Let me stress the most important aspect to consider at the moment is the welfare of the people. If the consequence of keeping society safe is disruption to football, then so be it.
With talk that this virus is only going to get worse in the summer, restarting games at the end of April remains unrealistic.
Most things will be motivated by money. The desire to finish the season is to appease sponsors and other deals, yet could equally impact on contracts in place for the following campaign.
If the government take any decision out of the FA and Premiere League’s hands then that would influence who gets insured and for how much.
Every day we are debating how or if the League should be resumed. Banter aside, few would argue if Liverpool were awarded the title given the gap between them and second.
But that would mean though ending the competition based on 28 matches, a prospect those in the bottom three and chasing Europe would not vote for and would have highly paid lawyers fight against.
The majority of stakeholders (the 20 clubs) would have to agree to any radical alteration to the timetable. For their own self-interest anyone with the possibility of relegation of course will be in favour of putting a line through 2019-2020 and pretending it never happened. That would mean restarting where you finished last May, which would be unjust on Liverpool as well as Leicester, Sheffield United and even us to a degree (yet we wouldn’t lose the money that those who dropped to the Championship would).
In theory, there’s a way to make everyone happy. Make Liverpool Champions, cancel relegation, and promote Leeds and West Brom (in the automatic places) making next year a one-off season with a 22-team League. Those who can still mathematically get in the top 4 could be compensated some way.
While the determination from all involved is for full completion, there are factors where pushing back dates can’t happen forever.
UEFA have a deadline for wanting to know who will represent England in Europe, while how long will a Sky, BT, shirt manufactures, etc, be willing to postpone next season?
So, what’s my idea if it becomes safe to play again but we simply do not enough time to play all the games? I think we could decide everything through play offs, including the title.
Liverpool vs Man City play two legs for title
Leicester vs Burnley (two legs) vs the winner of Sheffield United vs Spurs (two legs) = 1 CL spot
Chelsea vs Arsenal (two legs) vs Man United vs Wolves (two legs) = 1 CL spot
Relegation decided by three losers of ….
Brighton vs Norwich (2 legs)
West Ham vs Villa (2 legs)
Watford vs Bournemouth (2 legs )
Okay, perhaps I am being selfish as a lot of this is based on my own entertainment. Imagine the couple of weeks of television that would provide?
While it would seem unfair on some (especially the League leaders) it’s the only way where everyone’s fate would be in their own hands.
If Liverpool are the great champions they claim to be, then what’s the issue of beating City over two legs?
Depending on what play off you are in is a consequence of your performance over the majority of the year.
As much as a team might feel it harsh for their future to turn bleak on two games, they equally can rescue their whole seasons in such a short time. If it got us back into the CL, you wouldn’t complain, and plus ….how funny would it be if Liverpool didn’t win the title?
The fine details would have tyo be agreed, but who thinks this could work?
Dan Smith