Doncaster Rovers boss Darren Moore says season should be voided if it cannot be completed

Doncaster Rovers manager Darren Moore believes the only way to avoid opening ‘a huge can of worms’ is to void the 2019/20 season entirely if it cannot be completed on the pitch.
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A number of potential methods have been mooted to decide the outcome of the campaign should it be deemed that it cannot be completed on the pitch. This includes European governing body UEFA’s recommendation of ‘sporting merit’ which is likely to involve organising final standings based on points per game averages.

Moore believes there will be objections raised whatever method is used but feels voiding the season would be the least worst option, even though Rovers could still make the League One play-offs.

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“I think the only way you can get out of it now is just saying ‘it is what it is, it’s one of those things’,” Moore told the Free Press. “Even looking at Liverpool in their current situation [25 points clear at the top of the Premier League], I think you can only null and void it.

Darren MooreDarren Moore
Darren Moore

“Even though people might kick off, how could people turn around if the government said for the safety of all we think it should shut down and we’ll look at a later date about how and when the new season can start.”

He added: “You’re opening up a whole can of worms if you’re promoting and relegating teams.

“If you send the top two up from the Championship and bring the bottom two down from the Premier League for example. The team third bottom are given a stay of execution because there’s going to be no play-offs - but Aston Villa could then turn around and say they’ve got a game in hand.

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“If you’re going down the points per game route, it’s a real can of worms.

Darren MooreDarren Moore
Darren Moore

“As a club or player, would I feel like I deserved to be promoted? Would I be sitting in a false position because someone has decided that’s how it should be sorted?”

Moore thinks it would be wrong to use form to date as a determining factor as the final stretch of the season is the most unpredictable run of fixtures.

“This is the time of the season where, as a player, you can get a mental block and you can get funny results,” he said.

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“It’s the time of the season where you find yourself going ‘where have they come from? They’ve put an incredible run together.’ A lot of it is mental.

“So how can you reward teams because of form?

“Leeds, West Brom and Fulham are all contesting the automatic spots in the Championship at the moment. There’s seven points in it but there are still nine games left.

“How can you say any team will definitely get promoted? At this stage of the season when you can see the finishing line, you just don’t know.

“If you’re going down that route you’re opening up a can of worms and you’ve got to be very careful.”

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The Rovers boss remains in favour of completing the campaign by conventional means but does not think that will be possible should the green light not be given inside the next week for players to resume training.

In their most recent ruling on a return to training, the EFL said squads should not report back until May 16 at the earliest.

While an update is expected once the government rules on whether lockdown measures can be relaxed at all, Moore says time is running out to get players back into training in order to complete the season by July 31.

“I think if we get a couple of weeks down the line and we’re no clearer than what we are now, I think then it’s got to have serious implications about cancelling the season,” Moore said.

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“It just tells me that it’s not safe to do so and that is how I’m going about it.

“If we are to return before the end of May then okay. My mind would say ‘right, okay, it is what it is and we’ll finish the season.’

“If not, then you have to think it is not safe. Staff and players are no different to anyone in society.”

The July 31 date is significant for clubs as it is the end point for payments to players whose contracts expire this summer.

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Contracts officially end on June 30 but clubs are required to pay a severance fee to cover July in the event of a player not finding new employment.

The EFL are understood to have presented options to clubs for how to deal with the issue - including asking players to play for nothing if the season goes beyond the end of July.

But Moore believes the matter will prove far too complicated to rectify - particularly due to the financial implications on clubs of the enforced shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“You’ll get to the point where clubs say that if it goes beyond that, they cannot pay the players because they haven’t got the revenue,” he said.

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“They’ll say can’t pay players in August because their contracts ran out at the end of July. The League might turn around say ‘just pay them’ but clubs will say they can’t afford it.

“And mid-table clubs will ask themselves why are they paying them if they can’t go up or down? They’ll think they might as well release so and so on X amount of pounds and play the kids.

“There’s a load of problems that will come on the horizon if the season doesn’t start now and finish before the end of July.”

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