Football as “24″, Part 1
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The majority of Premier League clubs have already wrapped up the loose ends of their season. No more cups to play for. Can’t be relegated - or can’t stay up. Done and done.
Just one problem: there are still five games left.
If this was the TV series “24″, the Jack would have caught the bad guys, defused the bomb, saved the president, got the girl…and there would still be three episodes to go. Would people still tune in to watch him fill out the paperwork, go home, pull on his pajamas and finally get a few hours sleep?
That’s the situation for fans of 11 of the 20 clubs in the Prem. I’m counting the top-6 and Reading, Bolton and Birmingham as still having something to play for. Fulham are Championship-bound I’m afraid, and the clubs from 7 to 15 are staying more-or-less where they are.
How are the fans of those eleven teams meant to get excited about the remaining five games? It’s 15% of the season - seems a shame to take that much of the season and make it worthless.
If I ran a club or a league…I wouldn’t just accept this situation.
Not to get too revolutionary or American.
But how about an eight-team playoff for the league title. American-style 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7 etc.
Instead of having a lull in the middle, you would have Blackburn, Man City, West Ham, and Tottenham making a mad dash for the eighth spot.
The matchups, if the league ended today, would look like this.
1 Man U vs. 8 Blackburn
4 Liverpool vs. 5 Everton
2 Chelsea vs. 7 A.Villa
3 Arsenal vs. 6 Portsmouth
It has its problems, but it would make things more democratic.