Play offs

[toddy]

The team finishing 3rd should play the team finishing 3rd bottom of the prem.

Two games home and away, the team who wins over the two games gets prem football.

Play offs entertaining?

Not on your nelly, they were created  purely for financial gains.

 

[Ram a lamb a ding dong]

8 hours ago, StockholmRam said:

I do have a suggestion I think fairer for all concerned in 3rd to 6th position. 

3rd place goes straight to Wembley. Directly to final.

5th and 6th play each other home and away to determine who plays 4th in a one off game at 4ths ground.

So this season Derby v Wed 2 legs

Winner plays Hull away at Hull.

Winner plays Brighton at Wembley.

i think it's crackers and totally unfair that perhaps Sheff Wed can beat Brighton over 2 games and have a shot at promotion this way. There's about 15 points difference between the two. 

This has been my suggestion for years. Means the higher the placing in the league the more chance of going up

[SimonBHA]

Play-Offs are great and I say that having missed out on automatic on goal difference and fully expecting to be unsuccessful for the 3rd time in 4 years.

[ossieram]

I hate the play offs and think the 3 best teams over a season should be the 3 to go up.

[Alph]

I think they're sort of unfair. But there's no more exciting way to go up. 

[eddie]

8 hours ago, toddy said:

The team finishing 3rd should play the team finishing 3rd bottom of the prem.

Two games home and away, the team who wins over the two games gets prem football.

Play offs entertaining?

Not on your nelly, they were created  purely for financial gains.

 

That's how they were one season, isn't it? It was around the time they reduced the number of teams in the top division.

[Tamworthram]

9 hours ago, toddy said:

The team finishing 3rd should play the team finishing 3rd bottom of the prem.

Two games home and away, the team who wins over the two games gets prem football.

Play offs entertaining?

Not on your nelly, they were created  purely for financial gains.

 

Not just for financial reasons. Without the play-offs the season would have been well and truly over several weeks ago for the likes of us, Wednesday and Cardiff. Same in the other divisions. I'm quite happy with them. 

[PistoldPete2]

1 hour ago, eddie said:

That's how they were one season, isn't it? It was around the time they reduced the number of teams in the top division.

Yes it was, and I never understood why they changed it... A relegated team should have a second bite of the cherry too. Except if it's newcastle who get what they deserve. 

[North East Ram]

1 hour ago, eddie said:

That's how they were one season, isn't it? It was around the time they reduced the number of teams in the top division.

Yep, Chelsea v Boro over 2 legs. 

[StockholmRam]

3 hours ago, eddie said:

That's how they were one season, isn't it? It was around the time they reduced the number of teams in the top division.

I knew you would know. 

[Sweetness34]

The playoffs are fine as they are. As others have already said, 3rd bottom prem vs 3rd championship would mean that for a lot of teams the season would have been over weeks ago. They're a **** way to lose out but a fantastic way to win promotion

[Zurich Ram]

Agree, in that respect, the only (slight?) disadvantage is that the team who eventually go up via the play-offs, have at least 3 weeks less than the 2 automatically promoted sides to prepare for the next season.

[admira]

From BBC - How to win the Play Offs

Football League play-offs: How to win them? Score first and park the bus...

By Jay Freeman

BBC Sport

The Football League play-offs begin on Thursday and thousands of fans around England will be cheering their team on, hoping they can achieve promotion via football's greatest lottery.

The 12 clubs involved are three games away from winning promotion, but what does it take to go up through the fiercely-contested end-of-season tournament?

BBC Sport looked at 26 years of statistics to bring you some answers.

Getting off the mark

Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton, Hull City and Derby - take note.

Since the 1989-90 season - when the current Football League play-off format of four teams from the same league competing to play a one-leg final at a neutral venue was introduced - a quarter of second-tier teams who score first in the play-off semi-final first leg go on to reach the final and win promotion to the top flight.

In League One, it is even more competitive. From 52 first-leg fixtures, teams who scored first went through to the final on only 18 occasions (35%), while just 11 of those (21%) went on to win in the final.

Meanwhile in League Two, 58% of teams who score first in the fourth-tier play-off semi-final first leg go on to reach the final.

A home advantage?

Brighton missed out on automatic promotion to the Premier League by failing to beat Middlesbrough in their final game of the season, but do the play-off statistics provide optimism for Chris Hughton's side?

The Seagulls face Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Friday, but could they benefit from playing Monday's second leg at home?

In the current format from 1989-90 onwards, teams from the Championship who play their semi-final second leg at their home ground have won on 31 of 52 occasions.

Of those second-leg winners, 24 teams have got through to the final while 13 teams have gone on to win the second-tier play-off final at Wembley.

But what if you have lost the first leg away from home? How often have teams used their second-leg home advantage to turn their semi-final around and then win the play-off final? The answer is "not very".

In the Championship, it has only happened once. Bolton Wanderers lost their 1994-95 Division One play-off semi-final first leg 2-1 at Wolves but won 2-0 after extra-time in the return leg at Burnden Park, before beating Reading 4-3 in the play-off final at Wembley.

In League One, West Bromwich Albion (1992-93), Gillingham (1999-00), Peterborough (2010-11) and Yeovil (2012-13) have won the play-offs after losing their first leg away from home.

Only Blackpool (1991-92), Colchester (1997-98) and Ssausagehorpe (1998-99) have been able to repeat the feat in League Two.

Goals for glory

Your team battles their way to the play-off final and thousands of your fans, draped in the colours of their team, descend on Wembley - does scoring first put your side in the driving seat?

In a word, yes. Teams who score first in Championship play-off finals have won on 20 of 26 occasions, while it is 21 from 26 in League One finals and 20 out of 26 in League Two.

Interestingly, there is very little in the way of a fightback in these instances. Usually, when one team takes the lead in a play-off final, the other team will not score.

In the current format, 15 of 26 second tier play-off finals have seen just one team score, while it is 14 of 26 in the third tier and also 14 of 26 in the fourth.

As promotion gives second-tier clubs a huge financial advantage, play-off finals have been nervy affairs of late. Seven of the last 10 Championship play-off finals have resulted in just one team getting on the scoresheet.

[admira]

This is the key stat above. If we can win Saturday, we have a good chance of progressing to Wembley:

"But what if you have lost the first leg away from home? How often have teams used their second-leg home advantage to turn their semi-final around and then win the play-off final? The answer is "not very".

In the Championship, it has only happened once. Bolton Wanderers lost their 1994-95 Division One play-off semi-final first leg 2-1 at Wolves but won 2-0 after extra-time in the return leg at Burnden Park, before beating Reading 4-3 in the play-off final at Wembley."

[gazram80]

1 hour ago, Zurich Ram said:

Agree, in that respect, the only (slight?) disadvantage is that the team who eventually go up via the play-offs, have at least 3 weeks less than the 2 automatically promoted sides to prepare for the next season.

Are you wee billy in disguise.?

[Zurich Ram]

Yes I am - no you can't claim your fiver.

[Anon]

2 hours ago, admira said:

a quarter of second-tier teams who score first in the play-off semi-final first leg go on to reach the final and win promotion to the top flight.

So the Beeb's statisticians have worked out there's a one on four chance of winning the play offs. No flies on them is there?

[Jortat]

Stats are there just to record data. They will have no bearing on our game . If we lose the first leg and second leg or we fail to turn around a first leg defeat its because we were not good enough and not the stats ringing true.

The first game has its own chance of three results and so does the second game and the stats have no baring on the outcome hence "The Monte Carlo " No matter how stacked the stats are at you guessing the ball will land in the black section in roulette 1000 times in a row ,each spin will have the same chance of being red or black even if the previous 999 spins were black the 1000 spin has as much chance of being red as the preceeding 999.

We will win if we are good enough and if not its down the creek without a paddle......simples

Live for the now and ignore history. Win at Wembley and we will make history ( and we will in my humble opinion)

[Rampage]

On 5/11/2016 at 13:54, StockholmRam said:

I do have a suggestion I think fairer for all concerned in 3rd to 6th position. 

3rd place goes straight to Wembley. Directly to final.

5th and 6th play each other home and away to determine who plays 4th in a one off game at 4ths ground.

So this season Derby v Wed 2 legs

Winner plays Hull away at Hull.

Winner plays Brighton at Wembley.

i think it's crackers and totally unfair that perhaps Sheff Wed can beat Brighton over 2 games and have a shot at promotion this way. There's about 15 points difference between the two. 

Very interesting post, SR. I agree with you until it comes to Derby getting the best chance of getting promotion.Top three should go up in fairness. Newcastle were miles ahead of Sunderland one year and Sunderland were promoted. If you know the rules at the beginning of the season, then it is fair.