Exclusive: Phillips would rather West Brom season be voided than decided by PPG
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 would support nulling and voiding the entire season if the EFL cannot find a way to play out all of the remaining fixtures.
West Brom have nine matches left to play of their Championship season but are six points clear of Fulham and have been in the top-two places for almost the entire campaign.
It has been suggested that if the season cannot be finished then a points-per-game system will be used to decide the final standings. However, it seems as though the Premier League is likely to resume behind closed doors at some stage and that has caused an issue among those in danger of relegation from the top-flight.
Last week, Norwich’s sporting director Stuart Webber spoke out to say that if the Canaries are relegated after playing all of their matches, they shouldn’t be replaced by a team who has been awarded promotion without playing all of their fixtures.
West Brom could replace Norwich based on current league positions and although he is a firm favourite among the Baggies faithful, Phillips sees Webber’s point and has backed scrapping the entire season as though it never happened if the games cannot be played.
“I think it’s fair,” Phillips told West Brom News. “I’ve said all along that I don’t think anybody should be promoted or relegated without the season finishing because, in my opinion, it’s not fair.
“It’s unfortunate and people will be disappointed but the season hasn’t been finished. That’s why we’re all hoping we can reconvene at some point and get it done.
“If the Premier League starts and Norwich get relegated, they’ve played their season out and the Championship hasn’t and West Brom get promoted.
“I just don’t see it as being fair. I know we’re talking about a points-per-game system but I don’t see that as a fair conclusion either.
“If there’s no way we can get the season started then, for me, the season would just have to be voided and we move onto next season. We’d just have to accept it and get on with it.”
As much as we want to see West Brom promoted and Aston Villa relegated, we can kind of see Webber’s point.
However, there is no denying that on the basis of the season so far, the Baggies and Leeds deserve to win promotion and the current bottom-three in the Premier League deserve relegation.
In other West Brom news, Jimmy Shan has sent a message to this 21-year-old player after he announced he was leaving the Baggies.