Christian Burgess: Portsmouth's season decided by a computer? Think of what we would've lost

Three years and three days before Pompey played their last game of this suspended season, a landmark win at Crawley signalled the start of an improbable run which culminated in the League Two title being won on the final day.

There’d been no sign of such an imperious sequence of wins arriving, as 10 wins and a draw were harvested from the final 12 games.

As that run gathered pace, Doncaster Rovers needed a single victory from their final five games to be confirmed as champions. They blew it.

Even going into the final day the odds were stacked against Paul Cook’s side, but as Plymouth wobbled the Blues came through and took the title after being top of the table for all of 34 minutes all season.

These are unfathomable, unpredictable and unquantifiable events which make football the beautiful game it is.

And it’s why the prospect of models like points per game deciding the season doesn’t sit right for the defender.

‘It’s tough,’ said Burgess, with yesterday’s EFL statement ruling the method one of two outcomes for the season.

‘How do you take in form? Do you have to take in how a club is doing overall in a season, number of games played how far you’ve gone in competitions and still maintained the level elsewhere?

‘Look at the season we went up and the run towards the end of it.

‘You can look at Doncaster needing one win from the last five games and ending up losing them.

‘That’s just what I’ve been involved in. There will be countless examples of thing like that happening through the year.

‘You look at Great Escapes and teams coming through and staying up. Teams like Tranmere would be looking to emulate that - but under PPG they would be relegated.

‘It’s one of those things that’s pretty harsh to end nine games before the end of the season.

‘I know nobody can do anything about it but if possible it would be better to finish the season.

‘There’s so many factors. We’ve got Rotherham to play, Oxford and Ipswich.

‘Although they are all away and our form suggests that’s not great this season, who’s to say we can’t go there and get some great results?

‘It’s tough having your season decided by a computer and statistics when there’s a lot more to football than that.’

Burgess, like everyone else, has watched the ebbs and flows of the narrative surrounding the fate of League One football.

A definitive outcome is now close ahead of club’s voting on their preferred outcome for the campaign.

Burgess added: ‘You are optimistic and you hear a little bit of good news.

‘Then you see something else and you’re more pessimistic.

‘It’s one of those things you don’t like to keep hearing about. You need to hear something concrete.

‘There’s so much speculation.

‘There’s a WhatsApp group I’m involved in with a few of the League One boys from every club

‘The PFA are involved in that as well.

‘They’ve said they don’t want to say anything and don't listen to the speculation.

‘We’ll let you know when there’s something concrete idea of what’s going to happen.

‘So we’ll wait to see what happens now.

‘Everyone has their own arguments and their own interests.

‘But it’s never going to be the same as playing out the games.’