Nottingham Forest legend Stan Collymore believes that promotion and relegation should be carried out as normal, even if the seasons do not come to their conclusion.
The Reds currently sit fifth in the Championship table, 10 points behind West Bromwich Albion in the automatic promotion places and five points ahead of Bristol City who sit just outside the Play-offs.
With nine matches to play and with the unpredictability that comes with England’s second tier, there is still a chance that we can reach the Premier League for the first time since we were relegated in 1999.
Brighton owner Tony Bloom is in favour of all promotion and relegation to be scrapped, but Collymore did not agree with this.
Writing in his Mirror column, the 49-year-old thinks that it is fair for the system to operate as normal with football currently suspended, admitting that he changed his mind.
Will Forest achieve promotion to the Premier League this season?
Yes
No
“If we do reach a stage where a line has to be drawn through the season, then I see no option but for the three teams at the bottom to go down”, he said.
“I say that with a heavy heart because it would mean my club, Aston Villa, being relegated with Norwich and Bournemouth.
“Although the caveat is we’d have to level the playing field by making sure all top-flight clubs had played 29 matches.”
He added that there is not a perfect solution to this and football must continue as it has done for many years to keep a level playing field.
If this happens, this could mean that we could still reach the promised land of the Premier League. This still leaves a puzzle of how the Play-offs should be solved.
Like I previously said, they should be decided by a head-to-head. Going off this season, we would be promoted back into the top flight.
Collymore is right. Normality must be retained in football and the leagues must carry out promotion and relegation to keep things as fair as possible.
