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Pugin

Number of EFL to go to the wall if worst Coronavirus predictions are accurate

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6 minutes ago, daly said:

This must rate as one of the most depressing topics ever to be on the Pinkun site up there with when we dropped into Div 1 through to Chris Hughton, Glenn Roeder and Brian Gunn era

I'm not so sure. I'm beginning t think that the League programme will have to be abandoned and that no sides will be relegated. 

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Just now, Crafty Canary said:

More likely matches will be played behind closeddoors.

Not if any player or staff gets it.

I doubt there will be a cup final this year.

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I think the only question is when. When will games / season be postponed. What is the tipping point... We've missed the boat to put pro-active measures in place. Therefore, how may people have to be infected before we enter damage limitation mode? Whatever that looks like.  

I don't think the government really knows. I think we're just going to play a bit of health Russian roulette for a while. You know, see how it goes. A bit like Farke and subs. 

One things for sure, my holiday to Mallorca in April isn't looking too good. 

Edited by Il Pirata

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I think football will be stopped as soon as anyone who works at a club gets it, not just a player. It could be a youth coach, someone in the ticket office, a member of catering staff or a steward- everyone who has been at the training ground or the stadium would probably be required to self-isolate for a couple of weeks and that would be a hell of a lot of people, and would probably take out at least one football team for a short period, which would likely have a knock-on effect to others.

Things are ramping up in Italy. State schools and universities have been closed, and sports events will be played behind closed doors for 30 days. Living in Italy, obviously this has been a hot topic in the last couple of days, but it seems you have to stop everything or not bother. What's the point of stopping people going to a stadium or a school when they can go to a restaurant, a cinema, or a shopping centre? Officially it's because the government want to merely stem the flow at this point as opposed to eliminate it entirely, but I'm not sure it will help that much. It finally arrived in my area on Monday and no doubt more cases are going to start cropping up in the coming days as the infected is a hairdresser who spent the week before working, including home visits.

But yeah, it seems like we're closing the door after the horse has bolted. I still have hope that we'll get it under control sooner rather than later, whether by coming up with a vaccine or just hoping the European summer kills it, but I can only see the preventative measures getting stronger before they get more relaxed.

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Another cruise ship with it is heading for port. Lets hope lessons were learned from the first one.

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15 hours ago, Crafty Canary said:

More likely matches will be played behind closeddoors.

The Swiss FA offered this option to its clubs and they said no. If it goes to a vote, the only club that will want the season finished is Liverpool. I doubt clubs will be thinking about top 4 places because at the moment there is no realistic possibility of European competition next season. 

As Ricardo has said, there is unlikely to be a Cup Final this year. There probably won't be semi finals either. I've spent my whole life waiting for us to reach the Cup Final but let's face it, it's not worth people dying for. 

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All Italian matches are now being played behind closed doors. There is a real danger that if we were to progress past Derby/Man U then the semi final and subsequent final will be behind closed doors

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26 minutes ago, JF said:

All Italian matches are now being played behind closed doors. There is a real danger that if we were to progress past Derby/Man U then the semi final and subsequent final will be behind closed doors

As someone else has said, once someone in the professional football community gets the virus everything will stop completely 

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2 hours ago, dylanisabaddog said:

As someone else has said, once someone in the professional football community gets the virus everything will stop completely 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51747062

The government has sent an email to all PL teams saying that for now it’s business as usual but if things progress then the season will be completed behind closed doors, if any players or staff are infected it will make the season very difficult to complete. 

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1 hour ago, JF said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51747062

The government has sent an email to all PL teams saying that for now it’s business as usual but if things progress then the season will be completed behind closed doors, if any players or staff are infected it will make the season very difficult to complete. 

Yes, I think this is wishful thinking.

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17 minutes ago, Darth Canary1 said:

If they do it then it has to be a blanket stop. Everything shut down sports wise. No pandering to the Premier league etc

Do SKY then demand some money back though? Depends what the contract says I guess. 

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The leagues are not going to complete the season, that much is becoming obvious to everybody at last.

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4 minutes ago, ricardo said:

The leagues are not going to complete the season, that much is becoming obvious to everybody at last.

I think you are right. So the rules obviously are we can remain in the PL and Leeds stay in the Championship.. The rules for League 1 should of course be very different to facilitate relegation of Ips**t. 

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They may postpone the season until July then put back next season by two months?

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11 minutes ago, sonyc said:

They may postpone the season until July then put back next season by two months?

You are  Leeds fan and I claim my 5 quid😁

 

  • Haha 1

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Italy's season is over focussing the subject on football.

Newsnight have the right tone about the wider risks.

Edited by sonyc

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2 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

The worrying thing about the Italian season being over is that it seems to be accepted that the table at the time of suspension will be the final table. Lecce slipped into the relegation zone at the weekend without after wins for Sampdoria and Genoa, so these are worrying times...

Remember when Leeds fans set up WACCOE? (The champions of Europe). We could also set up our own website claiming we were robbed of our PL status.🤭

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8 minutes ago, sonyc said:

Remember when Leeds fans set up WACCOE? (The champions of Europe). We could also set up our own website claiming we were robbed of our PL status.🤭

Or we could do what Gil Vicente did in Portugal a couple of years ago. We could wait a decade then sue the Premier League for wrongful demotion and get a free double promotion from the third tier to the top flight. Like a 'get out of jail' free card for a rainy day.

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The EFL handbook is horribly ambivalent on the subject of an early termination of the season. See page 102 of the attached EPL handbook. It simply says:

'C.14. Subject to Rule C.15, the bottom three Clubs in the table at the end of the Season shall be relegated to The Football League.'

file:///home/chronos/u-f165b0b83e6303ef773af0694155fbac146c43a8/MyFiles/Downloads/2019-20-PL-Handbook-020819.pdf

If this question went to arbitration, which is where it could well end up, I am confident that the 'end of the season' was not reached and therefore Norwich, Villa and Bournemouth (as it stands) could not be relegated. As the Handbook is silent on the question  of an early termination of the season, the arbitrator would make a decision based on what was 'within the contemplation of the parties', when the rules were agreed. It would be sensible to decide that a premature ending of the season was not within the contemplation of the parties, therefore the season has not 'ended'. It could be carried over until after the pandemic has largely passed, but that will ear into season 2020/21.

It would also be unfair to deem the season 'ended' until every team had played every other team twice, as has been the practice for 150 years. There is probably a precedent to refer to. When World War Two broke out, (Sept 1939?) I have a feeling that the league calendar was abandoned and the records were expunged. 

Pleasingly, Leeds United and others can howl at the moon and stamp their little feet, but they equally cannot claim a promotion for an incomplete season.

So, for those of us that believe City have been dreadfully unlucky all season, karma might be just around the next corner. 

 

 

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Pugin is quite correct. The season is only completed when each team has played the others home and away.

Rule C1. Each team shall play each other team twice.

The only argument for relegating a team is mathematical certainty. 

Edited by dylanisabaddog

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Given that the average age of those most affected in Italy is over 80- and given that the stopping of public gatherings is more about staggering the illness to take pressure off the NHS than anything else- I am almost certain the season would be finished behind closed doors and with cameras present. Most footballers being well under the age of 80 and having no underlying health issues will be off for a few days with a cough even if they do contract it. 

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9 hours ago, ricardo said:

The leagues are not going to complete the season, that much is becoming obvious to everybody at last.

I think they will complete, possibly behind closed doors.

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45 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Given that the average age of those most affected in Italy is over 80- and given that the stopping of public gatherings is more about staggering the illness to take pressure off the NHS than anything else- I am almost certain the season would be finished behind closed doors and with cameras present. Most footballers being well under the age of 80 and having no underlying health issues will be off for a few days with a cough even if they do contract it. 

We are currently moving from the 'contain' phase to 'delay'.

I am not sure that during 'delay' non-essential activity such as gathering in groups for training, or travelling the length and breadth of the country in the confined space of an aircraft or bus for games is going to be acceptable to the government. Maybe the government will opt out and leave it to the games' regulatory bodies to decide, but would that be politically acceptable?

Politically,  Boris and Priti Patel cannot approve one agreement for football, and a separate one for rugby cricket etc. The risk-averse decision for the government would be the recommendation of a suspension of football, initially temporarily. Some sort of decision will have to be made in the next 3 weeks or so, as the 'delay'  phase develops.   

Edit - I also have to point out that Roy Hodgson is 72 years old and statistically falls within a high-risk group. Players have elderly relatives. Let no one think that easy decisions lie ahead. 

Edited by Pugin

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Apparently the Italian fa have offered a few options, including abandon and no champions/relegation, table as is or playoffs to decide the important things. I would half fancy us in playoffs...

Also, owner of forest now been diagnosed after being at the match on Friday night, let's see what the EFL do about that!

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I'm pretty sure there have been instances of not all games being completed and the season declared finished 

The Bradford - Lincoln game comes to mind, and I think there was a game last year, can't remember the teams?

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