match, the teams know how the match will be determined if it cannot be completed.  Here, there are no pre existing rules on what happens if the season cannot be completed. 

We face the prospect of trying to fashion a mechanism for determining the outcome long after the season commenced.  It's clear that this will be a fertile ground for litigation.

[Matchworn Shirts]

Some rumour sites speculating Bundesliga could resume BCD on May 9th

The ministers for certain regions discussed it today, sounds like a strong possibility that the 1st & 2nd Bundesliga might begin then under strict criteria

[Ardiles]

But you say that from the perspective of supporting a team which will benefit from any outcome other than voiding the season.

I do, but the argument against voiding is not connected to that.  In short, void a season that's 80% complete would rightly allow supporters in future to question the validity of the League games they were watching.  You really don't want to open that Pandora's Box.  You'd probably be able to make a stronger case for voiding if the outbreak happened in the Autumn with only 25% of the games played - but not this late in the season.

[JBZ]

I do, but the argument against voiding is not connected to that.  In short, void a season that's 80% complete would rightly allow supporters in future to question the validity of the League games they were watching.  You really don't want to open that Pandora's Box.  You'd probably be able to make a stronger case for voiding if the outbreak happened in the Autumn with only 25% of the games played - but not this late in the season.

Thanks, yes - I acknowledge that.  I don't know what the permutations are but presumably a number of clubs could assert that a lot could still happen in the remaining 20 percent of the season - particularly those on the fringes of promotion/relegation. 

Finding a formula that provides certainty and satisfies everyone may be difficult.  Treating the season as void may be regarded as bad for all (and I do not advocate this) but this provides certainty.

Of course, any questions around the validity/integrity of the sport in general should be looked at through the prism of these 'unprecedented times'.  Things as we know it have changed substantially and this could last for some time yet.  Losing a season may be seen as merely a small part of all this.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

What actually offers more in the way of keeping the league’s integrity.

Forcing the remaining games to be played BCD with a whole host of clubs fielding teams that bear no resemblance to the sides they put out in the first 36 games

Or

Bringing the league to a conclusion now and awarding league positions to allow for a fresh start to the new season.

If they keep dithering there will be clubs going to the wall and the leagues will be different for sure.

Other than pure spite I can't see why the going nowhere clubs would care less whether the remainder of the season is concluded using ppg.

[Peter Venkman]

BCD or PPG are the only viable options IMO.

[Batch]

BCD or PPG are the only viable options IMO.

ditto.

and BCD has an ever decreasing window

[Peter Venkman]

Massive cans of worms about to be opened it would seem, with so many repercussions to be felt throughout football whichever path they take.