Who's looking forward to the playoffs?

[Triggaaar]

The play-offs were introduced in the late 80s well before TV had that sort of influence. It was done because, frankly, for the vast majority of sides the season became utterly dull from about Feb/March onwards. Far too many meaningless matches - it is meant to be entertainment after all. They may not be 'fair' but it's a vast improvement on what existed before.

It doesn't suit us this year, but you are of course right.

 

[Commander]

Always hated the play offs, Worst idea ever conceived. Just money spinning tosh.
You play the whole season and if you finish in 3rd you get promoted because you deserved to be there.

Now a 3rd place team could conceivably lose out on promotion because of one game, wherby a stupid controversial decision by a ref could lose you everything.
It's all done to create more TV revenue and attention.

Nonsense. Football is about drama and entertainment, and there's not many places you get more than that than in the play-offs. It's horrendous when you miss out in the play-offs, and it's horrible going through the agony of the games, but that is what football is all about.

I like the way they do it in some divisions in Spain- the 3rd place team plays-off against the 3rd bottom team in the division above. That's a great idea- 3rd isn't quite good enough to get promoted, but if you can prove you are better than the 3rd bottom team in the division above, you deserve it and go up.

 

[Steve in Japan]

Nonsense. Football is about drama and entertainment, and there's not many places you get more than that than in the play-offs. It's horrendous when you miss out in the play-offs, and it's horrible going through the agony of the games, but that is what football is all about.

I like the way they do it in some divisions in Spain- the 3rd place team plays-off against the 3rd bottom team in the division above. That's a great idea- 3rd isn't quite good enough to get promoted, but if you can prove you are better than the 3rd bottom team in the division above, you deserve it and go up.

I recall the English playoffs started like that. The 3rd from bottom joined in the playoffs to try and stay up. Don't remember when it stopped or why.

 

[Danny-Boy]

I recall the English playoffs started like that. The 3rd from bottom joined in the playoffs to try and stay up. Don't remember when it stopped or why.

I think it only lasted one season like that. Seem to remember Charlton were involved somehow, but stayed up.

This produced the irony of Palace playing an away game in 1989/90 season against Charlton at Selhurst. I think Palace won 3-0. The Holmesdale became a packed "away end"

 

[BensGrandad]

Always hated the play offs, Worst idea ever conceived. Just money spinning tosh.
You play the whole season and if you finish in 3rd you get promoted because you deserved to be there.

Now a 3rd place team could conceivably lose out on promotion because of one game, wherby a stupid controversial decision by a ref could lose you everything.
It's all done to create more TV revenue and attention.

IIRC a couple of teams have done this didnt Blackburn finish 6th and win rthe play offs to get to the Premier plus others have done it I think.

 

[Southy]

Would really like a Rotherham style 4 nil win tomorrow rather than these constant nail biting last 20 mins we have to suffer through every ****ing game it seems.

 

[Brovion]

Yes i will accept most of that but if that was truly the case the best teams over the season would always go up..2 automatically and the 3rd place team..

I'm old enough to remember when it was only the top two who got promoted! The concept of the third-placed team being automatically promoted was actually quite shortlived. Three up/down didn't come in until 1974, and then only 13 years later the play-offs were introduced.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

'Who's looking forward to the playoffs?'

Me for one. Looking forward to watching the agony and the ecstasy of the playoffs from a beach bar somewhere sunny, safe in the knowledge that the Albion are already going up top two

 

[dazzer6666]

I genuinely think we are going up via the play-offs this year. Hughton's side is made for it. They can grind out results when the pressure is on. Gus and Oscar were great, but they weren't made for the pressure of the play-offs, Hughton is. Obviously it would be better to go up automatically, but I don't think we'll be able to catch the top two, unless Burnley have a wobble very soon.


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Unless we play Wednesday [emoji23] who we never seem to score against

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Burnley have been wobbling like f**k it's just nobody's knocked them over yet.

Luck doesn't just play a part in the playoffs.

Maybe the reason nobody's knocked them over yet is because- whisper it quietly!- they're actually quite good

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I recall the English playoffs started like that. The 3rd from bottom joined in the playoffs to try and stay up. Don't remember when it stopped or why.

I believe it only ran for a couple of seasons. First one, Charlton escaped relegation by beating promotion-chasing The Leeds United.

Second time Chelsea were relegated from the top division after they lost over two legs to Middlesbrough. It kicked off massively that afternoon (the infamous "Battle of Stamford Bridge"), which I have a feeling was one of the major factors in scrapping the idea of including First Division relegation candidates in the play offs. Elements amongst the Chelsea fans went nuts, and it was deemed that having one team celebrate promotion whilst another faced up to relegation in the same game was too risky.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Triggaar, more interested in what you are eating tonight/ tomorrow , you need to line up that lucky turd for the game then play offs will not even feature for us.
The pressure is on in more ways than one.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Play offs will be a right old dust up.

Ideal scenario for me is Derby taking on Wednesday. Both tough sides, Derby are hitting form again finally, and we have terrible record at Hillsborough, so it would be nice for one of them to take the other out of the equation, and leave us- if we're in the play offs- to face Hull, or, better still, Cardiff in the other half of the draw. And I say that even as somebody who travelled down there to witness our dismal 4-1 defeat in February

Then again I suppose the above scenario still requires us to beat Derby or Wednesday in the final if we got past Cardiff/Hull/ Whoever, so, swings & roundabouts eh?

 

[Trevor]

Then again I suppose the above scenario still requires us to beat Derby or Wednesday in the final if we got past Cardiff/Hull/ Whoever, so, swings & roundabouts eh?

And potentially slides