‘That’s the big thing’: Jamie Carragher reacts after news drops that Leeds have been waiting for
The news from the Premier League meeting on Monday was music to the ears for Leeds United.
Null and void was officially taken off the table and both the FA and the Premier League stated that promotion and relegation would happen even if the season wasn’t completed.
The EFL has already committed to promotion to the top flight, warning of legal action if this wasn’t ratified by the Premier League too.
Leeds chief Angus Kinnear had previously said that the Whites want promotion to be decided on the pitch but would lobby for it regardless if the season isn’t completed. He’s now got his wish.
Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville delivered their verdicts on the headline news on The Football Show (Sky Sports Main Event, Tuesday, 9am).
Carragher said the “big thing” was that relegation and promotion is now effectively guaranteed, although he claimed null and void had been taken off the table weeks ago.
Neville said that he didn’t think it was fair to relegate teams unless the season was played out.
“To be honest this keeps getting mentioned, this null and void, but null and void has been taken off the table weeks ago,” Carragher said.
“I don’t care what the FA said yesterday, UEFA took null and void off the table when they said how they would determine European positions next season.
“This isn’t new news to me. In terms of relegation, that is the big thing. It looks like Greg Clarke has mentioned the relegation part of this now, in terms of teams going up and down. It means three have got to go up and three come down.
“I mentioned this in a column a few weeks ago when I said the bottom clubs were looking for problems rather than solutions and I said if they did points per game I felt the teams near the bottom would find a solution to play.
Carragher ended with a warning, though, saying, “There will be massive legal cases I’m sure.”
Neville replied saying, “I don’t believe relegation is fair on points-per-game basis. If football was to be played I think it’s right it’s played for promotion and relegation. But I think to be relegated on points-per-game when there are so many games to be played, so much at stake, it doesn’t feel right to me personally.”
We’re not entirely convinced that null and void had completely been taken off the table before.
As Leeds fans it definitely felt like there was still some doubt left there – and certainly for the Championship.
However, yesterday’s news was a breath of fresh air for Leeds. As Carragher says, it effectively guarantees – barring legal action – that three teams will go up and three will come down.
It would take a lot for Leeds to miss out on the pitch and there’s no realistic scenario off the pitch that would remove Bielsa’s men from the top two.
Carragher predicts legal action if teams are relegated but that shouldn’t affect Leeds.
Relegated teams might well try to argue their case in the courts but even if they were successful that would surely just lead to an expanded Premier League.
Losing one legal battle to take on another one with Leeds, West Brom and the EFL wouldn’t make any sense in an admittedly topsy-turvy season.
In other Leeds United news, ‘You can’t relegate us’ – Bowyer warns EFL & his alternative plan would have big impact on Leeds