Bloody stressful things but is there a better way? Should they just have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place instead?
The Eredivisie playoffs are just god awful. The convoluted format by itself takes away a lot of suspense. However, it doesn't seem like too many people complain about promotion playoffs, especially in England.
Promotion playoffs are a two edged sword, really. On the one hand, it is utterly unfair for the team that finishes 6th to go up instead of the team that finishes 3rd. The flipside, however, is that it keeps the season alive for the smaller clubs and provides much needed revenue. If you look at the Conference/League 2 levels in particular, considering there's a whopping 46 league fixtures in an English season, a lot of those clubs would be facing financial ruin if it wasn't for the fact that their playoff hopes keep people coming through the turnstyles right to the end of the season. The TV revenue and large gate receipts of a Wembley final are also very important. Provided the top two teams go up, I think they should be looked at as a necessary evil. Championship playoffs on the other hand are an utterly, utterly ludicrous system for obvious reasons.