I wish fans would stop saying the play-offs are a lottery.

They're not a lottery but they don't really decide which is the 3rd best team in the championship over the season. A team could finish in 3rd, 20 points above the team in 6th , but lose to them.
Despite that I do believe they're an excellent idea, one of the best things to happen to English football.
 
ForssAwakens said:
I disagree , many people say you require Luck, and many have said the best team doesn’t always win the champions league

Tottenham getting to the final, Real Madrid winning under zidane 3 times come to mind

I mean this year the best team in Italy has been surpassed by 2 teams below them in the champions league.
Click to expand...
I did not suggest the best team always wins, just that they have the best chance. Run this years Champions League SFs and F 20 times and Man City would probably win 10-12, Madrid 5 or 6 and the Milan clubs 1 or 2 each. On any given day in any given match, luck will play a part and could have a significant impact on the outcome. But that still doesn’t make football a lottery, ie a game of random chance.
 
Leeds won their first leg at Derby a few seasons ago then lost the 2nd leg at Elland Road. 1st time the away team has taken a lead into the second leg and lost the tie i think they said at the time
 
If it was a lottery then you would be happy to take anybody else's ticket.
I wouldn't swap our team, manager or crowd with any of our possible opponents in the Play offs. I would not take their ticket.

There is absolutely no guarantee we will make the final, or then win it, but I wouldn't swap our chances/tickets with anybody else. Not even close.
 
The 2 legs aren’t a lottery I agree but a one off high pressure game on neutral soil with equal fans does even things up. So whilst maybe not a lottery as such the final it is certainly a leveller
 
Davey_C said:
Leeds won their first leg at Derby a few seasons ago then lost the 2nd leg at Elland Road. 1st time the away team has taken a lead into the second leg and lost the tie i think they said at the time
Click to expand...

I’m glad that’s happened.
Means we can’t be the first
 
5 of the last 10 champs play-off finals have been 1 - 0 , with one 0 - 0 . and another 0 - 0 but got sorted 2-1 in extra time It's a specialist day requiring specialist tactics. You have to go back to 2012 to find the first team to equalise the score after going behind. That's just to draw level . They didn't go on to win though It's a very leggy game from the off, the pitch looks enormous, the fans noise is dominating. All form goes out the window. The players have had texts from their mates at other clubs for the previous 2 weeks telling them they are on holiday in Dubai and winding them up about still playing the season. It's an absolute one off. That's why elements of the lottery come into the thoughts
 
WilliamMunny said:
I did not suggest the best team always wins, just that they have the best chance. Run this years Champions League SFs and F 20 times and Man City would probably win 10-12, Madrid 5 or 6 and the Milan clubs 1 or 2 each. On any given day in any given match, luck will play a part and could have a significant impact on the outcome. But that still doesn’t make football a lottery, ie a game of random chance.
Click to expand...
I see what you’re saying. I don’t think anyone actually saying the playoffs are and actual lottery, it’s just a turn of phrase for a short format cup competition that luck can play a massive part
 
Boro_Interlinked said:
5 of the last 10 champs play-off finals have been 1 - 0 , with one 0 - 0 . and another 0 - 0 but got sorted 2-1 in extra time It's a specialist day requiring specialist tactics. You have to go back to 2012 to find the first team to equalise the score after going behind. That's just to draw level . They didn't go on to win though It's a very leggy game from the off, the pitch looks enormous, the fans noise is dominating. All form goes out the window. The players have had texts from their mates at other clubs for the previous 2 weeks telling them they are on holiday in Dubai and winding them up about still playing the season. It's an absolute one off. That's why elements of the lottery come into the thoughts
Click to expand...

Unless your Sunderland and you lose the final and still manage to get promoted. The Geordies were fuming at the time

EDIT even that 1 finished 1-0
 
Peppery_John said:
They really aren't. If we're good enough we'll be in The Premier League. If not, it's a good excuse to console yourself with if the team balls it up.
Click to expand...

I disagree. If you finish comfortably in third place, 10-15 points ahead of 4th, and you have two ‘off’ games and don’t get promoted, would you say you weren’t good enough? You can’t judge the whole season based on those two games.
 
It's certainly a lottery whether you'll get a fair, competent ref, as Huddersfield will testify last year. Of course it helps if your manager is a gargoyled faced tool with a ref as a dad, that removes some of the element of lottery about it.
 
I think people like to say it's a lottery because over the course of a season, it's highly likely that the two best teams in the division will be promoted. It's difficult to fluke your way to automatic promotion.

In a two-legged semi-final and a one-off game in the final though, anything can happen. You could be the much better team on the day but the opposition keeper could have a blinder, or you might get done over by some poor refereeing decisions.

A lot of it as well of course is how well you can handle the pressure, especially having to play at Wembley.
 
The Card Cheat said:
They're not a lottery but they don't really decide which is the 3rd best team in the championship over the season. A team could finish in 3rd, 20 points above the team in 6th , but lose to them.
Despite that I do believe they're an excellent idea, one of the best things to happen to English football.
Click to expand...
We will revisit this discussion on the 28th of May.😀
 
It is to a degree though. A league is decided over 46 games, and the most consistent teams come top. That's pretty clear cut.
When you have a competition that's just a semi final and final you are very vulnerable to a single lucky deflection or refereeing decision etc. The same applies to bigger tournaments like World Cups. You can be the best team, play the best football and suddenly you're out on a dodgy VAR decision.

Obviously if you perform well then you increase you're chances to large degree, so it's not a lottery as such, but it's not as clear cut as the best team automatically being successful
 
sherlock1969 said:
If we finish third, I hate the playoffs.

If we finish fourth, I think they’re a great idea.
Click to expand...

I don't worry too much about that; everyone knows 3rd isn't good enough for promotion at the start of the season, so no point whining about when it suits us.

I can see the playoffs being scrapped in future, but only if the PL push for a return to 2 up, 2 down
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top