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mr_nool wrote:Angelino made the team of the year in the Dutch league. Not bad playing for one of the bottom teams.

Just looked at how the Dutch league works - there's a relegation play-off involving 8 teams from the second tier and two from the top level, with bottom and top automatically going up and down respectively.

However, reserve teams can't be promoted to the top tier. And the league is divided into 'periods' of 9 games, with the winner of each automatically qualifying for the final relegation/promotion play-off. Due to this, the team that finished 13th in the league (of 20 teams) is fighting for a place in the top division, after going through Period 4 with a record of W1 D1 L7. Bizarre.

BlueinBosnia wrote:

mr_nool wrote:Angelino made the team of the year in the Dutch league. Not bad playing for one of the bottom teams.

Just looked at how the Dutch league works - there's a relegation play-off involving 8 teams from the second tier and two from the top level, with bottom and top automatically going up and down respectively.

However, reserve teams can't be promoted to the top tier. And the league is divided into 'periods' of 9 games, with the winner of each automatically qualifying for the final relegation/promotion play-off. Due to this, the team that finished 13th in the league (of 20 teams) is fighting for a place in the top division, after going through Period 4 with a record of W1 D1 L7. Bizarre.

It is indeed bizarre. There's a play-off for Europa league qualification as well.

mr_nool wrote:

BlueinBosnia wrote:

mr_nool wrote:Angelino made the team of the year in the Dutch league. Not bad playing for one of the bottom teams.

Just looked at how the Dutch league works - there's a relegation play-off involving 8 teams from the second tier and two from the top level, with bottom and top automatically going up and down respectively.

However, reserve teams can't be promoted to the top tier. And the league is divided into 'periods' of 9 games, with the winner of each automatically qualifying for the final relegation/promotion play-off. Due to this, the team that finished 13th in the league (of 20 teams) is fighting for a place in the top division, after going through Period 4 with a record of W1 D1 L7. Bizarre.

It is indeed bizarre. There's a play-off for Europa league qualification as well.

I think a Europa League qualification playoff isn't too bad an idea in leagues with fewer games than the Prem, especially those where only 1 team gets CL football. Where it does become nonsense is if a league is 'split', which gives the 7th-placed (or lower) team a pop at Europa League, but leaves 6th with no chance of anything, which is what Belgium does.