Report: Liverpool to be crowned champions with a expanded Premier League proposed for the 2020/21 season

[TLW]

Liverpool fans can rest a little bit easier with reports emanating that there is is little opposition to the Reds been crowned champions for the 2019/20 season.

The coronavirus crisis sweeping the world has put all major Football leagues on hold.

The Telegraph (via Fox Sports) reports that although the date of April 4th was identified as the resumption date for the Premier League, sources say that is remarkably optimistic.

“You tell me whether you think there’s the remotest possibility that anything in the science is going to tell us that it’s going to be safer to play on April 3 than now?”

There is a growing belief that it will be almost impossible to re-start the competition in the months ahead, so you may ask what does that do to the final placings?

With Liverpool a massive 25 points clear, common sense would think that they are more than deserving to raise the Premier League trophy, even in less than desirable circumstances.

Although there has been a campaign that the league be voided and started from scratch, that leaves way too many questions unanswered and the Telegrqph reports “there is no desire from rival clubs to deny Liverpool the trophy.”

 

The other main bit of business to be sorted out is promotion and relegation.

This report continues to say that because of these exceptional circumstances, the league will be expanded to 22 teams with no relegation and the current top two teams in the Championship Leeds and West Brom being promoted.

The League Cup will be suspended for a season to allow more space in the fixture list while five teams instead of three will be relegated in 2020/21.

In terms of European qualification the reports suggests:

“Champions League qualification would allow the teams who qualified for this season’s tournament to keep their places next season and then enter any additional sides currently in qualification positions into an expanded qualifying phase.

“That would mean third-placed Leicester going into a qualifying round for the Champions League, with Liverpool, Manchester City – subject to the Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing – Chelsea and Tottenham holding on to their places in the tournament.

“But Manchester United, Wolves and Sheffield United, who are all above seventh-placed Spurs, would no doubt object to this.”

As you can see there is very few winners in this extraordinary situation but one individual with a voice of reason is our very own Jürgen Klopp.

In a statement to the fans he said:

“We don’t want to play in front of an empty stadium and we don’t want games or competitions suspended, but if doing so helps one individual stay healthy - just one - we do it no questions asked.

“If it’s a choice between football and the good of the wider society, it’s no contest. Really, it isn’t.

“The message from the team to our supporters is only about your well-being. Put your health first. Don’t take any risk. Think about the vulnerable in our society and act where possible with compassion for them.

“Please look after yourselves and look out for each other."

Simply put, Jürgen is a man we as Reds fans, and the game in general can be truly be proud of.

 

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[ManéMan]

WE SHALL BE CORONATED AS THE CHAMPIONS!

[Kevin D]

Keep reading about mounting complaints over the Coronavirus and I ask myself, "Whatever happened to Gary Cooper?".

 

That's the kind of man I admire.

[Lee909]

Everton fans reading this

 

[Bobby Hundreds]

How can any sane person fume. We are not slightly ahead in a close battle this is territory where opposition's towels would of been thrown in long ago. It would be far more immoral and unjust to deny this side a title it's more than earned.

[Guest]

Is this title 19? Helped by covid 19?

[clockspeed]

38 minutes ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

Is this title 19? Helped by covid 19?

I see what you did there ! 

[Bobby Hundreds]

The joke is the banner the other clubs are making is Covid19 Liverpool 18.

[Moo]

I'm tempted to say I'd really rather not win the league in this manner, just finish the league and cups when football resumes and have a plan in place for the new season.  Even if that means the new season takes 10.5 months to allow for the Euros push everything up a month and bring it back down gradually by reducing fixtures in the cups and international friendlies. 

At this point no one knows when football can return, so what's the point in writing off a season for the sake of a new season with no start date? 

[Harry Squatter]

Evertonians on Twitter were planning a Coronavirus banner in "revenge" to the Steaua Bucharest banner that they get so upset about. Which was only on display for one game.

[El Rojo]

5 hours ago, Kevin D said:

Keep reading about mounting complaints over the Coronavirus and I ask myself, "Whatever happened to Gary Cooper?".

 

That's the kind of man I admire.

I was hoping you’d bring Gary Cooper into all of this at some point. 

[Einch]

They will bend the knee and doff their caps just like all the rest. Their natural place. 

[gkmacca]

It's a bit like a woman telling you to pull out but assuring you it'll be accepted that you would indeed have ejaculated had it continued. We'll have a title in the records but surely it won't feel like it to those who've been waiting thirty years to see us finally get over the line. If you were going to design the emptiest experience of a huge triumph, this is what you'd have come up with. It's gutting.

[Ronnie Whelan]

23 minutes ago, gkmacca said:

It's a bit like a woman telling you to pull out but assuring you it'll be accepted that you would indeed have ejaculated had it continued. We'll have a title in the records but surely it won't feel like it to those who've been waiting thirty years to see us finally get over the line. If you were going to design the emptiest experience of a huge triumph, this is what you'd have come up with. It's gutting.

Get where you're coming from, but we'll be champions. Far better than the likes of Karen Brady and the hillarious fans of other clubs taking a title that would have been ours away from us.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Better than not being given it after all this side has done. If normality resumes and the dust settles we can celebrate it all next season.

 

It's the football thread so I presume we don't have to preface everything with in the grand scheme of things none of this shit matters just take it as a given we are talking about a tiny part of the effect of corona virus on something which is important to us but ultimately not that important.

[Evelyn Tentions]

If they delay the resumption of the Season until the worst of the virus affects have passed, it is more than likely going to be June or July at the earliest before the season finishes. It's a simple matter to change the transfer window to suit but what about all of those players whose contracts are finished in June?

 

[Moo]

6 minutes ago, Evelyn Tentions said:

If they delay the resumption of the Season until the worst of the virus affects have passed, it is more than likely going to be June or July at the earliest before the season finishes. It's a simple matter to change the transfer window to suit but what about all of those players whose contracts are finished in June?

 

Clubs can start working on a short extension now and if the players don't want to sign then fine, they'll be missing out on being involved in important football matches. 

[dockers_strike]

1 hour ago, gkmacca said:

It's a bit like a woman telling you to pull out but assuring you it'll be accepted that you would indeed have ejaculated had it continued. We'll have a title in the records but surely it won't feel like it to those who've been waiting thirty years to see us finally get over the line. If you were going to design the emptiest experience of a huge triumph, this is what you'd have come up with. It's gutting.

I tend to agree with you, it will be disappointing. But at the same time, there's no way they can take this title off us.

[Stickman]

1 hour ago, gkmacca said:

It's a bit like a woman telling you to pull out but assuring you it'll be accepted that you would indeed have ejaculated had it continued. We'll have a title in the records but surely it won't feel like it to those who've been waiting thirty years to see us finally get over the line. If you were going to design the emptiest experience of a huge triumph, this is what you'd have come up with. It's gutting.

I agree it's. It's not the best way but only a bitter idiot would think we weren't going to win it.

Would also piss of the toxic fanbases of other clubs who would revel in it not happening 

Give us the trophy then go and win it again next season. .

 

[Bob]

I really don’t get why games behind closed doors isn’t possible after this hiatus.

 

unless something changes in the government advice, most people are going to continue their lives and go to work as usual.

 

the gathering of fans en masse is probably not a good idea, and of course if teams have players or staff showing symptoms after the break concludes, there will need to be some more postponements, but the principal of playing games behind closed doors should be possible imo.

[dockers_strike]

1 minute ago, Bob Spunkmouse said:

I really don’t get why games behind closed doors isn’t possible after this hiatus.

 

unless something changes in the government advice, most people are going to continue their lives and go to work as usual.

 

the gathering of fans en masse is probably not a good idea, and of course if teams have players or staff showing symptoms after the break concludes, there will need to be some more postponements, but the principal of playing games behind closed doors should be possible imo.

I think closed doors will be the PLs preferred option. But, if players and managers are being declared unwell, I dont see how games can go ahead right now. Plus, it's not a good idea for some clubs to be 3 or 4 games behind others at the best of times.

[gkmacca]

Yes. I don't see much evidence that they've seriously thought through the idea of closed doors games, because even without thousands of fans, you'll still have the kind of number of people that, in offices, are set to be told to stay at home. At Anfield you'd still have loads of people there to make the stadium operational, then the squads of players and all the medical and other members of staff, then, presumably, the huge media presence... That would add up to quite a large number. At a stadium such as Spurs, it would probably be even bigger. But I've read discussions of the closed doors option in the media that make it sound as if you only need some old bloke with a hanky over his nose to turn the 'ON' button and the game will go ahead with just a bunch of players. It's not that much of a 'safe' alternative.

[Bob]

Just now, dockers_strike said:

I think closed doors will be the PLs preferred option. But, if players and managers are being declared unwell, I dont see how games can go ahead right now. Plus, it's not a good idea for some clubs to be 3 or 4 games behind others at the best of times.

I don’t see the difference games ahead/behind makes if the preferred option is postponement with the intent for completion.

 

if it gets to a point where completion isn’t looking possible, the legal wrangling a of deciding things like qualification, relegation and promotion based on an incomplete season will not be lessened by everyone being on the same number of games played.

 

yes, if players and staff are unwell there might need to be postponements, but hopefully this short break and the self isolation alongside it should mean that chances are limited on that front, so better that 5 or 6 games go ahead than none.

 

honestly if it’s only for the sanity of the public it has a benefit.

 

this league season is either going to be played out eventually or not played out at all, and does matches going ahead genuinely increase risk to anyone if behind closed doors.

 

we as fans would have a responsibility not to do what the PSG fans did last week and gather in great numbers for a game behind closed doors, which is possibly where it all falls down because people are dicks and can’t be trusted not to behave like imbeciles, but unless everything goes into lockdown and nobody is allowed to go to work or school, get the matches played.

 

sky, bt, bbc and itv cover the matches free to air/streaming so there’s less need to go to pubs to watch in large groups.

 

if the season still can’t be completed we’ll be in much the same boat as now, except with fewer matches to be finished if the “play it out” option still works.

[Bob]

2 minutes ago, gkmacca said:

Yes. I don't see much evidence that they've seriously thought through the idea of closed doors games, because even without thousands of fans, you'll still have the kind of number of people that, in offices, are set to be told to stay at home. At Anfield you'd still have loads of people there to make the stadium operational, then the squads of players and all the medical and other members of staff, then, presumably, the huge media presence... That would add up to quite a large number. At a stadium such as Spurs, it would probably be even bigger. But I've read discussions of the closed doors option in the media that make it sound as if you only need some old bloke with a hanky over his nose to turn the 'ON' button and the game will go ahead with just a bunch of players. It's not that much of a 'safe' alternative.

You could televise a match without a huge media presence. Half the number of cameras (or even fewer) than normal, commentate from a remote studio. Practically no police or security staff needed, bare bones playing and training staff.

 

i don’t see why it would need an army of people. I’d guess somewhere in the region of 60-80 people all told could get it done.

 

theres way more than that number in our multi-tenanted office every day at the moment.

[gkmacca]

I see that idiot Karren Brady is arguing for the season to be declared null and void. Handy for West Ham if it was, eh? That option would create the kind of legal wrangling that up to now has only been witnessed inside Neil Warnock's head.