I think it should be altered to e.g. : - Premiership 18 should play CCC 5 and CCC 3 play 4 over 2 legs than the final as usual. Another option could be: - If the Prem team was left out, which I don't think they should be incidentally. CCC 3 should go straight to the final, 6 plays 5 away, winner of that plays 4 away, then winner plays 3 in final. That way it gives the teams that finish higher up the league a deserved advantage.
Thats how the playoffs started years ago , in a bid to save the team that finished 18th in the old div1 againsy 3rd , 4th and 5th in div 2 , after a few years they scrapped it and used the format that we know today .
I hate to say it but I like the unfairness of the playoffs. Yes it is a pain to finish third and then not go up, but it does give a lot of people something else to look for/play for. If you are far better than all the other you should find yourself in an automatic spot, if you miss out, then tough. If you change it from its current format it will only be changed for the sake of it, and if you do give the team who finished third an advantage, then why not give the fourth place team an advantage over the fifth and sixth placed teams? It works, leave the system alone.
In Norway it's third from the bottom in the Prem (which means 12th out of 14) vs 3rd in the 1st divison. The 1st divison team almost never ever wins this playoff so it's not even fun. The English model is better with the 3-6 teams having a playoff. Maybe it's not fair, but it's a hell of a lot more exciting.
i personally think the whole play off systems a joke,the fact that a team can finish 3rd with 12-15 more points at the end of a season than a team finishing 5th or 6th and then have to play them to justify a place in the premiership is ridiculous,the 3rd team should go up because they've played better and earnt most points(apartfrom top 2 obviously).its no wonder that nearly all the teams promoted via play offs come crashing back down.
