End the season, how?

[LocoPal]

Here is a poll!

To gauge opinion at this time it could be quite interesting, but hopefully not too divisive!

Option 3 would not be open to supporters (behind closed doors) - televised only

I'm sure that there are many other alternative options to those provided here, so please include them in your own polls too.

[LocoPal]

It looks like polls die a death on here, dropping out of the discussion feed.

This poll will disappear too, unless someone replies about it in the subject too, i guess?

[mozo]

Play on

[LocoPal]

Ta,

11 minutes ago, mozo said:

Play on

Ta, Mozo

[Pickle Rick]

You forgot the actual option.

3 go up and no relegations...

[LocoPal]

Thanks for the reply Pickle Rick.

The four options i have given, kind of retain a status quo.

Yes, i hate that band too.

But, no changes to league structure would be required in these four situations, (i think).

Please let me know your thoughts though!

It's important for these discussions to take place. Some ideas are dead fish probably (like mine).

Get involved in the discussion and tell me off for not including obvious alternatives !

[Lrrr]

I'd go 4, given there's no guarantee football will be able to start in August/September we could quite feasibly get a situation where we try starting a season and have to have a break then need to cram a load of games into a short period. Wouldn't be to any fans/clubs liking but carrying on with 19/20 once safe is easiest and presents a resolution to leagues standings without lawsuits. I can't picture there being a champions/europa league before Euro 2020ne so no need to worry about who qualifies.

If we finished ridiculously early in the normal season calendar I'd then play the FA/League cups as world cup style with 64 teams (knockouts with the lowest 56 clubs with the highest 36 receiving a bye to the groups or just random draw) so group stage and knockout to keep games played/money coming in, any prize money shared equally amongst 92 clubs for both cups, the prize money added together from round 3 is just over £20,000,000 so each club would get £219,000. The money for the rounds before R3 should be spread amongst non league clubs or even a fund for the clubs in most need.

As for loans, a club should have an option whether they want to extend the loan (player must agree to stay) if they want to keep paying them/if they can't keep paying them they should be able to send them back as the parent club would have been expecting to pay them from July anyway. As for free agents, clubs can offer out of contract players a new contract which lasts until the proposed end for the completion of 19/20, either they accept and stay for that period if a player rejects he can become a free agent. Player registrations would be re-opened under only two circumstances, a player returning from loan would be allowed to be registered to play for the parent club (remember clubs have option to keep, so we'd be allowed to keep Afobe if we wanted to keep paying him) or you can sign for a new club if you're a free agent and be registered for them.

[JamesBCFC]

Either of the bottom 2 options

[cityloyal473]

End it now with the top three from each league going up, no play offs.  No relegation and play more games (although there is going to teams that don't make it to 'next season') whenever the next season starts by doing away with EFL cup and Johnstone's or whatever they are calling it this year. FA cup and league games only.  It starts when it starts.  The rush to bring back football at the moment is stomach turning IMO. 

[And Its Smith]

Glad to see the most sensible option is winning quite easily. Restores my faith! 

[Chappers]

19 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Glad to see the most sensible option is winning quite easily. Restores my faith! 

Really? Lots of complications with this option too, not least contract expiring, likelihood of clubs folding or playing last few games with a seriously weakened squad. No easy answers, and I get the impression that votes here are more based on play off hopes than reality and practicality.

[And Its Smith]

56 minutes ago, Chappers said:

Really? Lots of complications with this option too, not least contract expiring, likelihood of clubs folding or playing last few games with a seriously weakened squad. No easy answers, and I get the impression that votes here are more based on play off hopes than reality and practicality.

Complications with all options. Cannot set a precedent where an outbreak means season cancelled.  Finish season as and when it’s safe. Players on short term contracts.  Best option and easiest option 

[OldlandReddies]

Think it's clear now what they are proposing. Finish Prem, promote West Bromwich and Leeds (no champions) and the current 4 in playoff positions play off for 3rd promotion spot. Rest of EFL voided. We've missed out by a point and goal difference but that's life. At least we lose 2 top teams for next season that we always struggle against.

[Calculus]

Think its fairly obvious that we won't see fans in stadiums until there's a vaccine or a reliable treatment path. This virus is a killer to some and there's no way around that simple fact in the short term. Season 20/21 looks shot, imo, never mind this season.

Might as well go for option 4 then, but it's going to take a very long time.

[OldlandReddies]

8 minutes ago, Calculus said:

Think its fairly obvious that we won't see fans in stadiums until there's a vaccine or a reliable treatment path. This virus is a killer to some and there's no way around that simple fact in the short term. Season 20/21 looks shot, imo, never mind this season.

Might as well go for option 4 then, but it's going to take a very long time.

Govt ramping up testing and results will determine how quickly we can get back to something like the norm. Results so far are encouraging . Those numbers on ventilators are dropping quickly and very few new admissions now. We are winning war. I'd have confidence that we will be watching football before this year is out 

[Calculus]

6 minutes ago, OldlandReddies said:

Govt ramping up testing and results will determine how quickly we can get back to something like the norm. Results so far are encouraging . Those numbers on ventilators are dropping quickly and very few new admissions now. We are winning war. I'd have confidence that we will be watching football before this year is out 

Well, I hope that you're right. Don't see it myself but all about opinions. 20,000 plus in our stadium, on our concourse is a lot of opportunity for the virus to transmit. Of course, much easier for Rovers, with social isolation being a way of life at the Memorial Stadium.

[MC RISK77]

12 minutes ago, OldlandReddies said:

Govt ramping up testing and results will determine how quickly we can get back to something like the norm. Results so far are encouraging . Those numbers on ventilators are dropping quickly and very few new admissions now. We are winning war. I'd have confidence that we will be watching football before this year is out 

I really hope your right, but even as a glass half full kind of guy from what I am seeing and hearing is that it seems highly unlikely fans will be in stadiums until at least next year. I’m with Calculus that 20/21 season is going to be a real difficult conundrum to decide what to do.

i think battles are being won but this will be a long war.

[East Londoner]

Funnily enough sky sports are doing a football manager simulation and has us in 6th on the final day, currently 2-1 up against Preston 

If only..

[OldlandReddies]

30 minutes ago, Calculus said:

Well, I hope that you're right. Don't see it myself but all about opinions. 20,000 plus in our stadium, on our concourse is a lot of opportunity for the virus to transmit. Of course, much easier for Rovers, with social isolation being a way of life at the Memorial Stadium.

With testing people will know whether they are safe and not a risk to others. They then can enter stadiums with confidence 

[Calculus]

10 minutes ago, OldlandReddies said:

With testing people will know whether they are safe and not a risk to others. They then can enter stadiums with confidence 

They will know that they were safe at a moment in time, some time ago. Testing does not give you immunity.

And then there will be that small number that attend anyway, regardless. Dangerous, selfish idiots, in other words.

I hope that they can work a way of doing this safely -  you believe so, I'm not at all sure.

[swindon fan]

Hi guys, hope everyone is staying safe.

Although we look nailed on for promotion by any method you wish to use, I honestly think it’s ultimately going to be a moot point. It’s not about finishing this season with promotions and relegations. Whenever any new season may start the footballing landscape will look very different.

If there is no football with fans until some time next year a whole shedload of clubs will no longer exist. All very well binning off all your players and putting the club in mothballs, how could any club start up from scratch with zero players and next to no money. Whatever clubs are left will have to be formed into leagues based on numbers not ability.

[Son of Fred]

35 minutes ago, OldlandReddies said:

With testing people will know whether they are safe and not a risk to others. They then can enter stadiums with confidence 

Rubbish..

[wendyredredrobin]

The further we get towards the end of the year without sport or gatherings, the more I feel that the best approach may be to write off the whole year and recommence the 19/20 season from where we left off in 2020.  This means that the playoffs, European competitions and Internationals all occur exactly a year later than planned.

The 19/20 season becomes the 19/21 season and then the 21/22 season proceeds normally.

Of course a lot could happen between now and the end of the year, but we are now at the point that players won't be able to just pick up where they left off and will need a period of effectively pre season training before we can kick off in earnest again.

I seriously cannot see the likelihood of any more football in 2020, in fact even 2021 might be questionable without an effective vaccine.

[ChippenhamRed]

3 hours ago, Chappers said:

Really? Lots of complications with this option too, not least contract expiring, likelihood of clubs folding or playing last few games with a seriously weakened squad. No easy answers, and I get the impression that votes here are more based on play off hopes than reality and practicality.

Genuine question - I don’t understand the contracts argument. Surely contracts are tied to a particular date in time rather than a particular season?

If contracts expire and clubs play next season with different players, why does it matter if they’re playing games from the remainder of this season or games at the start of a new season?

Equally, sure the clubs folding concern applies equally whether we finish the season or start a new one?

[Chappers]

2 hours ago, OldlandReddies said:

Govt ramping up testing and results will determine how quickly we can get back to something like the norm. Results so far are encouraging . Those numbers on ventilators are dropping quickly and very few new admissions now. We are winning war. I'd have confidence that we will be watching football before this year is out 

We are winning absolutely nothing. It’s a virus, and we are limiting its spread by way of social distancing. If that ends, the virus will return. However, continued lockdown will also cause casualties, so best we can hope is mitigation and an ‘acceptable’ level of virus casualties.

Testing also needs isolation and contact tracing, random testing just to meet a made up number serves very little purpose.

[Chappers]

5 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Genuine question - I don’t understand the contracts argument. Surely contracts are tied to a particular date in time rather than a particular season?

If contracts expire and clubs play next season with different players, why does it matter if they’re playing games from the remainder of this season or games at the start of a new season?

Equally, sure the clubs folding concern applies equally whether we finish the season or start a new one?

The contracts may well matter as some clubs with little to play for, or no money, will be doing a mass release on 30 June, not signing new players until the next new season. This gives an advantage to any team playing against them. Also question of a possible additional transfer window, as with all options, it gets messy

[Jerseybean]

[JackofromSanJavier]

I posted this somewhere a couple of weeks back......and I still have a feeling that it might be an option to think about.

"whenever it's absolutely safe to get the next season going, start teams on a (this season's) points per game average, multiplied by the number of this season's matches that were unplayed (9) and rounded up to a whole number.

This would see (for example) Dirty Leeds and WBA starting next season on 19 points each.......Fulham 16, Brentford and Forest 15, Preston and City on 14.....and down at the bottom we'd have Charlton on 10, with Luton and Barnsley kicking off on 9 points each.  Starting positions would be pretty much the same as they are now, just no goal difference involved.  This would give some sort of a reward for 2019/20 achievements so far and the big test for sides would be whether they can maintain or improve performances for the next full season.  Would be hilarious if Leeds blew it, mind!"

[Bar BS3]

I cannot believe that anyone has voted for the first option..! 

[TBW]

Play out this season when it's deemed appropriate to do-so...

Then have a shortened 2020-21 season, starting it around Christmas or even January.

Split the divisions into North and South Conferences, playing everyone in your conference home and away and everyone in the opposite one just the once - 34 games instead of 46

Then get rid of the League Cup for a year and the JPT (or whatever it's called) for a year.

End of the season, top team from each conference goes up and 2nd/3rd from each conference play-off in a four team tournament.

Obviously the longer things go on, the shorter the season gets... or 2020-21 gets wiped entirely.