Sourgrapes from Sheepshanks

[Morph 31]

Check this out:http://www.tribalfootball.com/june/engnews4130605.htmlHasn''t this happened before to our rivals down the road ;-)...

[Gentleman Jim 0]

Will he be complaining at the end of the season if Ipswich finish 6th ?

The only clubs who complain about the play off system are the beaten 3rd. place teams.

[shropshire canary 0]

Yawn!

Looks like he''s picking up the Joe Royle mantle on this one.

[westoncanary. 0]

Funny though it is, can you really blame him for being p####d off?

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

Wibble!  I have absolutely no sympathy with Ippo.  IMO the play-offs is one of the best things about the first division.  It would be so so dull otherwise, with promotion being sown up by March/April every year.  What other league in the world could you say that almost half the teams in it are looking to get promoted at the beginning of August?  It keeps the season alive.

As for Ippo, they were totally aware of how the play-offs worked when they kicked off the season.  They knew that if they got to the semi-finals and lost, they wouldn''t have done enough.  Just because they monumentally f***ed up doesn''t mean they have the right to bleat on about how unfair the system is.  Get a life Sheepy.  Sort out your own club before trying to change anything else

[Putney Canary 0]

Its thanks to the playoffs that the TV money for the league is high, it attracts far higher viewing figures than average games. Surely Sky wouldn''t allow a change that could take some of the excitement away and therefore lower viewing figures? And this money is crucial for all league clubs...

Maye if Royle had shown better management and leadership going into the playoffs Ipswich might have done better. 3rd placed teams traditionally do badly in the playoffs, I would suggest this is partly down to morale, players confidence being down after a long, tough season and just missing out on an auto-promotion spot. As soon as Royle said "its so unfair, we won''t go through" it sealed their fate.

[Northern Canary 0]

they cant complain. They should have kept their lead at the top

[Dame to Blame 108]

Actually he''s got a point'' i have said for a long while that the 3 rd placed team should have an advantage as reward for finishing 3rd I.E play a one off game in the semi at home with no away leg to play to who ever finishes 6th or go straight to the final . Doing this will not effect how the playoff system works as there will still be 6 teams battling it out and there is a reward for the team who finish 3rd i can''t see a problem at all.

[BedsCanary 0]

Nah - every team in the league knows the rules at the start of the season so it''s a level playing field.

Also, it gives more teams something to play for towards the end of the season, not just two or three teams running away with it and the season finishing in an anti-climax.

[Dame to Blame 108]

[quote]Nah - every team in the league knows the rules at the start of the season so it''s a level playing field. Also, it gives more teams something to play for towards the end of the season, not just two o...[/quote]

But what i suggested would not effect how the playoff system works at all there would still be 6 teams fighting it out and even if the 3rd place team was running away with it they would still have to face a team from the 3 below them.

[FilletTheFishWife . 0]

we might have a different opinion on this in May 2006 !!

personally i like the play-offs but think it would be fairer if 2 premiership teams battled it out with 2 Championship teams i.e. P16 vs C4 & P17 vs C3.

Forgetting the expected anti-ipswich prejudice it does seem unjust when a team proves itself better than another who just scrapes in at 6th over the course of 46 matches and then loses in a mini-knockout.

 

 

 

[alex_ncfc 686]

No! There is nothing wrong with the current playoff system, it''s exciting, and we wouldn''t have complained if we went up when finishing 6th a few years back would we?

[Dame to Blame 108]

[quote]No! There is nothing wrong with the current playoff system, it''s exciting, and we wouldn''t have complained if we went up when finishing 6th a few years back would we?[/quote]

Of course we would not complain if we went up in 6th place, and your right there is nothing wrong with the playoffs all i am saying is it would be more just for the team that finished in 3rd to have a slight advantage as a reward over the 46 games.

[alex_ncfc 686]

[quote]Of course we would not complain if we went up in 6th place, and your right there is nothing wrong with the playoffs all i am saying is it would be more just for the team that finished in 3rd to have a...[/quote]

I see what you''re saying, and in some ways agree, but on the other hand, the way i see it is, if the team finishing in 3rd has any form of advantage, it defeats the object of the playoffs. They might not sound fair, but I think they are because it gives other teams a decent chance with something to play for, which they wouldn''t have in the old 3 go up system. Therefore, for them to be totally fair, everyone that takes part in them deserves an equal chance.

I think I know what I mean anyway

 

[John Boubepo 0]

The 3rd team do have an advantage to a certain extent in that they get to play the team in 6th position in the semi final, who are supposedly the weakest team of the 4

[Dame to Blame 108]

I guess you could argue both corners on this one maybe it is best left alone.

[Freddy H 0]

I believe that the higher you are in the league the bigger advantage you have, you prove yourself over 46 games, and you may be several points ahead of 6th place.  So reward the higher teams with the final or home games, this means that there will be only three play off games, winner takes all.  My play off proposals:-

The 3rd placed team should go automatically to the final.

The 6th placed team will play away at the 5th placed team.

The winner will play away at the 4th placed team.

The winner will then play the 3rd placed team in the final.

So if you finish 6th you need to beat three teams, 5th two teams and 3rd one team.  So if you finish 6th its a tough job but not impossible. 

One drawback may be teams playing for the draw and winning on penalties, however that can happen in any competition, FA cup, Champions League etc.

 

 

[Mello Yello 2,572]

How much is Sheepshanks selling a bunch of sourgrapes for? Is it 5p for a £1.00 ?   ;~)

[rich 0]

sorry but if you finish third then you should have more rights
than a team who finished sixth. surely the fairest system
would be if the third bottom team in the premier played the
third top team in the league, in a one off game at cardiff.
then you would have your extra sky pay day, one great game
and a fair system.

Imagine running a marathon, finishing third and being told
you''ve got to go do another 400m with the fourth, fifth and
sixth for the right for your bronze. It might be exciting,
but you can''t justify it''s illogical and unfair.