Could they void the PL due to the Coronavirus? | No | Resuming June 17th

[Buchan]

Prepare yourself guys. 19-6 is coming & I think deep down you all know it.

You lot deserve it, no question about it and absolutely no qualms from me if it’s concluded that way. ‘Concluding this season > starting next season’ is how I see things to be honest. But I won’t deny the humour in the absolute implausibility of how things panned out for you: first title in thirty years, and running away with the league at that, only for a once-in-a-hundred years pandemic to derail the whole thing at the final hurdle?

You simply couldn’t write it. Incredible.

 

[djembatheking]

What about this?

Is that ok BCD?

 

[Sandikan]

You lot deserve it, no question about it and absolutely no qualms from me if it’s concluded that way. ‘Concluding this season > starting next season’ is how I see things to be honest. But I won’t deny the humour in the absolute implausibility of how things panned out for you: first title in thirty years, and running away with the league at that, only for a once-in-a-hundred years pandemic to derail the whole thing at the final hurdle?

You simply couldn’t write it. Incredible.

Just needed them to be a little closer to it, and the final void outcome, and it'd be pure magic, wouldn't it

 

[El Zoido]

They were never going to take it away from Liverpool, the league has been desperate for them to win it for years. Even if they voided the season they’d still be awarded it. Still a shitty way to win it though, they should have had a glorious run in after wrapping up the title in April, with the remaining fixtures being a celebration in front of a packed Anfield. Now it’s all fecked and they’ll get it after the worst season there’s ever been.

 

[cyberman]

Someone needs to tell Carragher that the thing that would lift football fans morale the most would be null and void.

Its a bit short sighted too. Imagine being a West Ham fan during this, they may want Corona to ease the pain

 

[BigRedScouser]

Exactly this.
Rushing to start BCD and then having to stop it all again just makes it even more of a farce.

You'd either end up with some teams having massive backlogs of games, or you'd have to shut it all down to be safe.
Neither is good.

I think the silliest situation beyond that, would be if we come back, Liverpool for instance get their 2 wins, but then it all breaks down again and THEN they decide it has to officially end.

The premise of a league - all play all hasn't finished, so it's different to the Man City winning their league cup.
But Liverpool would have not been able to catch.

I think that'd be an even messier situation to resolve.

With all due respect, the chances are there are players who will get infected whenever we start playing, unless we're not starting football until there's a vaccine out. A few months likely isn't going to change that unfortunately. For the next couple of years, and maybe forever if it turns out being seasonal and different strains, this virus will be a part of our lives. I imagine that when we start football back up, players will be aware, that just like everyone else, there's the possibility they may contract this going about their lives with the lesser restrictions.

I'm not advocating a return to normal, I don't think that is going to happen for a long time. Just that at some point, and probably sooner than later, we're going to have to make a new normal with industries continuing however they can. Football will of course be a part of that, with the virus in the background, like it will be for everyone.

 

[Redcy]

I think the silliest situation beyond that, would be if we come back, Liverpool for instance get their 2 wins, but then it all breaks down again and THEN they decide it has to officially end.

I think this is exactly what they are hoping. Get a couple ofgames in quick, who cares about the problems quick and then we can hand Liverpool the title with no complaints

 

[Phurry]

I think this is exactly what they are hoping. Get a couple ofgames in quick, who cares about the problems quick and then we can hand Liverpool the title with no complaints

What if they lose those 2 games...

 

[Lee565]

I dont understand the rush to start playing by end of may, just scrap all domestic and European cup competitions and have all footballing federations focus on finishing off their respective leagues, then have a small break before starting the new season but again scrap domestic cup and also make European cup competitions straight knockout, none this group nonsense or possibly dont even bother at all with European competitions for next season.

 

[FootballHQ]

Surely that can`t happen here though , you can`t test footballers , refs cameramen and the like when entering a stadium and squads daily when we don`t even test doctors, nurses and care workers .

Games are still at least six weeks away.

You really think the government will get away with not rolling out mass testing for another six weeks? They've promised availability of 100k a day from end of next week.

Football obviously won't be being played if it isn't ramped up like it has been in Germany for many weeks.

 

[FootballHQ]

Yes and no.
The fact there were still another 73 rounds of the Europa counts against it a bit!

You were as good as in the QFs with that big first leg lead so to me more chance of winning that than FA cup given no side of Man. City's quality is left in europa. Would certainly have you as 2nd favourites.

 

[christinaa]

Jamie Carragher is on Sky News arguing that letting football return will "lift morale" ffs

Unfortunately didn't Carragher's wife test positive for Covid?
And he still wants football during this time?

Playing behind closed doors only works as long as players don’t get infected. As soon as someone does they’ll have to shut it all down again.

Don't worry the FA will let it go on for 3 games until the scouse win the league then they'll stop everything.

Germany plan is for every single person involved in BCD match to be tested before entering the stadium. If you're showing symptoms you ain't getting in to the stadium (not sure how it works if one of the refs can't be involved!). German clubs will be apparently testing the squads every day so it will be closely monitored and I assume german teams will be in quarantine in hotels/training centres in any case so minimal chance of spreading.

This is so ridiculous and unworkable!

 

[FootballHQ]

I thought null and void was a genuine threat at one stage, but now i'm convinced they'll try and force out some sort of BCD action In the Premier league, simply because of the money aspect.
Whereas I think they'll probably end the lower leagues pretty soon.

My cynical feeling is they'll try and get 3-4 games played just so Liverpool mathematically win the league so that issue is put to bed and also hope some gaps open up between 4th-5th and 17-18th so it then becomes more clear cut to then end seasons than now with those areas pretty tight between many teams.

Even starting in June I can't see everything being done by July 1st if that's still the cut off date.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Playing behind closed doors only works as long as players don’t get infected. As soon as someone does they’ll have to shut it all down again.

Will they? Is this going to apply to every other business in the uk then?
So when McDonalds, Barclays etc open up again, if one person who works for these companies gets covid they all get shut down? @BigRedScouser mentioned it a few lines up but people need to start accepting that Corona is here to stay. We’re going to have to work through it, everyone, doesn’t matter if it’s footballers or people in retail, teachers etc. You cannot set the bar at “if one person gets it we shut everything down”.

 

[UweBein]

What about this?

Is that ok BCD?

Won‘t be the - maybe. Players might be required to wear masks. I would imagine a few changes being implemented: less people on the bench, no assistants, and generally less staff.

 

[Finn MacCool]

What about this?

Is that ok BCD?

Just as well Luis Suarez isn't still in the PL eh.

 

[djembatheking]

What about celebrations like this?

 

[Flying high]

What about celebrations like this?

Should certainly be banned. Only from the mens game for now though. Let's not go overboard.

 

[Random Task]

Prepare yourself guys. 18+1* - 6 is coming & I think deep down you all know it.

I fixed that for you.

 

[Berbaclass]

 

[One Night Only]

That's absolutely class

 

[Sandikan]

You were as good as in the QFs with that big first leg lead so to me more chance of winning that than FA cup given no side of Man. City's quality is left in europa. Would certainly have you as 2nd favourites.

We've beaten them three times this season. They aren't the force of last year, and we were building up a bit of a head of steam.
However, your point is still true.

 

[TheReligion]

Calm as you like here mate. If this had happened 12 months ago when us & City were neck & neck in the league then I would have been fearful, & it would have been a wet-dream for you guys. The Premier League couldn't have awarded it to either team based on sporting merit because had they done so it would have gone against UEFA's 'non-discriminatory' stance. So not only would City have been denied a league title but we'd have probably missed out on winning The Champions League too because of the virus bring life to a standstill...…..Phew !!! I couldn't have lived with the jizzfest on here had that happened.

It's funny how when @Dumbstar brought up the Dutch, Belgian, & Scottish leagues all cancelling their respective seasons they were passed off as 2nd rate leagues who are irrelevant when it comes to how we finish our Premier League. However, the Dutch league miraculously is now the blueprint as to how others should end their respective leagues No mention of the Belgian & Scottish leagues who want to end theirs along with naming a winner. No, no, no, that's not the way to do it.

The possibility of lengthy, expensive, legal challenges have been spoken about right from the start of this thread. They are still very much a probability right across all the leagues in Europe. Who then would challenge The Premier League's decision to award the title to a side that's so far ahead you can't even see their heels for dust ? Answer is, nobody.

Prepare yourself guys. 19-6 is coming & I think deep down you all know it.

 

[Sandikan]

There was a sky article saying that league 1 and 2 might have 8 team playoffs for promotion.
The article is crap so not worth re-posting.

But unless they give some sort of advantage to Coventry who are about 5 points clear of 2nd and more of 3rd, it'd not be any sort of fair.

The article says the following to try and make it sound like a really unfair thing could happen
"Wycombe in 8th could go up, despite being 8 points off Coventry".....


Wycombe have a game in hand and are 3 points off 2nd! Talk about spin!

 

[Pav1878]

So it seems that some fans have gone from:

"null and void is the only way" to

"I like this Dutch model, because that way LFC don't get the title and Utd might even still get CL, its a win-win. Yeah feck that void nonsense lets go Dutch"

It's a great day when you wake up and realise that tribalism is alive and kicking, welcome back to the dark side lads.

Haha what's wrong with tribalism. Like Liverpool would do the right thing by us?
I would champion whichever option fecks them over.

 

[reddevil80]

Should certainly be banned. Only from the mens game for now though. Let's not go overboard.

 

[reddevil80]

Should certainly be banned. Only from the mens game for now though. Let's not go overboard.

 

[Redcy]

Will they? Is this going to apply to every other business in the uk then?
So when McDonalds, Barclays etc open up again, if one person who works for these companies gets covid they all get shut down? @BigRedScouser mentioned it a few lines up but people need to start accepting that Corona is here to stay. We’re going to have to work through it, everyone, doesn’t matter if it’s footballers or people in retail, teachers etc. You cannot set the bar at “if one person gets it we shut everything down”.

In football its a bigger issue though. What if half your team comes down with it? Just tough? Is that a competition full of integrity?

 

[Redcy]

Unfortunately didn't Carragher's wife test positive for Covid?
And he still wants football during this time?



Don't worry the FA will let it go on for 3 games until the scouse win the league then they'll stop everything.



This is so ridiculous and unworkable!

I don't see this working, afaik there is no rapid test that is accurate. the advantage the Germans had was that they had massive labs that could do the full tests?

 

[Redcy]

Games are still at least six weeks away.

You really think the government will get away with not rolling out mass testing for another six weeks? They've promised availability of 100k a day from end of next week.

Football obviously won't be being played if it isn't ramped up like it has been in Germany for many weeks.

They have promised that there will be testing, but nothing about rolling it out to everyone from memory. The original plan was to use rapid tests which we now know have zero usefulness. They have built new labs but these are send away get a result a few days later tests.

 

[dumbo]

After careful consideration I've come to the conclusion that there are only two ways to solve this season with any class and dignity. Valuing safety, fairness and decency over greed.

1. Null and void the season.
2. Use points acquired from past games to construct the final table, as suggested by many Liverpool fans.

Below are the all time Premier League points totals, these points from past premier League games would be added to this season's points totals, that number would be divided by the total number of games played by each team in the Premier League era to give a points per game figure, this could then be multiplied by 38 to provide the true final standings of the present season - as suggested by many Liverpool fans.

Manchester United 2,213
Arsenal FC 1,995
Chelsea FC 1,979
Liverpool FC 1,636
etc.

This solution should appease Liverpool fans who would be awarded the opportunity to enter the Champions League qualifying stages.

This should be welcomed as a suitable solution by all right-minded football fans who have respect for the safety of NHS and other frontline heroes.

 

[Dancfc]

Sitting on a park bench isn't outrageous but it's not what you should be doing at the moment as the repercussions are obvious.

Perhaps not, but out of all the things people are choosing to get outraged and sham people over, why that?

 

[Member 101269]

Agreed that's why i said its illogical to award something subjective which has an even probability of happening and not award something else subjective which has a high probability of happening.

Shame you have no posts left, hope you get promoted soon.

Right now we have a level of sporting achievement for this season; that isn't subjective or is it based on probability. The league can't be finished by the end of June, where we are now is where we end up. There are measures in the league to determine current positions based on to date sporting performance. It's not a new measure, it's a long standing agreed measure (meets UEFAs conditions).

Your suggestion doesn't meet UEFAs conditions.

I'm not sure how you think that is subjective.

Holland isn't a major league, no disrespect to them.
Nowhere near the money involved.
Tight at the top.

Three big differences with our league.

We'll see though..but it'll be months ahead still

No disrespect, size of league isn't a measure of sporting performance. Tight at the top is irrelevant, a team has either met the conditions for winning the league or not, if not, there are measures in the league to determine current positions based on to date sporting performance.

My father is a doctor, he's not working with covid patients but still having to ration PPE in his ward - and hasn't been tested yet due to lack of kits. Likewise my mother is a social care worker, one of her residents has passed away from covid and 4 others have contracted it, 2 of which are on ventilators right now - her care home have no PPE and has literally had to beg and plead to be given 10 testing kits in the last 3 weeks.

If football restarts despite NHS & frontline workers are having to work in such conditions, plus the already limited supplies will be used for the benefit of professional athletes i'll be livid - as i'm sure anyone who's in the medical field or a frontline worker, or has loved ones in either job sector would be too.
There's a vast variety of perspectives on this matter that affect many people - hence why i'll say for the last time, it's an incredibly tone-deaf comment to make, right now.

100% agree;

There as some since i posted yesterday that believe we'll start-up soon. i've no idea what rag you're reading, there is nothing the gov has said other than discussing frameworks for sport to return. not when, the 5 conditions haven't been met.

 

[christinaa]

After careful consideration I've come to the conclusion that there are only two ways to solve this season with any class and dignity. Valuing safety, fairness and decency over greed.

1. Null and void the season.
2. Use points acquired from past games to construct the final table, as suggested by many Liverpool fans.

Below are the all time Premier League points totals, these points from past premier League games would be added to this season's points totals, that number would be divided by the total number of games played by each team in the Premier League era to give a points per game figure, this could then be multiplied by 38 to provide the true final standings of the present season - as suggested by many Liverpool fans.

Manchester United 2,213
Arsenal FC 1,995
Chelsea FC 1,979
Liverpool FC 1,636
etc.

This solution should appease Liverpool fans who would be awarded the opportunity to enter the Champions League qualifying stages.

This should be welcomed as a suitable solution by all right-minded football fans who have respect for the safety of NHS and other frontline heroes.

Very weak points score by Liverpool in the Premier League.

 

[Acquire Me]

City should take notice.

 

[Lentwood]

I would say the equivalent would be if the FA Cup final last year was halted after 85 minutes, don't think even Watford would argue letting City have it.

I think that kind of misses the point of the argument though - should Arsenal have been awarded the points against Newcastle in Feb 2011 had the game been abandoned after 60 minutes? (4-0 to Arsenal at the time - nobody in the history of the PL had ever or has ever since avoided defeat after going 0-4 down)

Let's say the 2nd leg of the Barcelona-PSG game or the Liverpool-Barcelona game couldn't be played for whatever reason. Would it have been right to just assume PSG and Barcelona would have qualified?

The beauty of football is that it's not over until it's over. You can't arbitrarily award points or wins until the game or season is complete. As other posters have pointed out, where do you draw the line? If Liverpool had been 15pts clear before the suspension, would that have been enough? How about 10? How about 6?

If Liverpool had mathematically won the title that would have opened up a different argument about whether they could be crowned Champions without any relegations. As it stands, the title wasn't mathematically won, a freak event has occurred which NOBODY foresaw and unfortunately for them, the ONLY way this can play out (unless we want to put next season at risk as well) is to finish the season and declare it void

 

[Dancfc]

I think that kind of misses the point of the argument though - should Arsenal have been awarded the points against Newcastle in Feb 2011 had the game been abandoned after 60 minutes? (4-0 to Arsenal at the time - nobody in the history of the PL had ever or has ever since avoided defeat after going 0-4 down)

Let's say the 2nd leg of the Barcelona-PSG game or the Liverpool-Barcelona game couldn't be played for whatever reason. Would it have been right to just assume PSG and Barcelona would have qualified?

The beauty of football is that it's not over until it's over. You can't arbitrarily award points or wins until the game or season is complete. As other posters have pointed out, where do you draw the line? If Liverpool had been 15pts clear before the suspension, would that have been enough? How about 10? How about 6?

If Liverpool had mathematically won the title that would have opened up a different argument about whether they could be crowned Champions without any relegations. As it stands, the title wasn't mathematically won, a freak event has occurred which NOBODY foresaw and unfortunately for them, the ONLY way this can play out (unless we want to put next season at risk as well) is to finish the season and declare it void

It's competely different situations because comebacks in CL's are possible, blowing a 25 point lead with 9 games to go is about as close to footballing impossibility as it's possible to get. They could play the last 9 games a trillion times and they ain't blowing it even once. If Chelsea were 2 up at half time of an abandoned CL final i would agree it shouldn't be awarded to us and if we can't play the second half at a later date then tough, but if we were 6 up with 5 minutes to go when abandoned my stance would be the total opposite.

If you see my post pre pandemic i was dreading them winning the league as much as anyone but i can't justify not awarding it them and if as much as one other league declares a Champion then that makes any argument not to 'void'.

 

[Dave Smith]

It's competely different situations because comebacks in CL's are possible, blowing a 25 point lead with 9 games to go is about as close to footballing impossibility as it's possible to get. They could play the last 9 games a trillion times and they ain't blowing it even once. If Chelsea were 2 up at half time of an abandoned CL final i would agree it shouldn't be awarded to us and if we can't play the second half at a later date then tough, but if we were 6 up with 5 minutes to go when abandoned my stance would be the total opposite.

If you see my post pre pandemic i was dreading them winning the league as much as anyone but i can't justify not awarding it them and if as much as one other league declares a Champion then that makes any argument not to 'void'.

Like a Dipper you're talking about probability rather than mathematical certainty. Trophies of all stripes should not be given out unless one team has unequivocally won it. For instance, give me one example one of a previous PL/Div 1/FA Cup/League Cup being decided by anything rather than a clear cut mathematical certainty?

Now, you can argue about exceptional circumstances and that is true. However, what the Dutch League has done is fairest as sport is so unpredictable.

Another thing, I am really surprised that you, as a Chelsea fan, have been so supportive of the Dippers. All the Chelsea fans I know hate them even more than the Utd fans I know, with one of my Chelsea friends, who has lost about 20% on the stock market because of CV, saying that the loss is worth taking if the Dippers do not get the title. I mean, I could get it if Chelsea were in trouble with a certain method being selected, but in any of these situations;

A) full void and using 2018/19 standings
B ) the dutch model
C) average point system
D) table as is.

Chelsea are in the CL regardless.

 

[Dancfc]

Like a Dipper you're talking about probability rather than mathematical certainty. Trophies of all stripes should not be given out unless one team has unequivocally won it. For instance, give me one example one of a previous PL/Div 1/FA Cup/League Cup being decided by anything rather than a clear cut mathematical certainty?

Now, you can argue about exceptional circumstances and that is true. However, what the Dutch League has done is fairest as sport is so unpredictable.

Another thing, I am really surprised that you, as a Chelsea fan, have been so supportive of the Dippers. All the Chelsea fans I know hate them even more than the Utd fans I know, with one of my Chelsea friends, who has lost about 20% on the stock market because of CV, saying that the loss is worth taking if the Dippers do not get the title. I mean, I could get it if Chelsea were in trouble with a certain method being selected, but in any of these situations;

A) full void and using 2018/19 standings
B ) the dutch model
C) average point system
D) table as is.

Chelsea are in the CL regardless.

Actually if you've read a lot of my posts it's more clubs like Sheffield United I'm "in support off". It wasn't long ago Chelsea were in positions where the league finish decided our medium/long term future (mid 90s/2003) so for that reason I feel they deserve a chance to see through what could be club changing European income, possibly CL.

The Liverpool situation is not so much Liverpool per se, it's because I know there's a possibility Chelsea could be in this position sometime in life and I wouldn't want a void then so it would be quite hypocritical if I called for one now.

 

[Random Task]

It's competely different situations because comebacks in CL's are possible, blowing a 25 point lead with 9 games to go is about as close to footballing impossibility as it's possible to get. They could play the last 9 games a trillion times and they ain't blowing it even once. If Chelsea were 2 up at half time of an abandoned CL final i would agree it shouldn't be awarded to us and if we can't play the second half at a later date then tough, but if we were 6 up with 5 minutes to go when abandoned my stance would be the total opposite.

If you see my post pre pandemic i was dreading them winning the league as much as anyone but i can't justify not awarding it them and if as much as one other league declares a Champion then that makes any argument not to 'void'.

Improbable but not impossible, and that's the underlying point in this entire 'who gets what' discussion. Awarding Liverpool the title based on probability alone will open a can of worms that the football governing bodies will be unable to contend with, not to mention potential legal implications.

United were arguably the most in-form team in the league and the EL before the virus interrupted proceedings. Based on probability alone, there was a very good chance we would have ended the season in the top-four and claimed two cups along the way. Improbable but not possible.

United are just one club with a say, but there are hundreds of clubs scattered across Europe who will feel they deserve something from last season. The FA will be setting a dangerous precedent should they even entertain the notion of giving Liverpool a league title they have not won legitimately. It's the sort of decision that could lead to a breakaway league being formed.