Has this season changed your mind

[zigga-zagga]

about the play-offs.

Personally I have always been against them - believing that the team that finishes 3rd should go up because thay have achieved that position over 46 games.

Having said that I have been happy to be involved with our previous excursions in to 'ply-off' territory, but not with the results.

I wonder what other peoples opinions are.

 

[earthworm]

They've been around since I've been following Forest, so different perspective for me. The spectacle of it is hard to beat really, and that's what sport's all about.

Is it fair though? Probably not.

 

[Flaggers]

Play-offs suck.

Simple.

You can finish 3rd and not get promoted, AND, as a neat aside, you can't get any transfer deals done until a month after everyone else, cos you don't know what division you're going to be in.

A revenue-raising, whored-for-TV idea that needs to be scrapped.

 

[earthworm]

A revenue-raising, whored-for-TV idea that needs to be scrapped.

Not really just for TV though to be fair mate. For those of us at the CG on Tuesday night, it could be the biggest and best atmosphere in years.

The play offs made a Forest fan and a football fan of me last time we were in them at this level, such was the spectacle. I was instantly hooked.

 

[king_congo_red]

I wonder what other peoples opinions are.

When a caterpillar enters the stage of it's life-cycle that it becomes a butterfly, it cocoons itself whilst it's wings develop. When it's wings are fully developed, the time comes for the butterfly to emerge from it's cocoon, this can often be a struggle for the butterfly. The cocoon is, after all, designed to protect the butterfly from any predetators whilst it is in a vunerable state and is therefore rather tough, by nature.

The struggle to emerge from the cocoon can look rather distressing to an observer, who may be tempted to help, perhaps by using a knife to create a slit in the cocoon and release the butterfly. However, a butterfly aided in this way would not have developed the strength to fly and would fall to the ground, to be asily picked off by a predator, as a tasty snack. The struggle to emerge from the cocoon actually aids the butterfly, developing it's strength and actually aiding it's survival.

To put this in football terms, let's examine two Championship sides from this season. Last year, Peterborough United achieved automatic promotion, whilst S****horpe went through the struggle of the play-offs. This year, in the Champiosnhip, having spend comparable amounts of money on transfers and wages, Peterborough finished rock-bottom, whilst S****horpe finished above the relegation zone, mathematically safe even before the final game of the season. Is it not fair to summise then, that the struggle of the play-offs strengthened S****horpe and aided their survival?

 

[Flaggers]

Would you rather be:

In the Premier League;
Drowning your sorrows at 9.30pm on Tuesday?

 

[Red Duster]

I can see benefits to both systems.

3 go up automatically is liked by the boring half of me (and the rest of me when we finish 3rd)

A play off system is liked by the whimsical half of me the rest of the time. Its good telly when we're not involved, it shrinks the mid-table doldrum zone, it makes money for the teams and league, it extends the season.

To keep the interest of a play off but be fairer to the purists who think only the top 3 should go up the system could be changed slightly. 3rd and 4th could go into a play off with 3rd and 4th bottom in the league above. That might expose the massive cash divide that exists between divisions though and be too much of a david v goliath to be worth watching.

 

[RedMark]

I have never liked the playoffs, think they are unfair on the team finishing 3rd. If the 3rd place team finishes 15 points ahead of 6th then lose in the playoffs how is that fair.
It's not as if there is a playoff between 3rd and 4th from bottom in the relegation zone in the Prem.

Is it the Dutch league where 3rd from botton of the Dutch Prem plays 3rd in the Dutch 2nd Div? Winner plays in the Prem the nex year .

 

[Red Duster]

Would you rather be:

In the Premier League;
Drowning your sorrows at 9.30pm on Tuesday?

Fair question to which i choose option 1

But a few years ago didnt we qualify for the play offs by finishing in 6th?

Last game of the regular season was away at Rotterdam, we turned out boys and reserves and barry roache.

 

[Red Duster]

I have never liked the playoffs, think they are unfair on the team finishing 3rd. If the 3rd place team finishes 15 points ahead of 6th then lose in the playoffs how is that fair.
QUOTE]

I think its fair if the rules are set before the season starts.

 

[zigga-zagga]

I have never liked the playoffs, think they are unfair on the team finishing 3rd. If the 3rd place team finishes 15 points ahead of 6th then lose in the playoffs how is that fair.
It's not as if there is a playoff between 3rd and 4th from bottom in the relegation zone in the Prem.

Is it the Dutch league where 3rd from botton of the Dutch Prem plays 3rd in the Dutch 2nd Div? Winner plays in the Prem the nex year .

When the play-offs were first intoduced here the 3rd bottom team in the higher division was incolved in the play-offs with the teams who finished 3, 4 and 5 in the lower league. I didn't like that either. That wouldn't work now, even more so, with the huge differences in finances

 

[DanR]

I'd prefer it if it were more weighted in favour of the teams who finished higher, perhaps making it a series of one off games, with home advantage for the higher placed side.

I don't understand why there is a need for a trip to Wembley, to me it seems to make it more glamourous to go up through the playoffs than in 2nd place.

 

[FBS]

If your team isn't in the playoffs then its a great end-of-season watching, but if your team is in it, then you moan about how they are pretty crap

Catch 22.

 

[adam09]

Not really just for TV though to be fair mate. For those of us at the CG on Tuesday night, it could be the biggest and best atmosphere in years.

The atmosphere would be good in the last few games if we were playing for 3rd place to go up automatically... like it was when we went up 2nd from League One on the last day.

 

[Daniel]

Personally I think Play offs only suck for fans of teams that finish 3rd. Generally I like them, I think it is fair, the rule is in place at the start of the season and as such no-one benefits from that point.

To be fair, the teams in the play off are fairly evenly matched and all deserve a shot at promotion. Only Cardiff are the exception due to their financial irregularities.

 

[king_congo_red]

I'd prefer it if it were more weighted in favour of the teams who finished higher, perhaps making it a series of one off games, with home advantage for the higher placed side.

One suggestion from a few years ago, when they got rid of the 'away goals' rule that I liked was that in the case of a draw, rather than away goals counting double, the higher placed side would go through.

 

[MaxiRobriguez]

If this season is anything to go by, the play-offs are fair.

Championship - 3rd place finished miles behind the top two, whilst 3rd 4th 5th and 6th are all tightly packed in.

League One - Should be a playoff between 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th seeing how close it is.

Same sort of scenario with League Two.

Saying that, I'd like to see 6th place cut out, with 3rd going straight to the final and 4th/5th battling it out in a sole semi final.

 

[Red Duster]

One suggestion from a few years ago, when they got rid of the 'away goals' rule that I liked was that in the case of a draw, rather than away goals counting double, the higher placed side would go through.

I like that idea Congo :cheers:

 

[king_congo_red]

If this season is anything to go by, the play-offs are fair.

Championship - 3rd place finished miles behind the top two, whilst 3rd 4th 5th and 6th are all tightly packed in.

League One - Should be a playoff between 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th seeing how close it is.

Same sort of scenario with League Two.

Saying that, I'd like to see 6th place cut out, with 3rd going straight to the final and 4th/5th battling it out in a sole semi final.

Perhaps a system could be worked out, where if the 3rd placed team finished, say 9 points ahead of the team in 4th, they would automatically qualify for the final? But if they finished closer it would be the traditional format?

Might be a bit complicated for fans to follow, but it would be fairer.

 

[Flaggers]

Each point you finished ahead of your rivals = +1 goal difference in the playoffs.

 

[adam09]

If this season is anything to go by, the play-offs are fair.

Championship - 3rd place finished miles behind the top two, whilst 3rd 4th 5th and 6th are all tightly packed in.

We finished 11 points behind West Brom

Blackpool finished 9 points behind us

I'm sure there's been plenty of cases of 3rd place finishing miles ahead of the next 3 teams, in which case it's not fair.

The whole point of playing 46 games is to see which team is better over those 46 games and the 3rd place team has obviously done better than those below and thus should be up. 6th worst/best team in the league should not even get a sniff.

I bet most people would say 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in the Premiership don't warrant a place in the "Champions" League and there's usually uproar when things from America are brought into our world.

 

[zigga-zagga]

I am still of the opinion that a season consists of 46 matches and your reward ought to be based on that amount of games.

 

[OneWingKings]

I am swayed by the excitement of the play-offs, as opposed to the 'unfair' argument. Football is about entertainment isn't it? It's great to watch from a neutral perspective for a start. The Football league would be far less entertaining with just the top three going up, there would be so much less to play for as far as the majority of teams are concerned. Furthermore I'm not a believer of 3rd place being an automatic spot, I think it's fair that only the top 2 teams go up automatically. That has always been my opinion so to change it now would be rather biased methinks!

Irrespective of the entertainment factor for neutral onlookers, what about the excitement for teams and fans of all the teams involved in the play-offs? It's what being a football fan is all about, the emotional ride and the quest for glory! Yes, to fail is heartbreak and no fan wants to go through it...but the prize of winning is massive and I for one am thrilled my team is one of the four involved.

 

[Jonathan]

The Australian A-League has a decent-ish system for the play-offs.

The top six go into a 'Finals' scenario with the top two playing each other over two legs. The winner goes straight into the Grand Final.

Third and Sixth play each other, as do fourth and fifth. The winner of these two play each other and plays the team who lost the game between the top two in the 'Preliminary final' to progress into the Grand Final.

It's quite convoluted, but keeps a fairly even table at the top.

I like the idea of the top team, (forget 1st and 2nd in England) which would be Forest this season, going straight into the final and 4th v 7th and 5th v 6th playing each other for a prelim-final before the winner of that plays the 3rd placed team in the final.

 

[EmJay]

If they HAVE to keep the playoffs how about 6th plays 5th, winner plays 4th and the winner after that plays 3rd, with the higher placing team always playing at home?