Carvalhal got it right

Lurker · May 17, 2016

He told his team the league competition was over.
Play offs is a new competition.
15 point gap no longer exists.
Let's start afresh.

He rested virtually his entire starting XI for two weeks prior to the start of the 'new' competition and said they looked fresh as daisies.

Compare and contrast to us.
We are still bleating about the 15 point gap now it's all over, and how unfair it all is.
Our starting XI had no respite from relentless pressure right up until the final ball was kicked in the 'proper' season.
We were knackered.
Arguably the complete and utter shyster wrecked our play off chances before they even began.

There has been much talk about how to change the play off system, mostly to favour the teams that finish highest, but it'll never happen, it's too much of a moneyspinner ... and let's be honest if you're not involved it's actually great TV.

However, something needs to change to make the play offs a more level playing field and not favour the teams with an easy passage into them who can rest key players at will.

My view is that it should indeed be treated as a separate competition.

ALL play off contenders should be given a two week break before the competition starts to allow for player rest and recovery.
All red and yellow cards 'earned' during the regular season should not count, nor should suspensions ... it's a new competition.
Identical fixed ticket prices for ALL the games at say £20?
TV to give the play off contenders more money to make up any revenue shortfall.

Anyone got any other bright ideas?

Da Man Clay · May 17, 2016

More often than not its the team in 3rd who get to let up. This year it wasn't. Quite bored of all the bleating about rule changes now. We knew the rules when we started - they aren't going to be change as they are a popular format. Move onto next year.

Icy Gull · May 17, 2016

Not sure many are saying that it's unfair? The playoffs are just fine as they are, the fact that haven't won a single game in six recent playoff games is nothing to do with the system

Turkey · May 17, 2016

You sound like a Boro fan trying to pick out odd comments here an there and claiming they represent all of us..

No point looking back now. Looking forward to the Euros and next season.

Triggaaar · May 17, 2016

Lurker said:
My view is that it should indeed be treated as a separate competition.

ALL play off contenders should be given a two week break before the competition starts to allow for player rest and recovery.
All red and yellow cards 'earned' during the regular season should not count, nor should suspensions ... it's a new competition.

Two excellent points IMO.

We were punished as we'd been fighting for top two (and we had a shit ref). Your suggestions would have fixed that.

Triggaaar · May 17, 2016

Da Man Clay said:
Quite bored of all the bleating about rule changes now.

I'm quite bored of all the bleating about the bleating.

We knew the rules when we started - they aren't going to be change as they are a popular format.

That's nonsense. Having red and yellow cards not carry over would not stop the format being popular, and neither would a 2 week break before the playoffs.

trueblue · May 17, 2016

Lurker said:
ALL play off contenders should be given a two week break before the competition starts to allow for player rest and recovery.
All red and yellow cards 'earned' during the regular season should not count, nor should suspensions ... it's a new competition.

It's hard enough already for the teams that go up via the play-offs to compete in the transfer market as the clubs that know which division they're in have a crucial few weeks to get ahead of the game in the early dealings. So the idea of them finishing even later is a non-starter.

Blue Valkyrie · May 17, 2016

Let's just be proud of finishing 3rd now.

Turkey · May 17, 2016

trueblue said:
It's hard enough already for the teams that go up via the play-offs to compete in the transfer market as the clubs that know which division they're in have a crucial few weeks to get ahead of the game in the early dealings. So the idea of them finishing even later is a non-starter.

Also never going to happen when you consider the amount of games they have to fit into a season and give staff/players a summer break and taking into account World Cup/Euros etc.

On another occasion, it could be the team in 3rd having the chance to rest players and the team in 6th having to fight to the death for 6th. We were unfortunate but that's life.

Westdene Seagull · May 17, 2016

Personally I have no issue with the format. Last night was one of the most electrifying games I've ever seen - that's thanks to the format. I've never seen an Albion team so up for it and the first 30 minutes were the best attacking football I've probably ever seen in any match I've watched. It might seem a harsh format but I'd rather this than a straight 3 up. I'm assuming you didn't like the format the previous two times we got into the playoffs ? Or indeed just as Leon Knight was knocking in that penalty you thought 'this is a shit format' ?

Pavilionaire · May 17, 2016

It's so obvious the right thing to go is make the play-off semis a one-leg affair with the home sides being the ones that finish 3rd and 4th.

The cards could not have fallen any better for Sheff Wed than to have a dead rubber vs Wolves where they could give their best players 10 days rest and then have a home match vs. deflated Albion coming off the back of only 6 days' rest and a red card after our arm wrestle vs Boro.

Had the semi been a one-leg affair we would have seen last night's atmosphere plus another 10-15% on top - i.e. a guaranteed winner takes all sell-out on a Saturday, rather than 3,000 missing on a worknight after a deflating loss three days earlier.

Da Man Clay · May 17, 2016

Triggaaar said:
I'm quite bored of all the bleating about the bleating.

Good for you.

That's nonsense. Having red and yellow cards not carry over would not stop the format being popular, and neither would a 2 week break before the playoffs.

So, if someone hauls down a CF and gets a straight red in the last game in order for his team to get into the play offs then they shouldn't be banned?

2 week break would take us to the start of the Euro's pretty much by the time you get to the final and would almost certainly interfere with player availability for internationals. We'd be into June before the end of the season. Not to mention how far behind other teams you are in relation to player recruitment if you do go up (or not) It's just a non-starter at our level.

Yoda · May 17, 2016

Triggaaar said:
Two excellent points IMO.

We were punished as we'd been fighting for top two (and we had a shit ref). Your suggestions would have fixed that.

Or if no rest, a club making wholesale changes in regular league fixtures to rest players for them should be impeded someway. Maybe a goal for every 5 changes to the starting 11.

Triggaaar · May 17, 2016

Da Man Clay said:
So, if someone hauls down a CF and gets a straight red in the last game in order for his team to get into the play offs then they shouldn't be banned?

Fair point, so it needs a bit of thought. The standard should be that the players are not excluded from the playoffs unless it's deemed necessary by the FA in a meeting after the last game.

2 week break would take us to the start of the Euro's pretty much by the time you get to the final and would almost certainly interfere with player availability for internationals.

It's a 12 day rest between last night and the final, it would be better to have more break before the semis. The breaks are 6 days, 3 days, 12 days. That's not a clever split. 7, 7, 7 would be an immediate improvement with no delay to the final. 9, 5, 7 would be even better.

JONNY TWICKERS · May 17, 2016

Just because we've benefited from sneaking into the playoffs in the past, and that 'its the same for everyone' and 'we all knew about the playoff system at the start of the season', doesn't make it the right system! Its not logical nor is it just that a team who finished 15 points (or even 6 points in the case of Hull) behind the 3rd place team gets the reward of promotion to the promised land. Yes Carvalhal got it right, and well done him - but the system is just wrong.

Da Man Clay · May 17, 2016

Triggaaar said:
Fair point, so it needs a bit of thought. The standard should be that the players are not excluded from the playoffs unless it's deemed necessary by the FA in a meeting after the last game.

Given bans transfer over to following seasons I don't see why it should be different for the play-offs. If you get suspended you should miss the next game(s). It's only really an issue this time as the sending off for Dale was so poor.

It's a 12 day rest between last night and the final, it would be better to have more break before the semis. The breaks are 6 days, 3 days, 12 days. That's not a clever split. 7, 7, 7 would be an immediate improvement with no delay to the final. 9, 5, 7 would be even better.

Fair point. I imagine the 7 day spilt for the final would be difficult to manage ticket wise but that isn't insurmountable.

Triggaaar · May 17, 2016

Da Man Clay said:
Given bans transfer over to following seasons I don't see why it should be different for the play-offs. If you get suspended you should miss the next game(s). It's only really an issue this time as the sending off for Dale was so poor

I know you have a point, and the real injustice here was the FA not overturning the red. It's unforgivable, that organisation is a disgrace. It still punishes the team that's fighting for top two, but they should be able to avoid 'real' red cards.

Fair point. I imagine the 7 day spilt for the final would be difficult to manage ticket wise but that isn't insurmountable.

Finchley Seagull · May 17, 2016

Lurker said:
He told his team the league competition was over.
Play offs is a new competition.
15 point gap no longer exists.
Let's start afresh.

He rested virtually his entire starting XI for two weeks prior to the start of the 'new' competition and said they looked fresh as daisies.

Compare and contrast to us.
We are still bleating about the 15 point gap now it's all over, and how unfair it all is.
Our starting XI had no respite from relentless pressure right up until the final ball was kicked in the 'proper' season.
We were knackered.
Arguably the complete and utter shyster wrecked our play off chances before they even began.

There has been much talk about how to change the play off system, mostly to favour the teams that finish highest, but it'll never happen, it's too much of a moneyspinner ... and let's be honest if you're not involved it's actually great TV.

However, something needs to change to make the play offs a more level playing field and not favour the teams with an easy passage into them who can rest key players at will.

My view is that it should indeed be treated as a separate competition.

ALL play off contenders should be given a two week break before the competition starts to allow for player rest and recovery.
All red and yellow cards 'earned' during the regular season should not count, nor should suspensions ... it's a new competition.
Identical fixed ticket prices for ALL the games at say £20?
TV to give the play off contenders more money to make up any revenue shortfall.

Anyone got any other bright ideas?

Sorry, so are you saying we should have rested our entire first XI at Middlesbrough? It was hardly rocket science for him to rest players at Wolves.

How you can say someone got it right when they had a lead based on the opponents losing four players to injury and then were struggling in the second leg before a clear foul got them back in the game is beyond me. They had all the luck over the two games with us hitting the post in the first leg and the bar in the second, numerous goalmouth scrambles including a couple off the line and the chance to play half an hour against ten men at home through no fault of ours. He clearly got lucky.

fleet · May 17, 2016

Didn't Derby rest 10 players for the last league game so they would be fresh for the play offs? I thought I read that somewhere. If they did how did that work out?

Jolly Red Giant · May 17, 2016

If Sheff Wed go up they will come straight back down - they are by far the least prepared of all four play-off teams for the PL.

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