[Search & Destroy]

2 seasons without a relegation, great times to be a Spireite

[DerbySpireite59]

There's still potential for play-offs....
To avoid relegation......
Could even involve teams from North and South seeking promotion.
Be good tv even played behind closed doors at neutral venues....
3g/4g pitches don't need digging up and relaying.

[Westbars Spireite]

DerbySpireite57, on 22 April 2020 - 11:04 PM, said:

There's still potential for play-offs....
To avoid relegation......
Could even involve teams from North and South seeking promotion.
Be good tv even played behind closed doors at neutral venues....
3g/4g pitches don't need digging up and relaying.

No chance.

[jack bauer]

Fit as a Nelson, on 22 April 2020 - 08:00 PM, said:

Yep, I remember reading a quote from Jalal saying he was considering retirement before we came calling. I think Coddington is good enough to be our number 1!

i'd still like a more experienced keeper with coddington, he looked ok but a bit too keen at times if you know what i mean, some keepers are very lively and involved which is fine, personally i prefer a keeper who offers a calm authority

[Fit as a Nelson]

jack bauer, on 23 April 2020 - 07:54 AM, said:

i'd still like a more experienced keeper with coddington, he looked ok but a bit too keen at times if you know what i mean, some keepers are very lively and involved which is fine, personally i prefer a keeper who offers a calm authority

Expect to see Fitsimons back?

[JonB]

CFC91, on 22 April 2020 - 08:33 PM, said:

Ollie Holt tweeting National League May not be back until January

Has he stopped whinging about us selling naming rights for our stadium yet?

DerbySpireite57, on 22 April 2020 - 11:04 PM, said:

There's still potential for play-offs....
To avoid relegation......
Could even involve teams from North and South seeking promotion.
Be good tv even played behind closed doors at neutral venues....
3g/4g pitches don't need digging up and relaying.

I cant see how they can decide who should be in the playoffs without every club having played every club etc etc. Harrogate moaning about how they had Barrow to play but then they could just as easy have beat them but lost elsewhere etc etc.

[tomjoad]

I suppose if you are top you dont want to accept it.But if the season is null and void how can you have an end result play offs or promotion?

[Ernie Ernie Ernie]

JonB, on 23 April 2020 - 08:24 AM, said:

Has he stopped whinging about us selling naming rights for our stadium yet?


I cant see how they can decide who should be in the playoffs without every club having played every club etc etc. Harrogate moaning about how they had Barrow to play but then they could just as easy have beat them but lost elsewhere etc etc.

If they don't just void the whole season without having any promotions and relegation, there are flaws in every way of doing it e.g. points per game is fine but doesn't take into account current form. We were in good form so you would expect over the rest of the season our ppg would rise whilst some team in free fall you would expect theirs to fall.

They should just make a decision to forget the season at all levels and start again. Whatever the decision is though it should be the same decision through all leagues.

[hewittfan]

moondog, on 22 April 2020 - 05:31 PM, said:

It's been confirmed to me Buchanan is staying and Jalal leaving

We had a lot more highs than lows from Jalal in his time with us, good luck to him for whatever the future holds.

[moondog]

Gregor Robertson has his say

https://www.thetimes...eague-0qhmk2zf7

Promote teams such as Barrow and Harrogate to ensure success is rewarded in the National League

With the season officially over, football must find a way to ensure the best teams gain something from their efforts, writes Gregor Robertson

Gregor Robertson
Thursday April 23 2020, 12.00pm, The Times

There may come a day, in the not too distant future, when we come to view all the hand-wringing and hair-pulling within football these past few weeks as a colossal waste of time and energy.

There is a growing likelihood that no football will be played in front of supporters for the rest of this calendar year. Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser, said yesterday that Britain will face “very socially disruptive” lockdown measures for the rest of the year. And so at the lower reaches of the pyramid, where paying punters provide sustenance, that means a very real prospect of no football at all. This realisation, it seems, is beginning to dawn on the game from the bottom up, where margins are tighter and time is increasingly precious.

Yesterday the National League — tiers five and six of English football — announced that its clubs had voted to end the season immediately. That followed the decision last month to immediately end all leagues from the seventh tier downwards. Scottish football, after getting itself in to an almighty tangle, has called off all leagues below the Scottish Premiership. The top flight is expected to follow suit soon enough.

The most pressing issue for most clubs in the coming weeks and months will be survival, but there is still the matter of “sporting integrity”, awarding titles, promotions and relegations. And while it may feel inconsequential in the scheme of things, if it can be done fairly it should be.

Leagues at step seven and below have had their results expunged. Jersey Bulls, mathematically promoted, have had their season wiped from the record books. Scottish football has called the season, with league standings final. Partick Thistle, for example, were relegated from the Scottish Championship despite being two points behind Queen of the South with a game in hand on them. Neither avenue felt satisfactory. “The sporting outcomes of the 2019-20 season remain under careful and timely consideration,” a National League statement read, but the clock is ticking.


In the National League there is an understandable push by clubs such as third-placed Notts County to compete the play-offs but it feels, increasingly, like wishful thinking. Most player contracts expire at the end of this month. When a club reaches the play-offs, as I did with Grimsby Town in 2015 and 2016, contracts are extended into May by a few weeks. Completing play-offs would mean contracts being extended indefinitely, until safe to play, or else risking losing key players. And then there is the matter of deciding which clubs compete when, in the National League, seven teams are within four points of each other between sixth and 12th place.

However, to my mind, there must be a sporting outcome. Barrow AFC, who are four points clear at the summit of the National League, have led the pack for almost five months and have provided one of the stories of the season. They are a prime example why a campaign cannot be lost from the record books. Local businessmen with energy and a little investment, and an exciting young team, have buoyed the town and its people. The Bluebirds Trust raised £50,000 for a 10 per cent stake in the club. Gates spiked from 1,375 to more than 2,000. Under-16s were often granted free entry. Holker Street has been given some TLC, been readied for the EFL. This is what local football should look like.



On the field, loan players such as Matthew Platt, an impressive defender from Blackburn Rovers, would be mightily hard to bring back. John Rooney, younger brother of Wayne, has had the season of his life, scoring 17 goals from midfield, including the best strike — a beautiful volley from an acute angle in November — I laid eyes on all season. And no doubt, when football resumes, Ian Evatt, the manager, will be highly coveted. At this level, with resources so stretched, there is a sense, when you are on the cusp of achieving promotion, that the stars have aligned. Alchemy is required to build a team from cast-offs, waifs and strays, to crystallise team spirit among them.

There are similar stories around the country, of course, and the creeping inevitability that we are facing a lengthy stretch without football means we will no doubt hear more and more of them. Promotion and relegation, again, is inconsequential right now — and possibly will feel that way for some time — but the efforts of the past should be rewarded in the fairest way possible, which is, to my mind, calculating a points-per-game final table. It is the best of an imperfect set of options to balance the scales while allowing what has gone before to determine the future.

Harrogate Town, second in the National League, have at least six points more than any team who, like them, have played 37 games. They, too, should be promoted. Notts County are three points behind them, with a superior goal difference and are in a rich vein of form, but have played 38 games. They would, understandably, feel hard done by.

In the National League North, York City and Kings Lynn, six and four points ahead of Brackley Town respectively, have gone toe-to-toe at the summit for much of the season. Promote them both. In the National League South, Wealdstone and Havant & Waterlooville are seven and four points ahead of Weymouth respectively, with games in hand. Teams in the ascendancy will feel stung, badly, but it is the most practical outcome available to reward success rather than mediocrity.

Football, and sport, after all, is about striving to succeed, reaching new heights. This season is over but when it is safe for football to return, these clubs should have already been rewarded.

[azul]

I see he's echoed that Holt guy in suggesting no football will be played in front of crowds to 2021

It ain't hard to see given the mood music coming out the government advisors

[moondog]

UEFA are effectively advocating points per game which I reckon the UK leagues will go for to deflect the flack.

https://www.theguard...-sporting-merit

[timshorts]

If nothing further can be played then I would expect
No relegation from league 2
Barrow promoted
Chorley relegated only
Wealdstone promoted
One of York and Kings Lynn promoted. That is the only tough decision. However, Lynn have financial issues, so the decision might go in yorks favour.

[moondog]

timshorts, on 24 April 2020 - 06:44 AM, said:

If nothing further can be played then I would expect
No relegation from league 2
Barrow promoted
Chorley relegated only
Wealdstone promoted
One of York and Kings Lynn promoted. That is the only tough decision. However, Lynn have financial issues, so the decision might go in yorks favour.

You are effectively saying they will scrap the play offs, that could well be the outcome as it can be easily argued it's impossible to play them.

Perhaps more significantly it would take the wind out of the likes of Notts County's sails if Harrogate are equally disadvantaged, so less chance of litigation.

[Tha Knows...]

York promoted would be a plus

[Westbars Spireite]

azul, on 23 April 2020 - 11:33 PM, said:

I see he's echoed that Holt guy in suggesting no football will be played in front of crowds to 2021

It ain't hard to see given the mood music coming out the government advisors

I can't see how there will be which adds significant issues to cashflow issues already causing huge issues. Season tickets cannot be sold for a season which could end up being played behind closed doors for in an indeterminate amount of time.

[dtp]

timshorts, on 24 April 2020 - 06:44 AM, said:

If nothing further can be played then I would expect
No relegation from league 2
Barrow promoted
Chorley relegated only
Wealdstone promoted
One of York and Kings Lynn promoted. That is the only tough decision. However, Lynn have financial issues, so the decision might go in yorks favour.

I think I suggested something similar a few weeks ago.

In the first instance you return the EFL to it's full complement of clubs which I think is what should happen however it is worked out. Similarly the NL keeps it's full complement. In the short term what you propose is an answer if ALL Clubs survive thus pandemic.

However, I seriously think the EFL and NL will have to do a big re-think regarding football as a whole if coronavirus continues to dominate the scene beyond October. There could be Clubs go to the wall, there could still be thoughts about unnecessary travel, there could remain some form of social distancing which could affect players as well as supporters, in fact spectators might not be allowed at all.

Suppose, for instance, that between them the EFL and the NL lose a dozen Clubs to bankruptcy. What then? Promotions and relegations won't be the talking point but the very nature of football will. If that happens a full review of the leagues will be necessary taking over from the arguments of fairness about who goes up and who goes down and this could lead to more regionalised football in the lower leagues. After all does it make scientific sense for thousands of northern based supporters each week to travel to the very City at the epicentre in the country of this dreadful virus?

[clarevoyant.]

Westbars Spireite, on 24 April 2020 - 09:02 AM, said:

I can't see how there will be which adds significant issues to cashflow issues already causing huge issues. Season tickets cannot be sold for a season which could end up being played behind closed doors for in an indeterminate amount of time.

Very true, on the plus side with the takeover unlikely to happen, maybe (what am I saying hear) just maybe, DA becomes all benevolent in appeasement for passed 'errors' and we could find ourselves in a far better position than the majority of clubs in our division. Thus putting us on the road to becoming a saleable commodity.
Yes I know I'm in need of some medicinal gargles.

[clarevoyant.]

dtp, on 24 April 2020 - 09:11 AM, said:

I think I suggested something similar a few weeks ago.

In the first instance you return the EFL to it's full complement of clubs which I think is what should happen however it is worked out. Similarly the NL keeps it's full complement. In the short term what you propose is an answer if ALL Clubs survive thus pandemic.

However, I seriously think the EFL and NL will have to do a big re-think regarding football as a whole if coronavirus continues to dominate the scene beyond October. There could be Clubs go to the wall, there could still be thoughts about unnecessary travel, there could remain some form of social distancing which could affect players as well as supporters, in fact spectators might not be allowed at all.

Suppose, for instance, that between them the EFL and the NL lose a dozen Clubs to bankruptcy. What then? Promotions and relegations won't be the talking point but the very nature of football will. If that happens a full review of the leagues will be necessary taking over from the arguments of fairness about who goes up and who goes down and this could lead to more regionalised football in the lower leagues. After all does it make scientific sense for thousands of northern based supporters each week to travel to the very City at the epicentre in the country of this dreadful virus?

Football will overcome but I do feel for cricket as a game. How the hell are they going to allow the application of saliva etc to enhance the performance of the ball and the resulting connotations?

[Sussex Spireite]

timshorts, on 24 April 2020 - 06:44 AM, said:

If nothing further can be played then I would expect
No relegation from league 2
Barrow promoted
Chorley relegated only
Wealdstone promoted
One of York and Kings Lynn promoted. That is the only tough decision. However, Lynn have financial issues, so the decision might go in yorks favour.

I was thinking something along similar lines.
Promote Barrow, relegate the bottom 3 and promote the top 2 from both North and South, I know this will leave the NL South unbalanced but one league has got to be (blame Bury!).