Premier League Playoff?

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

Football is entertaining and the top flight has never needed to do this in the past when Liverpool won everything etc etc etc so why now? Money.

It won't happen, they're just throwing things out there to see what the reaction is unless they take these proposed Play-Offs abroad.

I find the Prmier League total shite. The relegation battle is a lot more exciting than the top 4 battle for sure. This season isn't too bad for 4th spot but yet again the top 2 is all too predictable. People go on about American sport systems etc and how they are crap but it's never predictable and in stuff like Ice Hockey the team that wins the championship never gets the best players because the bottom teams get priority on free agents etc so you will very rarely see the same team win it each year.

[reeves4england]

I find the Prmier League total shite. The relegation battle is a lot more exciting than the top 4 battle for sure. This season isn't too bad for 4th spot but yet again the top 2 is all too predictable. People go on about American sport systems etc and how they are crap but it's never predictable and in stuff like Ice Hockey the team that wins the championship never gets the best players because the bottom teams get priority on free agents etc so you will very rarely see the same team win it each year.

Yes, but do you really want football to go the same way regarding free agents? The whole structure of the sports is different, and thus the culture. As much as we bemoan the influence of money in allowing huge divisions to appear in the game, I'm not sure there is a way out of it without reshaping the whole structure of English football. This would involve abolishing the Premier League, which is never going to happen.

I really do hope that one or two teams can begin a sustained challenge to the 'Big Four'. Spurs, Villa and City all look capable to some extent. I have nothing against Liverpool, but in some ways to see the good ship Anfield implode would be quite nice as a shock to the Premier League system.

[Bogus Dave]

Could this not result in poorer teams in the competition = worse performance = lower coefficients = less european places?

[Rich Pullen]

Yes, but this won't change the Premier League.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will still dominate the top spots but fans will have to fork out more money to attend these "big" Play-Off fixtures and I doubt that such games will not be covered by their season tickets. All this for the award of a possible Champions League place, if they can get past the qualifying round.

In the top flight accolades should be clear-cut - you either win something or you don't. My feeling is that there is far too much joy for finishing 4th. I can almost guarentee that if Liverpool finished 4th Benitez will talk like it's a major victory and so will their fans. Just for a few more Sky fixtures.

[jonny72]

My feeling is that there is far too much joy for finishing 4th. I can almost guarentee that if Liverpool finished 4th Benitez will talk like it's a major victory and so will their fans.

So if you finish 4th in the PL and then win the playoffs to get in to the CL, it will be a bit shit, not a real victory and not worth celebrating?

So how does that work with us if we finish 6th and win the playoffs to get in to the Championship?

I take it you won't be celebrating if we do as its all a bit shit.

[Rich Pullen]

Well, if you read my comments I talk about the top flight - the major vehicle of our game to the rest of the world and apparently the best league there is.

These top flight clubs do not need these extra fixures because the majority of them will all be European competitions anyway whether it's the Champions League or Europa. It's up to the clubs to take the latter competition more seriously.

[Talk Talk]

I don't give a toss. Swindon are not in the Premiershit and won't be any time soon.

[Batch]

Not read the whole thread but I concur, don't really care either way. It keeps the season alive and the Champions League long since stopped being the competition of Champions anyway.

Ideally I'd like the FA Cup winners to get in on the act as well. But there is sweet FA the Premier League would allow this to happen. The FA Cup is not their concern.

[penhill red]

all it would do is give the big teams a second chance of getting in the champions league if they happened to finish 5th. For example if Liverpool finished fifth this season and Spurs finished fourth, i would still expect Liverpool to beat Spurs over two legs or even in a play off final should it happen. There is a big gap in class between the teams finishing fourth and seventh. How can a team finishing seventh merit a place in a competition for domestic champions? Barcelona vs Birmingham city, no thanks.

[Summerof69]

One thing they have forgotten about is what happens, like Liverpool in 2005, when they won the Chumpions League despite them finishing outside the top 4. The rules now state that they take over from the 4th place team, if they win the competition without qualifying. Due to the fact that the final takes place at the end of May, are they going to hold the play-offs in June? I don't think so.

[penhill red]

i thought if a team wins it they still had to qualify through their league position for the next year, sort of like the world cup now?

[jonny72]

i thought if a team wins it they still had to qualify through their league position for the next year, sort of like the world cup now?

UEFA changed the rules after the Liverpool incident - the winners qualify automatically now and take one of the places assigned to their country no matter which league position they finish in.

[penhill red]

Gay

[DV]

UEFA changed the rules after the Liverpool incident - the winners qualify automatically now and take one of the places assigned to their country no matter which league position they finish in.

I thought it was changed so that if someone did a 'Liverpool' they wouldnt get to enter the following season as holders at the expense of someone else.

If you win the CL and finish 5th I thought you didnt qualify

[penhill red]

I thought it was changed so that if someone did a 'Liverpool' they wouldnt get to enter the following season as holders at the expense of someone else.

If you win the CL and finish 5th I thought you didnt qualify

Yeah that was my point, i think we are right. Just like the world cup holders still have to qualify for the right to take part?