The Beesotted crew Billy TheBee Grant. Dave Laney Lane. Liberal Nick Carthew and Greville The Water Man hooked up mid-lockdown in The Virtual Joint to discuss more non-football football bits and pieces.
Is there light at the end of the football-free tunnel? Could The Championship be back on track within the next few months?
Is Danish club FC Midtjylland’s idea of holding a drive-in football match genius or a really rubbish idea?
With accounts just filed and the Bees declaring a £20m profit last season, will Brentford’s strong financial showing put them in better shape than most post-coronavirus?
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My feeling is that by far the most likely outcomes will be :
1 / The entire season will be expunged.
2/ No relegation from the Premier league and play-offs with Leeds & W.B.A. going up.
A big factor leading to one of those decisions would be the welfare of the players in having to play 9, 90 minute games in a very short period of time with then a very short off-season.
Obviously this would cost Brentford and other clubs the chance of promotion that they have merited and who knows when they might be in this position again.
Thinking ‘outside of the box’ & not the ideal situation but as a last resort, perhaps the result of the remaining 9 games could be determined by an established method – the dreaded penalty shoot-outs,along the following lines.
As fairly as possible the leagues are split into a northern and southern division . Then these 12 teams (10 in EPL) are split into three groups.
On the Monday all of the teams in groups A & B turn up at a neutral ground with 7 penalty takers, 2 goalkeepers ( who of course could take penalties) and 2/3 staff.
All teams who have an outstanding fixture with each other, proceed straight to a penalty shoot-out . The team winning the toss has the option of going first or determining the number of penalties in the cycle -7,8 or 9 however after the first 5 each if level, one of two sealed envelopes is opened which will reveal either ‘Draw ‘ ,each team gets 1 point or ‘continue with penalties’ winner will get 3 points.
On the Wednesday groups A & C meet then Friday B & C.
The following week 6 Northern teams will meet 6 Southern teams and again have a penalty shoot out with any teams they have not played twice. A couple of days later they meet the other 6.
As said far from ideal but within 2 weeks an existing method of determining a result can be attained without undue physical stress on the players.
If the season is to be abandoned because of Covic-19, then so be it. Just face reality and move on. The whole World is in a confused state at the moment and if the football season is to be abandoned and reconvened again later this year for the 20/21 season to begin then so be it. It will take an enormous amount of good management and good luck to start the 20/21 season on time anyway, even with possible limitations on attendance, or closed stadiums for matches to be played.
If that means the prospect of Watkins, Benrahma and possibly others leaving for the Premier League next season, then so be it and of course the very best of luck to them.
Indeed if that were to happen Brentford would have received pocketfuls of cash. Both existing and possible new players will step into the breach, as always at Brentford these days, and the inevitable promotion to the Promised Land will be next season and not this season.
There is talent aplenty at Griffin Park/Lionel Road, new talent will have been identified and possibly already en route in anticipation of expected exits, so in reality life will just go on as normal at Brentford (normal since the arrival of Benham anyway), with Brentford continuing its financial recovery alongside its ever improving on field performances.
So, probably expect to be seeing Championship Football at Lionel Road next season, expect to see three or four new regular faces, with those astonishingly good footballers that will have departed being replaced by others at least equally as good – and probably better.