[Albion] Amex - preferred neutral venue

[Stumpy Tim]

Frankly l just want football to start being played again, if it means doing it behind closed doors for a while, then so be it.

I have sympathy for that, but neutral grounds makes it all unfair. The only way they can do it is if they don't relegate any teams this season.

And what about the Championship? Are they doing the same, and if not then they can't relegate teams who have played a full flawed season while promote teams that haven't completed their season

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Your maths is way off. There are a total of 92 games left to be played. 16 of the teams have played 29 times and 4 have played 28 times, so a total of 288 fixtures have been completed. A full season is 380 games so there are 92 left.

It doesn't matter (see above).

If you think having twice as many games left than I guessed makes it possible to schedule the fixtures in 4 stadia with little or no need for any team to have to move around, please show me your rough workings.

I did the sums again with the correct number of games and with 23 games in 4 venues it will mean that every team will have to play in every venue, probably more than once meaning each club will have to move around 5 or 6 times. Of course you could pick a selection of 'lucky' sides (in fact I think only one side can be 'lucky') and let them play all their games in one venue. However that would be a massive advantage to them and that wouldn't be permissable. Need I go on? No, but I probably will.

 

[Arthur]

Here is another reason why it won't happen.

How many actual games are there left? It is an average of 9 each. So that equals 9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1=43 games. (note, every team having 9 games left does not mean 9x20=180 games).

If 5 venues are picked that's 8 or 9 games per venue.

If the idea is to put four teams in each venue (4 x 5 = 20) so they can all play each other there and not have to flit around the country this will only work if all those 4 teams' remaining fixtures are only against each other. One look at the fixture list shows this is not the case. Indeed, obviously, each of the 20 teams has one fixture against nine different sides - that's how the fixtures in the second half of the season are scheduled.

This means that every team will have to move around the country to complete all their remaining fixtures. I am not sure if it possible to arrange for any one team to have to play in as few as 3 venues. It is mathematically impossible. That kicks the whole plan into the realms of futility.

And that's before the fairness of the cut, order of the fixtures (which would have to be changed to minimise the moving about) etc are factored in.

No, no, this will never happen and those in the EPL mooting it clearly have no idea about anything, and should do us all a favour and shut the **** up. Now. Right now. Get right in the sea!

Not sure I agree to be honest. I think it could possibly work. If you draw a line from Bournemouth to Watford to Tottenham to West Ham and then down to Brighton you've got 9 of the 20 clubs in that area. I expect its probably a similar sized area in the north and then you have Wolves, Villa, Norwich and Leicester in the middle of the country.

Why couldn't you have 2 grounds from each area that are the easiest to get to and from by road and they don't have to be prem grounds so any that are next to motorways so the likes of Reading, and Walsall are two I can think of right off the top of my head. If a team from the south plays a team in the north they play in the midlands. When teams from the same area play each other its in that area and then the midlands teams go where ever its practical.

Becomes a bit more a headache when you start going down the leagues but I'm sure something could be worked out.

Barber said in the week that there was still £3/4b in TV money to play for so the clubs and the league are going to want to get this finished.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

It doesn't matter (see above).

If you think having twice as many games left than I guessed makes it possible to schedule the fixtures in 4 stadia with little or no need for any team to have to move around, please show me your rough workings.

I don't think having twice as many games makes it easier to schedule, I was just pointing out how many games were actually left, and showing how it was worked out. There is no way of avoiding the teams moving between neutral venues. Without studying the fixture list and looking for any patterns I wouldn't have a clue for the minimum number of stadiums each team would have to play at. My uneducated guess would be at least 4. There may be work arounds by not playing the fixtures in the order they were originally scheduled but in a way that works to reduce travel but I still don't think it would have that much of an impact.

 

[Icy Gull]

Listening to GM on the BBC site I get the impression that he is not a fan of the pressure being mounted to finish the season

Just a matter of time before the season is declared over imo. How they work out relegation and promotion is a problem but I really can’t see this season being played out.

 

[redoubtable seagull]

It’ll be a nice distraction if games are played. But that is all. Currently couldn’t give a damn.

 

[Swansman]

OK. I didn't bother checking. It has no effect on my analysis, though, apart from making it even more clear that the plan cannot work.

ps - Note to conspiracy theorist - don't sweat the small stuff.

No because googling "how many Premier League games left" is so much more bothersome than making that batshit flawed calculation... If anyone else did that miscalculation it you'd be jumping up and down on that horse flashing your self-percieved superiority..

I do agree though that the plan is shit and close to impossible to carry out. They need to null the season, the faster the better since its hard to do any type of planning for 20/21 as long as they keep up the illusion of finishing the 19/20 season (at least anytime soon).

 

[NooBHA]

Not sure I agree to be honest. I think it could possibly work. If you draw a line from Bournemouth to Watford to Tottenham to West Ham and then down to Brighton you've got 9 of the 20 clubs in that area. I expect its probably a similar sized area in the north and then you have Wolves, Villa, Norwich and Leicester in the middle of the country.

Why couldn't you have 2 grounds from each area that are the easiest to get to and from by road and they don't have to be prem grounds so any that are next to motorways so the likes of Reading, and Walsall are two I can think of right off the top of my head. If a team from the south plays a team in the north they play in the midlands. When teams from the same area play each other its in that area and then the midlands teams go where ever its practical.

Becomes a bit more a headache when you start going down the leagues but I'm sure something could be worked out.

Barber said in the week that there was still £3/4b in TV money to play for so the clubs and the league are going to want to get this finished.

Yes - Lets just use Footballers, Hotel Workers, Bus Drivers as Guinea Pigs to test the easing of Lockdown.

Tell that to their families afterwards if even one person dies from those Groups because of it - Just because people want to see a bit of football on the Telly

 

[Nitram]

How would public safety be jeopardised if games played with No public there ? Why do you think it gives emergency services a kick in the teeth ? What resources would need to be diverted ?
I think the Premier League teams have enough resources of their own to enable regular testing. I`m sure the vast majority of the public would see it as a small step in the direction of normality.

The fact that players can’t social distance and are being put in a position where they are at risk and so will their families and the wider public. When we go back to reaching normality there will be social distancing why is football an acceptable risk?
Emergency services will be needed to attend games. How do you think they will feel doing this? I’ve got an idea when they have been risking their lives over the last few months.
Obviously as I stated before the amount of testing that could be used elsewhere is an issue.
I’m all for normality resuming but this is not the way to go IMO.

 

[Trevor]

2) what about the player’s family?

I know it sounds callous and I'm glad not to be making these calls. But measures of risk will be absolutely the way many are thinking

 

[Arthur]

Yes - Lets just use Footballers, Hotel Workers, Bus Drivers as Guinea Pigs to test the easing of Lockdown.

Tell that to their families afterwards if even one person dies from those Groups because of it - Just because people want to see a bit of football on the Telly

I'm talking of course when it is deemed safe to do so. Its obviously not going to be completely safe until we have a vaccine but that is months if not years away. If games can be played in a safe environment then why wouldn't we want it to start again.....oh that's right because we might get relegated. If we were in say Sheffield United's position I very much doubt as many people would be saying lets just be done with this season.

 

[Denis]

Can you imagine the state of the pitches with all these games played over a short period of time!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Can you imagine the state of the pitches with all these games played over a short period of time!

Amex prob still turning the sprinklers on tho eh, whether the pitch needs it or not. Same as it ever was

 

[Mr Putdown]

On the flip side of course, is tha we are used to playing on our own pitch as we do it week in week out, other clubs won't be.

Might give us a small advantage? . . . might not of course.

If the Amex is selected as a neutral venue then Brighton won’t be playing their games there.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

If the Amex is selected as a neutral venue then Brighton won’t be playing their games there.

There's a give away there somewhere

 

[Mr Putdown]

There's a give away there somewhere

Exactly

 

[METALMICKY]

No one should be bothered about football full stop right now.

Indeed. We're all football fanatics but guess what a large portion of the population as shocking as it seems have zero interest in football at any level. Accordingly, they must be seriously thinking WTF with bells on!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Indeed. We're all football fanatics but guess what a large portion of the population as shocking as it seems have zero interest in football at any level. Accordingly, they must be seriously thinking WTF with bells on!

Football FINALLY reduced to the status of the trivial pursuit it always was shock horror

 

[Swansman]

Amex prob still turning the sprinklers on tho eh, whether the pitch needs it or not. Same as it ever was

I really wonder why they did that and who makes that decision. Was it the same in the Hughton era?

 

[LamieRobertson]

Lol ...not sure why the mods haven’t merged this with the other thread on returning to PL football ...same stuff ..same entrenched views