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I think it would be good idea. There would be a great atmosphere at the end of the season for those matches just as there is in the lower leagues when they play off..
It would also be fair to the teams in the 4th-7th position and may make the champions league more interesting with a little bit of variety.
While I would hate for united to lose out if we lost a play off I think it would be good for the premier league if there were more British teams getting into Europe. Hopefully it would never affect us as we are not one of the "big 4" we are the "big 1 "
I amk interested to hear what others think about this one
i
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There won't be more clubs entering Europe, as they will replace the 4th place by right with the winner of the play off.
Personally, I 1st thought this was a really unfair idea, as the team that finished 4th deserved a place in the CL. However, what has that team actually won? Only £1/2million more than the team in 5th. They've won nowt. I soon realised that this is a great idea. It would mean that the Premier league would mean a little bit more to those clubs just off the 7 spot, as they could be rewarded with a tilt at the likes of Juventus, AC and Inter, Barca, Bayern Munich in the elite European competition.
There are a few provisos, as far as I can see.
1. Obviously, it needs to be ratified by UEFA.
2. It must not impact on the number of entrants into the CL and the Europa league.
3. Who qualifies by right into the Europa league? At the moment, it's 5th and 6th, isn't it? Do we then have another play off for the Europa league, or is it that the next 2 highest clubs enter that comp? That's the only stumbling block.
4. Spending controls may need to be put in place to stop clubs over-stretching themselves in trying to reach the top 7! It sounds daft, but look at West Ham and the silly contracts they had to try to get up the table. They are in deep trouble and the last 2 seasons, where did they finish? Yep, 7th!
With some fine-tuning, the club that finishes 4th, actually winning nothing, can compete with the next lower 3 clubs for a potential jackpot. Good idea in principle.
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just to clarify my previous comment about more PL clubs in Europe. What I meant was that more British clubs would get the chance to play in Europe and that the variety would be good for the PL.
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in my own humble opinion i would far prefer the Champions league return to league winners only , and a straight un-seeded knock out competition . Also i would like to see the return of the Cup Winners Cup and the Uefa cup return to its original format . The whole thing now is a farce and just a money spinning exercise . who is the least bit interested in the group stages ?
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04-03-2010, 04:33 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-03-2010, 04:33 PM by Vazza.)
CL play-off idea snubbed
Premier League chairmen have rejected the idea of introducing a play-off to decide who takes the fourth UEFA Champions League place.
The controversial idea of bringing in play-offs for the final Champions League spot was mooted last month, which would have seen the teams finishing from fourth to seventh fighting it out for the final slot in Europe's premier club competition.
The proposal received a mixed reception from Premier League managers, with some for the idea and some against it.
Source:SKysports.com
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Couldn't they give the 4th spot to the winner of the FA cup? Would liven up what is supposed a very prestigious trophy to win. They'll have to work around the possibility of the FA cup's winner being from the top 3 already, but's there are quite a few ways in which that can be done.
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I guess that common sense ruled in the end. You get rewarded for a higher finish in the league, showing how well (or badly) you performed over a season and not over 2 or 3 games. I can see why it would have made for an exciting end to the season for the likes of the dippers, etc while we're off sunning ourselves, with the job done!
