Exclusive: Phillips fears for West Brom promotion bid after BBC Sport update on PL clubs
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips fears that West Brom may be denied promotion into the Premier League if struggling top-flight clubs manage to scrap relegation this season.
Earlier this week, BBC Sport reported that clubs near the bottom of the Premier League are concerned that playing matches behind closed doors at neutral venues will affect the integrity of the league.
However they would be willing to play away from their home stadium if it meant that relegation to the Championship was scrapped for the season.
Christian Purslow, who is chief executive of 19th-placed Aston Villa, has said he is worried about losing home advantage because Villa are “a club that prides itself on home form” – even though they are the 17th best club at home in the top-flight and have more losses at Villa Park than wins.
When asked if he fears for West Brom’s promotion bid if the struggling Premier League clubs get their way, Phillips told West Brom News: “Yes. We’ve always been traditional, how long have we had 20 teams in the Premier League? I don’t know if they’d want another two and not relegate any.
“I’m a firm believer that we have to reconvene when it’s safe and three teams go up from the Championship and three teams come down from the Premier League. That’s the way it should be.
“Teams who are down the bottom, they’ll be voting for no relegation but for the future of the game, I just want to keep it the same. Three go down, three come up.”
Imagine, after all of this, the Premier League season restarts and the title is as good as sorted because of Liverpool’s dominant form and relegation is already settled because no one will be going down.
What will be the point of restarting it if that is the case? If they’re going to scrap relegation then just use the points-per-game model to decide final positions.
We don’t want to see people risking their safety just so a handful of teams can work out whether or not they’ve qualified for Europe.
If football is going to come back soon then it has to come back with everything at stake, as it should be and always has been.
In other West Brom news, West Ham and Sheffield United have made their minds up about Grady Diangana and Callum Robinson’s loan deals at The Hawthorns.
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