2025/26 Championship, Lower, Non-League & EFL Trophy - On BeIN Sports and iFollow

[Jatz]

At the end of the day every code wants to maximise the number of games that mean something. Which I think is fair enough. You want to encourage more people to go to games, to watch games, and to enjoy games. What's wrong with that? If the team that finishes 8th isn't good enough, they'll lose the play off game and that will be that.

The Play Offs themselves are a relatively new addition and no one would dare consider scrapping them, imagine just the top 3 going up and by March anyone around 8-13th's season is effectively done.

Why cap it at 8 then? There'll still be plenty of meaningless games.

It's like the AFL going to a top 10. You're just rewarding mediocrity.

 

[SM]

Why cap it at 8 then? There'll still be plenty of meaningless games.

It's like the AFL going to a top 10. You're just rewarding mediocrity.

Will there? This year I think with two games to go everyone could mathematically still make the play offs or be relegated. This just takes it to the last day and probably guarantees everyone will have something to play for.

The AFL going to a top 10 makes perfect sense in what will soon be a 19 or even 20 team comp. Having a top 8 where you have 10-12 teams each year having nothing to play for by August is a horrid look.

It's not rewarding mediocrity at all. Were the Swans any more or less mediocre than, say, the Suns? When games can be decided by such fine margins, does 1-2 wins over a 25 game season really translate into one side being definitively better and more deserving of finals? Is it such a chasm between those two sides that allowing the Swans into a play off game would have been a blight on the Finals series?

 

[Jatz]

Will there? This year I think with two games to go everyone could mathematically still make the play offs or be relegated. This just takes it to the last day and probably guarantees everyone will have something to play for.

The AFL going to a top 10 makes perfect sense in what will soon be a 19 or even 20 team comp. Having a top 8 where you have 10-12 teams each year having nothing to play for by August is a horrid look.

It's not rewarding mediocrity at all.

It's also a horrid look having teams play in wildcard rounds that just flat out shouldn't be there. Look at the NBA and the absolute waste of time the play in games have been.

We fundamentally disagree on this, which is all good. Just a difference of opinion.

 

[SM]

It's also a horrid look having teams play in wildcard rounds that just flat out shouldn't be there. Look at the NBA and the absolute waste of time the play in games have been.

We fundamentally disagree on this, which is all good. Just a difference of opinion.

Why shouldn't they be there? Dogs, Swans this year and Suns, Hawks I wouldn't say had wildly varying years other than the odd win/loss here or there. You can say the latter deserved it because they got the wins, but I dunno if I'd have said Suns and Hawks would have 100% beaten the Dogs and Swans in a wildcard week and if you can't say that, then that's precisely the point of having it and strengthening the Finals series.

It's not a case of 'everyone gets a medal' it's about extending the season/competitiveness and strengthening the calibre of Finals teams.

 

[Jatz]

Why shouldn't they be there? Dogs, Swans this year and Suns, Hawks I wouldn't say had wildly varying years other than the odd win/loss here or there. You can say the latter deserved it because they got the wins, but I dunno if I'd have said Suns and Hawks would have 100% beaten the Dogs and Swans in a wildcard week and if you can't say that, then that's precisely the point of having it and strengthening the Finals series.

It's not a case of 'everyone gets a medal' it's about extending the season/competitiveness and strengthening the calibre of Finals teams.

The Swans were clearly worse than the other 3. 2 wins and 40% behind 9th, 3 wins and 30% behind 8th.

The Bulldogs essentially had their wildcard weekend and lost that game at home to Freo.

I appreciate what you're trying to say, it just doesn't hit with me. Carlton's season was over real early in the year. I wouldn't have enjoyed the season any more if we could've snuck into a wildcard spot in 10th.

 

[SM]

The Swans were clearly worse than the other 3. 2 wins and 40% behind 9th, 3 wins and 30% behind 8th.

The Bulldogs essentially had their wildcard weekend and lost that game at home to Freo.

I appreciate what you're trying to say, it just doesn't hit with me. Carlton's season was over real early in the year. I wouldn't have enjoyed the season any more if we could've snuck into a wildcard spot in 10th.

So if the Swans had played the Suns during the Bye week you reckon 10 or 9 times out of 10 the Suns would have won? Interesting call.

 

[Jatz]

So if the Swans had played the Suns during the Bye week you reckon 10 or 9 times out of 10 the Suns would have won? Interesting call.

I'm saying it doesn't matter. Your record after the home and away season was noticeably inferior to that of the Suns and you didn't deserve the right to play them.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

8 out of 24 I think is a reasonable ratio of finals teams. Extends interest to this middle tier teams which makes more for more meaningful games near the end.

 

[SM]

I'm saying it doesn't matter. Your record after the home and away season was noticeably inferior to that of the Suns and you didn't deserve the right to play them.

3 wins in a 25 game season isn't what I'd call noticeably inferior. Noticeably inferior would be the Suns to the Blues being 6 wins which is a greater than 50% disparity. 3 wins to me is within the margins of season context. It's also worth bringing up that the inequities in the draw would be somewhat balanced out by extending the Finals grouping as you only play 6 sides twice which supports the notion that anything between a 2-4 win difference could be draw impacted rather than ability impacted.

 

[SM]

8 out of 24 I think is a reasonable ratio of finals teams. Extends interest to this middle tier teams which makes more for more meaningful games near the end.

Particularly when that means that the top maybe 14 sides are in with a chance of finishing top 8 for most of the season, while the other 10 teams are likely looking over their shoulder at the risk of relegation.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Will there? This year I think with two games to go everyone could mathematically still make the play offs or be relegated. This just takes it to the last day and probably guarantees everyone will have something to play for.

Was that a normal occurrence or an outlier?

The AFL going to a top 10 makes perfect sense in what will soon be a 19 or even 20 team comp. Having a top 8 where you have 10-12 teams each year having nothing to play for by August is a horrid look.

It's not rewarding mediocrity at all. Were the Swans any more or less mediocre than, say, the Suns? When games can be decided by such fine margins, does 1-2 wins over a 25 game season really translate into one side being definitively better and more deserving of finals? Is it such a chasm between those two sides that allowing the Swans into a play off game would have been a blight on the Finals series?

Think this is valid.

19th and 20th teams should in theory marginally increase the volume of wins needed for 8th place. So as long as 9th-10th still sees teams making it with decent records, which it should then it has merit. Wouldn't want to go further and have teams with more losses than wins getting a wildcard entry.

 

[SM]

Was that a normal occurrence or an outlier?

Think this is valid.

19th and 20th teams should in theory marginally increase the volume of wins needed for 8th place. So as long as 9th-10th still sees teams making it with decent records, which it should then it has merit. Wouldn't want to go further and have teams with more losses than wins getting a wildcard entry.

Well that's my point, that by increasing to a 6 team play off it would solidify it as an annual occurrence not a one off.

 

[Jatz]

3 wins in a 25 game season isn't what I'd call noticeably inferior. Noticeably inferior would be the Suns to the Blues being 6 wins which is a greater than 50% disparity. 3 wins to me is within the margins of season context. It's also worth bringing up that the inequities in the draw would be somewhat balanced out by extending the Finals grouping as you only play 6 sides twice which supports the notion that anything between a 2-4 win difference could be draw impacted rather than ability impacted.

So by that logic, Carlton and the Swans weren't that far apart, being only 3 wins apart? Not to mention almost an identical percentage.

 

[Jaymin]

What on earth is going on with Sheffield United?

 

[Upstart Swan]

What on earth is going on with Sheffield United?

I thought their form was just a blip, but maybe it wasn't such a good idea to sack Chris Wilder after all

 

[SM]

What on earth is going on with Sheffield United?

Their recruitment has been horrid. I mean, Danny Ings wtf?

 

[RossFC]

 

[Jatz]

Absolutely absurd. Where’s the players association in all this?

 

[Frank Bunn]

Absolutely absurd. Where’s the players association in all this?

It's not that big a deal as the headline suggests. The proposal is that there might be some games on Friday 31 July. This season League One started on Friday 1 August.

 

[SM]

Absolutely absurd. Where’s the players association in all this?

What's absurd?

 

[Jatz]

It's not that big a deal as the headline suggests. The proposal is that there might be some games on Friday 31 July. This season League One started on Friday 1 August.

Sure, this time its the 31st of July. You don't feel like they'll continue to bring it forward?

 

[SM]

Sure, this time its the 31st of July. You don't feel like they'll continue to bring it forward?

Why?

 

[RossFC]

Quadruple sub in the 1st min during the National League Cup.

 

[Jatz]

Why?

Why what?

 

[SM]

Why what?

Why do you think they'll continue to bring it forward?