So. Who thinks we'll do it?

[Hamburg Blade]

I appreciate your point of view, but I'm afraid we are just going to have to disagree on this one. I might have more sympathy for this line of reasoning if there was a play-off for the last relegation place (bottom 2 auto, third-bottom through 6th bottom have a play-off, for example, or even just a 2-legger between 22nd and 21st), but we don't. So how is it that the three teams that have been the most dogshit over the course of the season don't get a second chance to stay up, but the team in third that has proven itself the third-best team over those same number of games has to go through a 3-game lottery?

So yeah - I disagree wholeheartedly with your thoughts on the play-offs, but they're your views and you're entitled to them.

Relegation play offs could be done, the problem with them is you're watching crap teams struggling against each other to avoid something, rather than watching teams at the top of their game fighting each other for a covetted prize. Bearing in mind it's supposed to be entertainment, you can see why it isn't done. Although in Germany the play off is the 3rd to last place vs the 3rd place in the division below, but for the same reasons I don't like it.

I also like the play offs. I don't see it as unfair. It's only unfair if you think that 3rd place has earnt promotion. Third place has earnt a play off place, nothing more. That's the competition at the start of the season and missing out on autos isn't unfair, it's not being good enough. Even if it's only on goal difference, it doesn't matter. If you did away with play offs and had 3 autos, but a team finished in 4th place on goal difference, well ahead of 5th, no one would think it unfair. We play for 2 automatic places and 4 play off places (and 15 places with the right to play in the same division next season). It's more exciting and more entertaining than 3 automatic spots.

 

[Nicolaus_Copernicus]

That’s a totally different argument. Your argument is about making it a similar play off situation for the bottom 3. (That’s been tried btw and didn’t work). The argument against that is “achievement”, not failure, deserves to be rewarded. By allowing clubs who’ve been dross all season to have a get out of jail card isn’t rewarding achievement. By rewarding clubs who’ve been good all season to have another chance after narrowly missing out, is.

I’m arguing against your point that the “play offs are bollocks and no one likes them”. And I’ve given you some good reasons why that’s not the case.

Anyhow, tell me this...

If we finish 3rd this season would you prefer that’s it. End of. No play offs?

If so I suspect you’re in a minority of Blades fans and football fans in general.

I promise you, if we finished 3rd, I'd happily the season ended there & then. We'd have fouled it up and i wouldn't want to a.) prolong the agony, b.) expend even more money and c.) give Wednesday more ammunition to laugh at us.

All this talk of this & that. Punching above our weight, proud of the boys, dem blades, etc. Bollocks. Winners are like water, they always find a way. The simple fact is that we faded and failed last season and we'd have done the same again this season, but in a markedly weaker division with the pyrrhic victory of managing to get to the end of March and single figure games left before we imploded and blew it. Both Norwich & Leeds finished 9 points below us last year, and by the looks of it Norwich will have a double digit gap from us at season's end.

I wouldn't back us against anyone in the play offs. Not. Anyone. Not Villa, not Boro, not Derby, not WBA, not Bristol City, not Forest, not Preston and certainly not Wednesday. Not over 2 legs, not over 1 leg. I've been there before with high hopes and got dry bummed in '88, in '97, in '98, in '03, in '09, in '12 and in '15. Seven f'ing failures, over the best part of 30 years. I've lost jobs, lost money and ended relationships following the blades. That's why I'm a perennial misery, a real f'ing misery. If it looks like shit, smells like shit, and feels like shit, after all this time I don't have to eat it to know it's shit. Norwood can say 'keep your chin up' as much as he likes, the blades were letting me down & breaking my heart long before he was a glint in his father's eye.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I promise you, if we finished 3rd, I'd happily the season ended there & then. We'd have fouled it up and i wouldn't want to a.) prolong the agony, b.) expend even more money and c.) give Wednesday more ammunition to laugh at us.

All this talk of this & that. Punching above our weight, proud of the boys, dem blades, etc. Bollocks. Winners are like water, they always find a way. The simple fact is that we faded and failed last season and we'd have done the same again this season, but in a markedly weaker division with the pyrrhic victory of managing to get to the end of March and single figure games left before we imploded and blew it. Both Norwich & Leeds finished 9 points below us last year, and by the looks of it Norwich will have a double digit gap from us at season's end.

I wouldn't back us against anyone in the play offs. Not. Anyone. Not Villa, not Boro, not Derby, not WBA, not Bristol City, not Forest, not Preston and certainly not Wednesday. Not over 2 legs, not over 1 leg. I've been there before with high hopes and got dry bummed in '88, in '97, in '98, in '03, in '09, in '12 and in '15. Seven f'ing failures, over the best part of 30 years. I've lost jobs, lost money and ended relationships following the blades. That's why I'm a perennial misery, a real f'ing misery. If it looks like shit, smells like shit, and feels like shit, after all this time I don't have to eat it to know it's shit. Norwood can say 'keep your chin up' as much as he likes, the blades were letting me down & breaking my heart long before he was a glint in his father's eye.

We’ve all been through that (or most of us).

I said to my wife at the Bristol City game last Saturday... “50 years this year I’ve been watching this!”

The difference is not to do with football at all. It’s to do with your outlook on life.

If you go into every situation in life thinking “this is going to turn out bad” , in most cases it will.

I’ve never had that attitude to life and it’s not served me badly.

If we end up in the play offs I’ll be believing we will win through and be looking forward to it.

I’d prefer (by a factor of about 43 trillion) us to not have to. But if we do I’ll be brimming with positivity that this time it’s ours.

Try changing your outlook on life maybe? See where it gets you? You may be very pleasantly surprised?

 

[Champagneblade]

The play-offs are bollocks, lets all be honest about it.

Noone likes them - not even the people that aren't in them. Totally unfair that after a 46-game season where you can be far and away the 3rd best team in the league that you have to go through the rigmarole.

At the very least, there should be some advantages in the play-offs for finishing higher. Personally, i'd say:

Game 1: 5th v 6th (home advantage for 5th)

Game 2: 4th v Winner Game 1 (home advantage for 4th)

Game 3: 3rd v Winner Game 2 (home advantage for 3rd)

They'd never implement this, and even if they did the last game would have to be at Wembley to pay off the debt, but if you must say that a full 46 game season isn't enough to give 3rd place promotion when they've proven themselves better / more consistent over a prolonged period, then they should at least be handed a significant advantage.

100% agree. This is also how I would do it whenever the debate comes up.

No issue having them to keep the season alive but 6th should have to jump through hoops and it must be 3rd's to lose.

Nobody can contest that as unfair because over 46 matches the teams finishing higher deserve to have an advantage.

I don't call playing home second an advantage if you've just taken an unasalable hammering away from home in the first leg!

I'd also add that the games should be over one week so the team in 6th is absolutely knackered and requiring a herculian effort to compete. After all, they are jammy bastards to even be on the same field when they've finished around 20 points behind 3rd anyway.

 

[Tezza1889]

I promise you, if we finished 3rd, I'd happily the season ended there & then. We'd have fouled it up and i wouldn't want to a.) prolong the agony, b.) expend even more money and c.) give Wednesday more ammunition to laugh at us.

All this talk of this & that. Punching above our weight, proud of the boys, dem blades, etc. Bollocks. Winners are like water, they always find a way. The simple fact is that we faded and failed last season and we'd have done the same again this season, but in a markedly weaker division with the pyrrhic victory of managing to get to the end of March and single figure games left before we imploded and blew it. Both Norwich & Leeds finished 9 points below us last year, and by the looks of it Norwich will have a double digit gap from us at season's end.

I wouldn't back us against anyone in the play offs. Not. Anyone. Not Villa, not Boro, not Derby, not WBA, not Bristol City, not Forest, not Preston and certainly not Wednesday. Not over 2 legs, not over 1 leg. I've been there before with high hopes and got dry bummed in '88, in '97, in '98, in '03, in '09, in '12 and in '15. Seven f'ing failures, over the best part of 30 years. I've lost jobs, lost money and ended relationships following the blades. That's why I'm a perennial misery, a real f'ing misery. If it looks like shit, smells like shit, and feels like shit, after all this time I don't have to eat it to know it's shit. Norwood can say 'keep your chin up' as much as he likes, the blades were letting me down & breaking my heart long before he was a glint in his father's eye.

Fucking brilliant rant ... me too BTW..

Autos or nowt, we never get the rub in a final..

 

[sheffielder]

The fear is killing us, and I don't mean the players or management. Non of our players of management have failed in a playoff but they do know how to close out a promotion.

The only common denominator in our play off defeats is our fans and you can see why looking at this thread.

 

[LS16Blade]

As we know, Leeds can't really be classified as a 'football city' and there are plenty who (unfathomably for me) like rugby - particularly rugby league which in recent years has been quite convenient to follow when the Rhinos were winning everything and the Dirties were doing nothing.

Talking to some of these LUFC/Rhinos fans, is quite revealing as regards how difficult it is to find a 'fair' way to structure the play-offs.

Apparently, rugby league has an arrangement for the play-offs which is designed to favour the team that finishes highest, with the 6th team having to play 5th, the winner of which plays 4th and so on. Several seasons of that system, however, have led rugby league fans to firmly believe that the best position to finish in is 4th, so much so that teams actually start jockeying for it towards the end of the season. The reason is that, that team gets a short break and doesn't have to play as many games as 5th or 6th would, but not too long a break so that they do not then go into a 'final' play-off game against 3rd, 'cold'.

Having seen how utterly useless United are when their momentum is broken by an international break, its not difficult to see how a similar system wouldn't really help United if they finished 3rd, and were placed straight into a final against a team that battled through from 6th, 5th or 4th.

 

[Davalon]

We’ve all been through that (or most of us).

I said to my wife at the Bristol City game last Saturday... “50 years this year I’ve been watching this!”

The difference is not to do with football at all. It’s to do with your outlook on life.

If you go into every situation in life thinking “this is going to turn out bad” , in most cases it will.

I’ve never had that attitude to life and it’s not served me badly.

If we end up in the play offs I’ll be believing we will win through and be looking forward to it.

I’d prefer (by a factor of about 43 trillion) us to not have to. But if we do I’ll be brimming with positivity that this time it’s ours.

Try changing your outlook on life maybe? See where it gets you? You may be very pleasantly surprised?

Whether I believe we'll win the play offs or not will have no bearing whatsoever on the outcome.

 

[Davalon]

The fear is killing us, and I don't mean the players or management. Non of our players of management have failed in a playoff but they do know how to close out a promotion.

The only common denominator in our play off defeats is our fans and you can see why looking at this thread.

Many thought we just had to turn up at the Wolves final. That worked out well.

 

[sheffielder]

Many thought we just had to turn up at the Wolves final. That worked out well.

Indeed but I didn't pick Rankine over McCall that day either

 

[guancheblade]

I’m expecting us to win 5 , draw 2, lose 1 or at worse win 4, draw 3 lose 1.

Either of the above should be enough to finish top 2 and that’s what I expect.

Time for a reassessment?

 

[djbaldken]

GLTTLs

WTFDTM?

 

[Blend-it-like-Harris]

How on earth do some folks get through life with both of the prophets Doom and Gloom sitting on their right and left shoulders?

 

[Davalon]

How on earth do some folks get through life with both of the prophets Doom and Gloom sitting on their right and left shoulders?

No different really to those who predict sunshine and rainbows for everything, even when it's extremely unlikely.

Positivity works if you're in control.

As fans our attitude towards play off success will in reality have zero impact on the outcome. Yes getting behind the players can obviously help but I've been to play off games where our fans have been noisy and complacent, and we've lost, or not so great and a bit negative and we've won.

If we get to Wembley the reality will be that some fans will feel confident, whilst others won't, whether it be because of the other team or a here we go again attitude.

Either way the team performance will decide the outcome.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Non of our players or management have failed in a playoff

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

I promise you, if we finished 3rd, I'd happily the season ended there & then. We'd have fouled it up and i wouldn't want to a.) prolong the agony, b.) expend even more money and c.) give Wednesday more ammunition to laugh at us.

All this talk of this & that. Punching above our weight, proud of the boys, dem blades, etc. Bollocks. Winners are like water, they always find a way. The simple fact is that we faded and failed last season and we'd have done the same again this season, but in a markedly weaker division with the pyrrhic victory of managing to get to the end of March and single figure games left before we imploded and blew it. Both Norwich & Leeds finished 9 points below us last year, and by the looks of it Norwich will have a double digit gap from us at season's end.

I wouldn't back us against anyone in the play offs. Not. Anyone. Not Villa, not Boro, not Derby, not WBA, not Bristol City, not Forest, not Preston and certainly not Wednesday. Not over 2 legs, not over 1 leg. I've been there before with high hopes and got dry bummed in '88, in '97, in '98, in '03, in '09, in '12 and in '15. Seven f'ing failures, over the best part of 30 years. I've lost jobs, lost money and ended relationships following the blades. That's why I'm a perennial misery, a real f'ing misery. If it looks like shit, smells like shit, and feels like shit, after all this time I don't have to eat it to know it's shit. Norwood can say 'keep your chin up' as much as he likes, the blades were letting me down & breaking my heart long before he was a glint in his father's eye.

A fine rant and one with which many blades will empathise .

All of the failures you list were a massive disappointment to me and many others , but I ( along with a few others on here , no doubt ) have the dubious distinction of remembering one which makes all of them almost pale into insignificance .

Allow me to take you back to a dark day in May 1950 when , as a 9 year old , I learnt that by virtue of getting a 0-0 draw against Spurs the pigs had been promoted ahead of us by 0.008 on goal average . Yes , 0.008 of a fucking goal . To make matters worse it was widely rumoured at the time that Spurs , who were by far and away the best team in the league , were party to a pre match ' gentleman's agreement ' as to the outcome .

Add to that the thought that I had to go to school on Monday and face a class almost entirely made up of junior grunters and you may just begin to understand the effect it had on me . There are no words in the English language which can adequately describe it .

 

[John Snow]

Think I'll just stay in bed with the misses this next few weeks. Ain't telling her we're related till after the Stoke game.

 

[Snowman]

I don't. Loyse