The end of season playoffs, whilst often deemed a lottery, are often associated with teams failing due to "running out of steam after a long season", or "legs have gone". Certainly, after a punishing 50-odd game season, having to get through 2/3 more, especially when the stakes are so high and the rewards for winning are so great, must be extremely tough. It must be a fitness coach's nightmare. So, you'd want the players to be as fresh as possible.
The EFL Trophy has, as we know, come in for a lot of stick since its revamp in 2016. We've now had 4 seasons of it, and the argument between boycotting for moral reasons and attending to support the team rumbles on. My stance has always been one of hoping that we get knocked out as soon as possible, and here's why. Since 2016/17, let's take a look at the teams that have made the EFL playoffs who also made at least the semi final of the EFL Trophy:
2016/17 - Luton
2017/18 - Shrewsbury
2017/18 - Lincoln
2018/19 - Portsmouth
2018/19 - Sunderland
2019/20 - Exeter
2019/20 - Portsmouth
Spot the trend?
They all lost in the playoffs. 4 of them in the semi finals, too. Maybe they were tactically outclassed, maybe they were unlucky. Or maybe, just maybe, if they'd been a little fresher having played a few fewer games earlier in the season...
It's not impossible to have a successful season in the league as well as doing well in the Trophy, granted. But it's all about probability. In the 4 seasons since its induction, of the 28 teams promoted from Leagues 1 and 2, an incredible 27 of them have been knocked out of the Trophy earlier than the quarter final stage. The one exception: Ryan Lowe's Bury. So it's not impossible - but highly improbable.
In conclusion - I want Plymouth Argyle to continue to get knocked out in the group stage as we have been doing so admirably in the past 4 seasons. And as the above shows, if we abandon that approach and start taking the Trophy seriously, it reduces the chances of us getting promoted - especially via the playoffs. If it had been us rather than Exeter that made it all the way to the semi finals of the Trophy this season, that might have made the tiny bit of difference between 3rd and 4th. We might have been watching Argyle getting pumped by Northampton in the playoffs, and contemplating another season in League 2.
Keep up the boycott. Wanting Argyle to lose in the Trophy does not make you any less of a fan.
The EFL Trophy has, as we know, come in for a lot of stick since its revamp in 2016. We've now had 4 seasons of it, and the argument between boycotting for moral reasons and attending to support the team rumbles on. My stance has always been one of hoping that we get knocked out as soon as possible, and here's why. Since 2016/17, let's take a look at the teams that have made the EFL playoffs who also made at least the semi final of the EFL Trophy:
2016/17 - Luton
2017/18 - Shrewsbury
2017/18 - Lincoln
2018/19 - Portsmouth
2018/19 - Sunderland
2019/20 - Exeter
2019/20 - Portsmouth
Spot the trend?
They all lost in the playoffs. 4 of them in the semi finals, too. Maybe they were tactically outclassed, maybe they were unlucky. Or maybe, just maybe, if they'd been a little fresher having played a few fewer games earlier in the season...
It's not impossible to have a successful season in the league as well as doing well in the Trophy, granted. But it's all about probability. In the 4 seasons since its induction, of the 28 teams promoted from Leagues 1 and 2, an incredible 27 of them have been knocked out of the Trophy earlier than the quarter final stage. The one exception: Ryan Lowe's Bury. So it's not impossible - but highly improbable.
In conclusion - I want Plymouth Argyle to continue to get knocked out in the group stage as we have been doing so admirably in the past 4 seasons. And as the above shows, if we abandon that approach and start taking the Trophy seriously, it reduces the chances of us getting promoted - especially via the playoffs. If it had been us rather than Exeter that made it all the way to the semi finals of the Trophy this season, that might have made the tiny bit of difference between 3rd and 4th. We might have been watching Argyle getting pumped by Northampton in the playoffs, and contemplating another season in League 2.
Keep up the boycott. Wanting Argyle to lose in the Trophy does not make you any less of a fan.