English Playoff Matches Thread | 2023/24 | 15:00 - Leeds United v Southampton

[West Yorks Owl]

That Bolton performance was horrendous to be blunt, they never turned up in any way, at any stage. You slog through 46 league games, a play off semi and then totally choke on the big day, inexplicable really. Very well played by Oxford, but they must have expected it to be tougher than that. I thought ruefully last night about Phil Gartside proposing an end to promotion and relegation to and from the Premier League, when Bolton were prospering under Allardyce, and bollocks to everybody else, karma I guess.

I remember this too, the problem football has is it suffers from a "I'm alright Jack attittude", when Bolton were in the PL they couldn't give a toss about League 2, but just over a decade later they were down there

 

[MCFC1993]

13:00 - Crawley Town v Crewe Alexandra
League 2 Playoff Final.
Live on Sky Sports.

I'm off out but might be a nice warm up for some.

 

[Blue Llama]

13:00 - Crawley Town v Crewe Alexandra
League 2 Playoff Final.
Live on Sky Sports.

I'm off out but might be a nice warm up for some.

Doesn't seem right to me that a team that finished 7th or even 6th will end up winning promotion.

 

[jimharri]

Doesn't seem right to me that a team that finished 7th or even 6th will end up winning promotion.

The playoffs are a nice earner for the EFL. "right" has precious little to do with it.

 

[Totnes Blue]

Stopping for drinks after 28 minutes.Are the playing in death valley?

 

[jimharri]

Crawley 1 up. Very well taken by Orsi.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

Doesn't seem right to me that a team that finished 7th or even 6th will end up winning promotion.

Bit of a weird take to be honest, that's just the format of how the competition works. Knockout football is inherently different to league football. If the 3rd place team wants to be promoted, they just have to beat the 7th place team and prove they are better in a combined cup and league format.

What you're suggesting is no different to saying that a team who finished 2nd in their Champions League group shouldn't be able to win it.

To take it to the extreme, why have any cup or knock-out competitions at all? The league winners should just be deemed the best team every season.

I think the play-offs are great, they add so much more excitement to the league. I'd have them for relegation too if it were up to me.

 

[oakiecokie]

Crewe are very poor at the moment.

 

[West Yorks Owl]

Personally I would change the playoffs to mirror the National League format.

Top 2 Promoted (Championship/League 1 and top 3 League 2)

3rd - Bye
4th - Bye
5th Vs 8th (1 Leg game)
6th Vs 7th (1 Leg game)

3rd Vs Lowest Rank Qtf Final Winning Team (1 Leg game)
4th Vs Highest Rank Qtr Final Winning Team (1 Leg game)

Winners play in the final

That way teams finishing 3rd/4th are rewarded with a one off home game to get to the final, yes it does mean a team finishing 8th gets promoted but at least finishing higher in the table gives you (on paper) a better advantage.

If the team finishing 7th or 8th won promotion then all their games would be away from home.

 

[Blue Llama]

Bit of a weird take to be honest, that's just the format of how the competition works. Knockout football is inherently different to league football. If the 3rd place team wants to be promoted, they just have to beat the 7th place team and prove they are better in a combined cup and league format.

What you're suggesting is no different to saying that a team who finished 2nd in their Champions League group shouldn't be able to win it.

To take it to the extreme, why have any cup or knock-out competitions at all? The league winners should just be deemed the best team every season.

I think the play-offs are great, they add so much more excitement to the league. I'd have them for relegation too if it were up to me.

I don't think your reference to the CL works, a four team mini league is different. Crawley Town finished 8 points behind the 4th team in L2 and 16 points behind the 3rd team. I agree the playoffs are good but would prefer a different process for L2. First 2 not promoted play home and away. The 2 teams in L1 above the bottom club do the same. The winners of the 2 mini competitions play a one off for L1 .