How to solve the football calendar's problem

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Playing each team once next season isn't a bad shout, but the neutral venue is unworkable.

I suggest you allow the the top team to dictate which teams they want to play at home and which away (10 homes, 9 aways). The you allow the 2nd team to do the same, albeit their fixture v the top team has already been determined for them. On and on until you get to the lowest team (the winners of the Championship play offs) who won't have to make any calls as their fixtures have been chosen for them.

OR you do this in reverse to give the underdogs a slight advantage.

My personal preference next season however if it has to be shortened in some way is to eliminate all domestic cups, eliminate all international breaks, keep both European competitions open but turn both into straight 1 match knockouts drawn like the FA cup (1st team drawn plays at home), play league games every weekend and try to get as many midweek fixtures in as possible.

All this based on eliminating the Euros this summer and playing them in 2021.
 

Cerberus Blade said:
Some good ideas, but how would you propose to take everyone’s temperature before admitting them to the stadium? Do you know how long that takes? (A few minutes for each person). And they’d need a new, or fully sterilised, thermometer for each person. And someone with paramedical skills to give the test and interpret the results. I’m afraid that isn’t going to happen. It’s just not practicable.

Will read all of this later re the other points, just about to take off.
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Have a safe flight! I have a first aid certificate and regularly take people's temperature as part of my job, if needs be you can train stewards for it. It doesn't take long, about the same time it takes to check people's bag and much less than breathalyzing someone at a nightclub, around 30 seconds per person. Anyone above 38 degrees isn't let in, full stop no interpretation required.

You and others probably are right that this would require a lot of work and won't happen but it's worth talking about imho.
 
GVBlade said:
Resume in April, play all remaining games behind close doors, and broadcast all games free on Sky, BT, Facebook, BBC. At least gives people something to do while they're sat at home on their arses bored stiff. If any more of the footballers catch Corona, they're young and healthy. Problem solved.
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Not to be picky only issue with that is that you lose home advantage which is quite a big thing in sport, hence my suggestion of neutral venues for next season. That said the six nations does it on rotation each year and no-one complains.
 
FMBlade1 said:
Nothing personal, but just remember that this is what a forum is for :)

The batteries last months, and these ear thermometers cost £40 each, probably less if you bulk buy as the manufacturing of these things speed up. We could buy 10000 of them and it'd only cost the club 400k. Hell we could even buy enough for one per person.

I've already said that you reduce capacity, and the self testing is an addition not a replacement of testing. And queues get reduced by staggering as Ryanair does with priority boarding.

The PL is where the money is so if you can finish it do finish it. If you can't fair enough health comes first.
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The more complex and involved a plan is, the more contingencies and problems there is.
I know I can be impatient and intolerable of people so apologies if I seem off at all.
But everything you say just isn’t possible for the reason in the sentence above.

the solution is simple. Football commences with fans either in the stadium, or not in the stadium.
No special measures like free to air tv of all games, exceptions for folk who are clear of illness, it’s kept simple.
Matches have to finish, simple as that. Players can be contained for the brief time needed to play the games and so a sterile environment can be created for them to see out the remaining games.

If we want fans in the stadium, the furore that’s been created means we will have to wait months, if we are happy for fans to forego their rights to enter the game and lose out on STs then it can be finished by the end of May..early June.

The FA/premier league and Govt need to pick from the two options.
 
Finish this season no matter what - even if it's not done until Christmas. Postpone the Euros. It's unfair and unfeasible to have a half-completed season, particularly because the size of the English football pyramid means teams 10 divisions below the Premier League will also be affected.

Then you can only really plan for the next season once this is over, and we obviously don't know when that will be. Maybe just host the cup competitions over a few months next year until the Euros in the summer, then start again properly 2021/22.
 
And it’s ok saying delay next season...but clubs will go bust, businesses who depend on footfall from football will go bust.

Boris and his government have had some hammer from the left for suggesting it, but just letting this take its course is the best and most cost effective way of handling this for both short and long term.
Shit happens...and this is shit for those affected, just like Cancer, Heart disease, -accidents, norovirus and all manner of other ailments, diseases, situations and conditions that kill people.

Taking stock, we should carry on, let science and natural selection do it’s thing and it’s last years news in 12 months time
 
Quickly play games in hand BCD then end the season with positions as they stand , i 've yet to hear any argument against this . Surely it 's the obvious solution and the fairest , not sure why the debate is needed .
 
What if one steward is taking temperatures from the anus and forgets to mention it at the shift handover and the next steward uses the same thermometer but under the tongue? Chance of bum disease straight away there.

Some people should think before posting :rolleyes: .
 
scrap the euros for a year
totally scrap the league cup and full members cup
start next season mid September
run the last 7 games of the fa cup , 4 round 6 2 semis and final in august

take all leagues as finished at where they stood at which number of games is the largest theyve all played
ie 28 the prem 37 the championship etc
its plenty to consider as being representative of the consistancy the clubs have shown

then world cup and euros in future have straight knock out , starting with all the minnows thinning themselves out to 8
to join the top 24 countries in a 32 that is straight knock out over 2 games leaving 16 to contest a much smaller world cup

far less international breaks and the need for a winter break gone
 

This guy has it figured out:



Read the replies further down to solve most of the 'problems'
 
Postpone Euro 2020 to 2021. Extend this season through to June. You can play the games Saturday/Tuesday if required to get it over and done with ASAP. Behind closed doors if necessary.

If a player has Coronavirus, tough tit. He doesn't play. Just like any usual illness or injury. We have to complete this fixtures for the good of the game.
 
MullFonty said:
Quickly play games in hand BCD then end the season with positions as they stand , i 've yet to hear any argument against this . Surely it 's the obvious solution and the fairest , not sure why the debate is needed .
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Because some teams will have played the likes of Liverpool/City twice already, some not... i.e. the league table as it stands is not an accurate representation of how well a team has performed. That's why it's only ever judged once every team has played each other home and away. To all of a sudden demolish that pillar of the sport is to completely undermine the entire spirit of the game. If there's no other way to judge a team's performance fairly then don't do it. Find another solution.
 
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guancheblade said:
Because some teams will have played the likes of Liverpool/City twice already, some not... i.e. the league table as it stands is not an accurate representation of how well a team has performed. That's why it's only ever judged once every team has played each other home and away. To all of a sudden demolish that pillar of the sport is to completely undermine the entire spirit of the game. If there's no other way to judge a team's performance fairly then don't do it. Find another solution.
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Mate , there is no perfect solution but it is the fairest . Declaring it null and void is far more unfair on liverpool leeds etc . than finishing as it stands is on teams that have had slightly less/more (highly subjective ) unfavourable fixtures so far
 
FMBlade1 said:
This is how I'd do it:

1. Post-phone Euro 2020 to 2021. Or even have it in 2024 using the teams that are already qualified for this one and cancel the 2023 qualifiers. All tickets to be able to be re-used then or resold.

2. If possible complete the rest of the season over the summer with fans. Take everyone's temperature before entering the stadium and ban everyone with a high one (literally like a breathalyzer in a nightclub) , and maybe reduce capacity but ratio it in a way that there's still home advantage to respect the integrity of the league. Keep every other seat empty perhaps to create distancing. Re-order fixtures so healthy teams play healthy teams and so on. Ban/close all pubs around the stadium and don't serve alcohol or food anywhere in the stadium so people are only there to congregate for the game itself. Only play the games when it due to be hot weather when the virus will be least effective (obviously not boiling either).

3. Transfer window to re-open in October, pre-existing deals to be deferred until then if or the FA could deny them registration if legally possible so they can't play in the 2019-2020 season, again to respect the integrity of this season. If not possible re-open the transfer window now for everyone until we re-start.

4. No 2020-2021 games until April at the earliest next year, as this is after when the second spike of this thing is due to come back.

For the 2020-2021 season we halve it, each teams play each other one but at a neutral venue so no -home advantage for anyway and split the stadium 50-50 or 40-40 for safety reasons leaving the remaining 20% vacant or for the police. This won't screw them or the emergency services as much as they are only working for half the time they usually would, though the time they are working will be more busy. So we would play Manchester United at Elland Road for example.

Having less games means more demand for these games which means people will be willing to pay more for them which will keep the clubs afloat. Same with the TV companies, who can sell subscription services for their team for the less well off fans, less games means more attention when there is a game. Scrap the no broadcast 3pm rule. You could actually stagger games so they never take place at the same time like the world cup does in it's latter stages. The advertisers would be happy as more exposure, and football fans would see more than one game in a day on TV as all games will be broadcast. Even look into 11 am kick -offs !

Lots of ideas there, some good some bad I'm sure but I'm sure a solid solution can be refined in there somewhere!
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Are you self isolating already?
 
Akinbiyi said:
Postpone Euro 2020 to 2021. Extend this season through to June. You can play the games Saturday/Tuesday if required to get it over and done with ASAP. Behind closed doors if necessary.

If a player has Coronavirus, tough tit. He doesn't play. Just like any usual illness or injury. We have to complete this fixtures for the good of the game.
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It isn't like any other injury or illness though is it? It is rather like mice or fleas there is never just one. If one player has it and symptoms didn't show for a while the nature of training and playing very likely means they could have passed it on. Removing your obviously sick player and letting the rest of the highly probably infected squad play an opposing team just passes it on. If every player had been through the illness and come through the other side it might work but how long would that scenario take? The danger isn't too much with the players but the NHS being over burdened by the people the players (and the rest of society) pass it around to who are vulnerable.

I suppose we could invoke a rule change where no player must come within 2 metres of another.
 
Kay Coyle said:
I suppose we could invoke a rule change where no player must come within 2 metres of another.
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Some Prem refs already play to that rule.

The lads at Bournemouth and Norwich were well ahead of the curve. They threw themselves to the floor in advance of any coming together, so as to avoid bodily contact with our dirty Northern germs.
 
Grizzly blade said:
Please stop....you’re making it worse.
1. The same people (fucktards) buying 60 bog rolls....who will stand when told to sit, who basically don’t do as they’re told FFS!
What you using to take the temperature...a thermometer in the mouth or the ear thingy? Either way where does the equipment come from, who pays for it, how do you maintain sterility if the equipment...I could go on.

However the biggest flaw being that temperature is ONE symptom, and symptoms are days after folk get the virus and are already contagious. So that’s the theory blown away right there.
I can’t be bothered to continue into the rest of the points
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No no no. Let him keep going. This is his best effort yet:)
 
MullFonty said:
Mate , there is no perfect solution but it is the fairest . Declaring it null and void is far more unfair on liverpool leeds etc . than finishing as it stands is on teams that have had slightly less/more (highly subjective ) unfavourable fixtures so far
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Of all the suggestions, this is the least fair. If you cut off the season at this stage last season, Liverpool would have won the EPL, Southampton would have been relegated, Leeds would have been automatically promoted and Villa wouldn't have even made the playoffs. What is fair about that?

The season has to be finished, even if it means playing behind closed doors.
 
MullFonty said:
Mate , there is no perfect solution but it is the fairest . Declaring it null and void is far more unfair on liverpool leeds etc . than finishing as it stands is on teams that have had slightly less/more (highly subjective ) unfavourable fixtures so far
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I respectfully disagree.

For the record, I don't agree with declaring the season null and void either.
 

Grizzly blade said:
Flawed at point one. Didn’t read the rest sorry.
Too much depends on what’s planned years ahead. Livelihoods here and other places in the world have been planned and dependant on football and other sport to survive

Just finish the season, and carry on. If you’re vulnerable to this illness you take the precautions needed to protect yourself. Don’t, and it’s your risk to bear and you take your chances.

Personal responsibility is what’s needed.
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Hundred percent agree with your post.
Personnel observation. I don't see much personal responsibility about today.
 
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