Football’s Decision Time
Written by Emjay on May 19, 2020
While football has returned in South Korea and Germany and training in small groups has begun in England, the SPFL have joined both France and the Netherlands and have decided to end the season declaring Celtic champions for the ninth season in a row.
It seems strange that across Europe there would be such a split between those calling for an end to their respective seasons (and doing it) and those that still want to continue with their seasons – all ahead of EUFA’s May 25 deadline. Stranger yet is the decision by the FA (Football Association) to allow Premier League teams to start non-contact training in small groups from today while it continues “to consult” with clubs on the “possibility of terminating” the Women’s Super League season.
No final decision on how to conclude the campaign was reached following a meeting held on Monday, however an FA statement said it is “clear that there will be significant challenges in completing the season”. Double-Fucking-Standards if you ask me……..!
While we wait for the Premier League men to ramp-up under “Project Restart”, a look back at the decision by the SPFL to end the season may hold the key to continuing fairness in sport and also to possible outcomes of two leagues very relevant to South African football fans, namely the English Premier League and the Absa Premiership.
A controversial April vote – backed by 81% of the clubs – gave the SPFL the power to end the season should they deem the 49 outstanding games unplayable. This they did and they determined the final placings by using the average points per game played by each team. The result saw Celtic crowned champions while Hearts were relegated.
If we applied the same approach – that of average points per game – to both the English Premier League as well as the Absa Premiership, the results are quite clear at the top but rather ugly at the bottom.
The English Premier League:
Liverpool (2.83) will be crowned champions with Manchester City (2.04), Leicester (1.83) and Chelsea (1.66) earning UEFA Champions League qualification, while Manchester United (1.55) would qualify for the Europa league Group Stage.
Regarding relegation, three clubs would find themselves in the relegation group for the final relegation spot, namely West Ham (0.93), Watford (0.93) and Bournmouth (0.93) with Aston Villa (0.89) and Norwich (0.72) being automatically relegated to the Championship.
The Absa Premiership:
Kaizer Chiefs (2.18) will be crowned champions with Mamelodi Sundowns (2.10) and Wits (1.81) earning CAF Champions League qualification. The top eight would consist of Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns, Wits, Orlando Pirates, SuperSport, Maritzburg United, Golden Arrows and Highlands Park.
Regarding relegation, three clubs would find themselves in the relegation group, namely Baroka FC (0.96), Polokwane City (0.96) and Amazulu (0.96) with Black Leopards (0.83) being automatically relegated to the GladAfrica Championship.
The likelihood of seeing this happen in England could still exist if minds far superior to mine were to see the blatant sexism taking place in upper echelons of English football. As for the Absa Premiership, the chances of anything this simple being considered are quite frankly way beyond the squabbling minds of Messrs Jordaan and Khoza!
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Jaryd On May 24, 2020 at 7:58 am
Just give the League leaders the title in situations where there is no reasonable doubt………let the players and clubs plan for the opening of the new seasons.