How much will Coronavirus (COVID-19) impact Aston Villa's season?

[Pete3206]

The sport is truly in the gutter.

[CT]

Clubs being threatened in the PL to comply?

600+ more dead today, now over 31,000.

Absolutely done with the PL, they're an absolute fucking disgrace.

[PaulWinch again]

With the numbers still dying it’s fucking obscene to continue with this disgrace.

[VinnieChase84]

Premier league and their top 6 bias/private members club can do one.

[VinnieChase84]

Peterborough owner massively kicking off about this PPG vote. Promising legal battle of ‘epic proportions’ and they won’t be the only club to do so

[phantom limb]

The way Keinan is playing maybe we should push for playing the rest of the season out on FIFA.

[old man villa fan]

I read this comment earlier on an online newspaper article.

"I suggest that you take a look at the 2006 Companies Act. Within the 600 odd pages there is a large section devoted to the legal duties and responsibilities of directors. Their primary duty is to run the club (company) in a manner that is in the best interests of the  owners (shareholders).
I would argue that the best interests of the clubs at the bottom is to remain in the Premier League.
Therefore the directors, who you accuse of displaying “self interest”, are only carrying out their legal duties. To do otherwise would leave them open to all sorts of legal action".

Football is not an amateur game and has not been for a long time but from the comments in the media and on social media, you would think it was.  This is business and is every club for themselves.

[Richard E]

The way Keinan is playing maybe we should push for playing the rest of the season out on FIFA.

As long as he doesn’t injure his hands.

[Meanwood Villa]

If the season doesn't get finished they will use current positions or PPG, I don't think null and void is an option. I was on Reddit earlier and there was a link to a Times article saying the FA would block any attempt by the PL to get rid of relegation. Apparently they can do this because of some agreement made when the PL started. Every single fan commenting on it was basically supportive of it apart from a couple of Villa fans and a Bournemouth fan. Lots of comments along the lines of "well you shouldn't have been so shit for so much of the season". It did make me think we're in a bit of an echo chamber here because it certainly didn't look like there was much support for null and void. The inherent unfairness of finishing an incomplete season with positions as they are is balanced against the inherent unfairness of disregarding over 2/3rds of one that's been played. On the basis of this admittedly unscientific sample it would appear more people consider voiding the season as the least palatable option.

I don't think anyone would disagree that matches shouldn't be played while there is any sort of health concern but I think the alternative to no matches being played will actually be worse for us from a footballing perspective and will end up with us going down.

[aev]

If the season doesn't get finished they will use current positions or PPG, I don't think null and void is an option. I was on Reddit earlier and there was a link to a Times article saying the FA would block any attempt by the PL to get rid of relegation. Apparently they can do this because of some agreement made when the PL started. Every single fan commenting on it was basically supportive of it apart from a couple of Villa fans and a Bournemouth fan. Lots of comments along the lines of "well you shouldn't have been so shit for so much of the season". It did make me think we're in a bit of an echo chamber here because it certainly didn't look like there was much support for null and void. The inherent unfairness of finishing an incomplete season with positions as they are is balanced against the inherent unfairness of disregarding over 2/3rds of one that's been played. On the basis of this admittedly unscientific sample it would appear more people consider voiding the season as the least palatable option.

I don't think anyone would disagree that matches shouldn't be played while there is any sort of health concern but I think the alternative to no matches being played will actually be worse for us from a footballing perspective and will end up with us going down.

Games shouldn’t be played with the deaths as they are.

As for the Times article, I am sure legally there are all sorts of positions to be taken regarding promotion / relegation?

[usav]

If the season doesn't get finished they will use current positions or PPG, I don't think null and void is an option. I was on Reddit earlier and there was a link to a Times article saying the FA would block any attempt by the PL to get rid of relegation. Apparently they can do this because of some agreement made when the PL started. Every single fan commenting on it was basically supportive of it apart from a couple of Villa fans and a Bournemouth fan. Lots of comments along the lines of "well you shouldn't have been so shit for so much of the season". It did make me think we're in a bit of an echo chamber here because it certainly didn't look like there was much support for null and void. The inherent unfairness of finishing an incomplete season with positions as they are is balanced against the inherent unfairness of disregarding over 2/3rds of one that's been played. On the basis of this admittedly unscientific sample it would appear more people consider voiding the season as the least palatable option.

Let's assume the season is not completed.   If there is no provision for the current situation in the league rules, then you would usually go with precedent.   Is there any precedent for as season not being completed?  None that I can think of.   One precedent that I can think of though (on many occasions) is a club looking like it's in deep shit and pulling off a miraculous recovery in the last few games of the season.   With over a quarter of our season left to play, it would be hard to ague that we don't at least have a chance.   On the other side, it would be hard to argue that we haven't been shit for the first almost 3/4s of the season and look like we would have gone down had the season been played out.  If this did go to the courts, it would basically come down to the opinion of a judge.

I think this is why they are trying everything they can to get the season completed - nobody wants to deal with the mess above.

[Meanwood Villa]

Completely agree games can't be played now and I'm sceptical if they will start again any time soon. Just making the observation in that eventuality I don't think they'll void the season.

[phantom limb]

Every single fan commenting on it was basically supportive of it apart from a couple of Villa fans and a Bournemouth fan. Lots of comments along the lines of "well you shouldn't have been so shit for so much of the season". It did make me think we're in a bit of an echo chamber here because it certainly didn't look like there was much support for null and void.

I go on reddit too and it’s just as much of an echo chamber as anywhere. For a start the “soccer” sub is full of Leeds fans who are absolutely frothing that their chance of going up is slipping away from them. Naturally they don’t like us very much either, so i don’t think it’s necessarily a great barometer for general feeling.

[Billy Walker]

Hasn't a precedent been set by the FA in the way it handled the leagues lower down in the football pyramid?  Their rationale for nulling and voiding can be found in Laurence Jones' explanation on the FA's website. Here is what he said about finalising leagues using PPM (Points Per Match) which I assume is what is also known as Points Per Game:

"Points Per Match vs expunging results

I understand that this decision has inevitably caused some clubs, players and supporters to feel a sense of injustice and those feelings are entirely understandable. This is not an easy time for anyone in football and we understand that there is no decision that will suit everyone.

We sympathise with those clubs that are currently occupying promotion spots – or those hopeful of securing promotion. Some believe that it would be better to opt for a Points Per Match [PPM] model to conclude the remainder of the season, as oppose to expunging results.

Both options, and the potential implications of each, were considered at length by all involved.

The truth is that the consequence of clubs being promoted is that others will need to be relegated. The application of a PPM model would result in certain clubs that currently sit above the relegation zone falling into those places.

Equally, there would be certain clubs that currently sit in a play-off position that would not qualify as a result of the PPM Model. The PPM model also doesn’t address the issue of how to deal with play-off matches and how to identify a winner who would consequently benefit from promotion.

In addition, most of the clubs facing relegation will be of the view that they stood a chance of avoiding it due to the number of games remaining in the season and they may consider it to be unfair for them to be denied the opportunity to secure safety through sporting merit.

It is impossible to find a solution that works for everybody, so the decision was based on two main factors. Firstly, the potential financial impact on clubs during this uncertain period, and secondly, the fairest method on how to decide the sporting outcomes for the season, with the integrity of the leagues in mind.

Some have referenced the fact the PPM model has been used to determine promotion and relegation in the past, which is correct, but only in cases where clubs are compared across different leagues, with the season having been completed and all clubs having played their fixtures."

[Meanwood Villa]

Fair play Billy, that's an interesting read. Would seem to be hypocritical if they change their mind for the Prem!