southportdc

Pleased by this. Now halve Wigan's deduction on some spurious grounds and get rid of the Dingles.

TV money. Sorry I mean symbol of hope to the fans.

All options on the table are going to end in Liverpool winning the league. So that's not the reason they're so keen to play them. Re relegation, if they do need unanimous support to run the league (because of changing the venues etc.) I can't see how they can keep relegation. If the options are end now with no relegation vs play it with relegation, then the teams in the bottom third are going to choose to end it. If the options are end now with relegation vs play with relegation, the teams just above the relegation zone are still going to choose to end it. So as far as I can see, the only way to persuade everyone to play on is to cancel relegation.

Didn't realise Belgium had crowned Club Brugge. The Netherlands thing is an option here. End the season, hand out European places but void the title and relegation. It would be an incredibly petty move given Liverpool are 24 points clear or whatever... but funny.

Essentially yes - finishing the season looks more and more difficult for various logistical and contractual reasons (and PR - 'how can the PL demand testing for all its players when nurses aren't being tested' etc.), so UEFA are basically saying work out a way to count this part season. That will probably result in litigation from any relegated teams or (more likely) teams not promoted. But if UEFA stick to their line that refusing to count this season results in foregone European places, the PL would be in trouble with Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea etc. - actual member clubs with way more clout than Leeds or WBA - if they void it. Given the choice of the two options, you'd have to assume they look after the shareholder clubs with money rather than EFL clubs.

UEFA haven't said they have to complete seasons, because that's not within their gift. They've advised that should be done wherever feasible. They have said next season's European places must be based on 'sporting merit' from this season/part season. So we can't just enter last year's teams again, as some suggested before UEFA stepped in. France are fine within those rules, because their places will be based on a partially completed league standing. Belgium and the Netherlands who (I think) voided the season are in a trickier position.

Title made me think of this:

Well if it comes to that point next year we can just break out the bat soup again

UEFA have basically said that we have to find a “sporting merit” way to determine European qualifiers. That means some sort of league standing will be recognised. I think the ship has sailed on Liverpool being declared champions (and United getting into Europe). We've just got got to hope Leeds don’t go up.

I wasn't stating an issue with Ashley. I was stating an issue with the logic in the original post. The original post said he knows how to get teams out of this league as a positive for him owning us. There's no evidence he knows how to get teams like us out of this league. Both his promotions were off the back of parachute payments and PL-quality players. Last time they were in this league they paid wages of £112m and lost £90m in one year.

Knows how to appoint someone who can get us promoted on the biggest budget in the league with the remains of a Premier League squad. When has he appointed anyone to build a squad for promotion on a relatively smaller budget?

He knows how to relegate a Premier League team then bounce back with parachute payments.. What evidence is there that he knows how to get a Championship team promoted?

This isn't just a corona thing. The proposal is in future CL qualification will be based on your past European performance, not domestic performance.

Suggestions on Twitter CL and EL qualification will soon be decided on 'previous European competition performance' rather than league position. Not sure how new clubs qualify in this scenario.

The PL can do what they want, really. They can quite easily just declare that Liverpool are champions, CL/EL places stand, and no relegation. As they've shown time and again, the football league is not really a consideration, so the fact some teams won't be promoted won't fuss them. On the other hand, they probably want Leeds up and don't mind WBA either. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're invited to join a 22-team league next season. All of this might wee wee off the EFL, but what are they going to do about it? They're not going to break off promotion and relegation, so there's not much that can be done. PL holds all the power.