I very much doubt it.
While the actual post wasn't entirely clear about that, my impression is that they finished the league - or decided to finish the league - early, and ranked the teams accordingly.
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The 2019-2020 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
- Start date
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I very much doubt it.
While the actual post wasn't entirely clear about that, my impression is that they finished the league - or decided to finish the league - early, and ranked the teams accordingly.
Of course is he still getting a salary? Can’t see too many episodes of MOTD this month.
I assume so; moreover, he also appears to be able to draw upon other sources of income - not least from crisps.
However, I like the fact that by his actions he is promoting and expressing a specific type of role model, an example informed by public spirited behaviour - one that has the public good in mind - and one, that some current players - and well off former players - might wish to copy, emulate or imitate.
oops!
It was Belarus that I'd heard was still playing and I don't think they are either.
According to my FotMob app, Belaurus are, incredibly, still holding matches. BATE Borisov are currently winning 1-0 in the 88th minute against Rukh Brest.
The Belgian First Division A simply ended the season and appointed Club Brugge as the champion. They were already atop the fixture table by a landslide.
I'm guessing that more European professional leagues will terminate their seasons in a similar manner. Liverpool is miles ahead in points in EPL. PSG is dominant in Ligue 1. Those two leagues could easily end their seasons.
Based on the extreme COVID-19 problems in Italy and Spain, it is likely that Serie A and La Liga are done. That would be a shame, those are the two biggest leagues with the closest contention for first place.
Bayern is leading Bundesliga but only by four points. Ajax and AZ are tied in Eredivisie.
My guess is by the end of April, UEFA will have to make a decision and likely terminate the rest of professional league play throughout Europe since FIFA is gutless.
2020 sports record books will be filled with asterisks.
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According my LiveScore app, Belarus Premier is still playing. There were live matches today and concluded matches yesterday (Friday). Also Burundi Ligue A played matches yesterday.
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According to my Fotmob as well... When I posted that earlier I read the dates wrong.
I think the best move would be to finish the current league seasons once it is safe to do so, even if it means a shortened 2020-21 season format. There should still be time to do this, even if it happens entirely or partially behind closed doors. If they can restart matches in June or July, for example (which should be possible at least behind closed doors after testing all players and team staff), the delay to next season could be kept reasonable - a month or two. That's hardly the end of the world.
Finishing an existing competition at the expense of delaying or changing the format for a yet to be played competition is fairer than voiding a season or simply declaring winners.
Of course, the key factor is safety. Nobody has any business taking to the pitch until heath officials think it is safe to do so.
If UEFA/FIFA was smart, they would simply end the seasons and declare winners.
If they try to resume play after a long stoppage, the play quality will be horrible with the players being out of shape, the coaching staff with dull insight, lots of injuries, etc.
Many of those players who could be counted on for 75-80 minutes of duty will be gassed after 40 minutes. It's not like there are unlimited substitutions in FIFA matches. Who do you leave in? The guys who have the most fans and generate the most TV revenue even if they are resolutely ineffective? A lot of those veteran players are older and require more pre-season training time to reach peak/expected fitness levels. They also tend to recover from injuries and general wear & tear less quickly than younger players.
Is that what European football fans really want in June?
Since different countries are at different phases of COVID-19 infection severity, international play (e.g., Champions League) is pretty much counted out.
Should one country's professional league start playing their 2020-21 season while another is trying to patch up their 2019-20?
Let's say EPL kicks off their 2020-21 season two months later than five other major countries. What happens to Euro 2021? The Olympics?
And what about player transactions?
This scenario makes zero sense to this American. We're not big football fans here in the USA, but some of us have some awareness about the realities of modern professional sports including international leagues that have players jumping teams rather frequently.
I personally believe that European professional football league's 2019-20 season is done for practical reasons. If I were a true fan, I'd say let everyone regroup (players, coaches, staff, sponsors) and bring honest, unapologetic competition this fall with rested, fit athletes, not a bunch of princesses diving to the pitch because they're too winded to run 50 meters.
Hell, I'd rather watch women's football over the men's game in June. At least the women pass the ball.
If the European leagues do resume 2019-20 season play, maybe Americans will like the sport more. The goalkeepers will make more mistakes and the scores will be higher. Matches that might have concluded 3-2 in January might end up 11-5 in June. There will be no 0-0 or 1-1 draws, that's for certain.
Yes, that sounds like a great way to resume.
Americans will love watching Barcelona-Real Madrid end up in a 10-9 slugfest with multiple ejections (yellow and red cards), 130 minute game time due to VAR, and depleted 9-on-9 competition by the final whistle. Just like a five-car wreck at the Daytona 500 on lap 3.
We love clownball!
You there, Lord Blackadder. Is this how you want the sport to be popularized in the USA?
If they try to resume play after a long stoppage, the play quality will be horrible with the players being out of shape, the coaching staff with dull insight, lots of injuries, etc.
Many of those players who could be counted on for 75-80 minutes of duty will be gassed after 40 minutes. It's not like there are unlimited substitutions in FIFA matches. Who do you leave in? The guys who have the most fans and generate the most TV revenue even if they are resolutely ineffective? A lot of those veteran players are older and require more pre-season training time to reach peak/expected fitness levels. They also tend to recover from injuries and general wear & tear less quickly than younger players.
Is that what European football fans really want in June?
Since different countries are at different phases of COVID-19 infection severity, international play (e.g., Champions League) is pretty much counted out.
Should one country's professional league start playing their 2020-21 season while another is trying to patch up their 2019-20?
Let's say EPL kicks off their 2020-21 season two months later than five other major countries. What happens to Euro 2021? The Olympics?
And what about player transactions?
This scenario makes zero sense to this American. We're not big football fans here in the USA, but some of us have some awareness about the realities of modern professional sports including international leagues that have players jumping teams rather frequently.
I personally believe that European professional football league's 2019-20 season is done for practical reasons. If I were a true fan, I'd say let everyone regroup (players, coaches, staff, sponsors) and bring honest, unapologetic competition this fall with rested, fit athletes, not a bunch of princesses diving to the pitch because they're too winded to run 50 meters.
Hell, I'd rather watch women's football over the men's game in June. At least the women pass the ball.
If the European leagues do resume 2019-20 season play, maybe Americans will like the sport more. The goalkeepers will make more mistakes and the scores will be higher. Matches that might have concluded 3-2 in January might end up 11-5 in June. There will be no 0-0 or 1-1 draws, that's for certain.
Yes, that sounds like a great way to resume.
Americans will love watching Barcelona-Real Madrid end up in a 10-9 slugfest with multiple ejections (yellow and red cards), 130 minute game time due to VAR, and depleted 9-on-9 competition by the final whistle. Just like a five-car wreck at the Daytona 500 on lap 3.
We love clownball!
You there, Lord Blackadder. Is this how you want the sport to be popularized in the USA?
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Declaring winners is easy enough in the PL. but what about the CL spots or relegation. There’s a lot more money at stake there. Relegating the current bottom three would not be fair. Not promoting from the Championship is also not fair.
I can see a lot of law suits coming up.
Speaking as an American who has been watching soccer in the US for many years, I am used to players being gassed after 75 minutes (you're describing the first 15 years of MLS there...).
I think your concerns are valid, but none of those issues are insurmountable. Perhaps most importantly, they equally effect all teams in the league. Declaring winners, on the other hand, costs the relegated clubs a fortune. They will fight relegation in the courts, as will teams that were close to European qualification spots. It could be a legal nightmare that costs the league even more money. I think the league should have the opportunity to settle these matters on the pitch.
Also, I am not worried about promoting the sport in the US. It is growing and will continue to grow. I'm happy to sing the praises of the beautiful game but I'm not an evangelist.
No one can please everyone all the time. I'm not just talking English football, UEFA, or FIFA.
If the season is terminated and the team at the top of the fixture table is declared the champion, yes, all the other teams will be unhappy. The teams doomed to relegation will be unhappy. That's too bad. With time limitations, there is no practical way to salvage the full 2019-20 season and be able to start the 2020-21 season normally. Why damage two seasons rather than one?
The most equitable move would be to just pretend that the entire 2019-20 season was a wash. Teams could keep their wins-losses, players could keep any personal records/milestones, but there would be no season records. Postpone the UEFA Champions League for a year. No teams would be relegated and no teams would be promoted. The reasoning behind that would be that without a full season of fixtures, no team would have earned the honest right to be promoted nor the punishment of being relegated. Everyone just goes home.
The champion team would not be allowed to publicize their achievement. It would strictly be in the record books, no banner that would be flown in a stadium, no merchandise. No scudetto for the would-be Italian champion Juve, or just let it be a black scudetto (no Italian flag colors). It would only be a championship on paper (and with a big ugly asterisk). The title would not count toward the record books in tallying the most championships by a club. Stuff like that.
Football is fundamentally so simple that it will be one of the sports that will bounce back the fastest. There is no special equipment (like motorsports) and the venues all exist.
If the season is terminated and the team at the top of the fixture table is declared the champion, yes, all the other teams will be unhappy. The teams doomed to relegation will be unhappy. That's too bad. With time limitations, there is no practical way to salvage the full 2019-20 season and be able to start the 2020-21 season normally. Why damage two seasons rather than one?
The most equitable move would be to just pretend that the entire 2019-20 season was a wash. Teams could keep their wins-losses, players could keep any personal records/milestones, but there would be no season records. Postpone the UEFA Champions League for a year. No teams would be relegated and no teams would be promoted. The reasoning behind that would be that without a full season of fixtures, no team would have earned the honest right to be promoted nor the punishment of being relegated. Everyone just goes home.
The champion team would not be allowed to publicize their achievement. It would strictly be in the record books, no banner that would be flown in a stadium, no merchandise. No scudetto for the would-be Italian champion Juve, or just let it be a black scudetto (no Italian flag colors). It would only be a championship on paper (and with a big ugly asterisk). The title would not count toward the record books in tallying the most championships by a club. Stuff like that.
Football is fundamentally so simple that it will be one of the sports that will bounce back the fastest. There is no special equipment (like motorsports) and the venues all exist.
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Tell me about it! I’ve been watching old clips and highlights a lot!
Re football and Covid-19: Two stories:
Firstly, worth noting is a lovely story about Marcus Rashford of Manchester United (who always warmly refers to his mother - usually several times - in interviews, something I love to see).
Anyway, Rashford, very commendably, (drawing on memories of his own childhood) has been working closely with the charity FareShare to help local youngsters obtain access to food - those who had relied on free school meals - after schools were closed across the country as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Secondly, tragically, the death was announced this evening of Pep Guardiola's mother, Dolors Sala Carrió - near Barcelona, Spain - from Covid-19.
Last month, Guardiola himself had donated €1m to the Angel Soler Daniel Foundation and Medical College of Barcelona for the purchase of equipment to help to fight the virus in Spain (which has been hit very had by this pandemic).
Firstly, worth noting is a lovely story about Marcus Rashford of Manchester United (who always warmly refers to his mother - usually several times - in interviews, something I love to see).
Anyway, Rashford, very commendably, (drawing on memories of his own childhood) has been working closely with the charity FareShare to help local youngsters obtain access to food - those who had relied on free school meals - after schools were closed across the country as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Secondly, tragically, the death was announced this evening of Pep Guardiola's mother, Dolors Sala Carrió - near Barcelona, Spain - from Covid-19.
Last month, Guardiola himself had donated €1m to the Angel Soler Daniel Foundation and Medical College of Barcelona for the purchase of equipment to help to fight the virus in Spain (which has been hit very had by this pandemic).
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my team, Nottingham Forest, were having a totally unexpectedly good season and were looking on course for the play-offs. I cant see the season finishing sadly.
Love Rash. One of my favorite United players to come through the academy in a long, long time.
Oddly enough, I doubt that the cut-off date for submitting the design for the 2020-2021 season shirts will be foremost in the minds of the souls who run the Premiership, as they will have more pressing concerns to attend to, not least finding a way to conclude the season in a way that is fair to the clubs competing, even if that means some sort of altered, or reduced, or transformed or truncated season next year.
Not the PL.
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It’s a little more than that we do. We will have the fixtures in June (confirmed) so they will know which teams are going to be in it by then.