Looking at the table don't we just wish the Football League was reverting back to the old system for one year only!
The 'big three' have opened a nice nine point cushion above the chasing pack which I think may well stay till the end of the season now but one of us could end up narrowly missing out on automatic and being there for the taking in the play-offs!
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More concerning to me is the play offs could easily contain Millsmall, Colchester and Southampton and one of the current top 3 - so with that in mind I would much rather we got the automatic spot!
There should be a limit to playoffs. If the third placed team are 10 or more points ahead of second (ie. even if the 3rd team won their three playoff matches 20-0 they still couldn't catch the 3rd placed team), I don't think they should have to go through the lottery. Fair enough if it's close between 3rd and 6th, but there should be a reward for being consistently and clearly better than the rest of the league (apart from the top 2, obviously). I say that as it's my opinion regardless of where Charlton are in the table and under no assumptions that we'll finish the season more than 10 points ahead of fourth.
If anything, the system as it currently is harms the chances of the third best team if the league is clearly dominated by three teams, because they'll narrowly miss out on automatic promotion despite doing well all year long, and will be a bit deflated going into the playoffs. I can't see any reason why the Football League would prefer the lottery in that case
As for this season colchester & swindon are actually not that far behind us if they win their games in hand(i dont know who against) so its not nailed on for us to be top 3 like its not that leeds aren't going to win the league, we will see hopefully it wont matter and we will finish top 2 and can enjoy Millwall Vs leeds & then one of them getting beat by southampton in the final....in an ideal world :-)
Good idea, that would be good
But there is morally something not quite right when a team which misses automatic promotion by a point or 2 and finishes third - then gets eliminated in the playoffs by a team who totalled perhaps as many as 15 points less over a 46 game season.
In principle, it should be settled in 46 games in a 46 game season.
And teams promoted on merit over the 46 game season.
But then, of course, at the beginning of the season everyone knows how the League competition is structured.
The current format favours the teams who are on form at the end of the season, it's hard to think of an alternative which still involves 4 games and a final. Unless you have 5th v 6th home and and away and the winner plays 4th home and away to meet the 3rd place team in the final. But then then you could argue about the lower teams getting more match practice.
League One Play Off Final - 29th May 2010. Shit in your hat!...we need to finish top 2.
what then happens is often that the side who just miss out on automatic can't handle the expectation/pressure in the play-offs and lose out to a side who have come good with a late run and are in-form, full of confidence etc.
just means the battle for those automatic spots is going to be huge this season
Like last season you mean when Scunthorpe scraped 6th place with about 74 points and got promoted. Mk Dons, Leeds and Millwall all ended above them.
And the year before that Blackpool finished 3rd and went up via the play offs
Just a bit- and it's about momentum.....
"we have to lower our expectations to play-offs at most"
and
"we'll drop out the play-off places by Xmas"
Worry about it in May. Long way to go yet. Plenty of football to be played and points to be won and lost until then
You forgot the demands for Parky to be sacked and for Richard Murray to explain why he extended his contract by a year and then to resign himself.