hammers fined!!!

[AJ]

I wonder if Mr Brooking used his influence at the FA to save them from a points deduction

Surely not.......

Heard some rumblings to the effect of the below on talksh!te..

Spurts set a precedent under the football league in the eighties I believe, they fielded 'illegible' players and were fined around 300,000 but no points (I think if points had been taken they would have been relegated that year as well). However under premier league jurisdiction M'boro were docked points for not fulfilling a fixture (due to illness of players) and subsequently went down which is similar but not the same. So I think the "independent" panel looked back in history and took the ruling the football league had handed out to spurts (precedents and all that despite being set by a different governing authority).

I personally go with the Brooking theory and the fact the "independent" panel and FA simply bottled sending them down.

The alternative is thus:-

The Premier League is a completely different beast to the old Football League - it's about the advancement of the few and the many are ignored. The Prem is run by chairman who are after publicity and the pursuit of global business opportunities, and even greater wealth. Players are paid millions and therefore the league attracts the money-obsessed, though not the best, players in the world and ticket prices are through the roof. The flipside of this is the farcical situation with parachute payments and transfer windows that make it incredibly difficult for any team outside of the Premier to break in and compete - particularly the team that comes up in the playoffs and has 8 weeks to assemble a side. The reason - the chairmen run the league and they have to protect their investment. The result - a league where the chairmen are the personalities, the likes of Reading, Wigan, Blackburn and Middlesbro can prosper because they have rich benefactors.

The league knows that West Ham are a biggish club with decent enough support in terms of numbers (pains to say it), so fined them as they knew a points deduction would mean certain relegation. That means chairmen can expect a full away end next year, not a 1000 or so if it's Sheff Utd, Reading et al. The verdict even referred to their large support base, which in any rational mind would be irrelevant when discussing breaches of transfer rules. Plus the 'product' has more appeal when it comes to negotiating sponsorship deals and TV rights if the bigger clubs are in the top drawer. it all comes down to the ? at the end of the day!

 

[loz]

I think it is far more straight forward than that. I think the panel saw West Ham as doomed to relegation anyway and took the opportunity to get a wedge out of them - nobody could have expected West Ham to pull off this relegation escape.

 

[AJ]

I think it is far more straight forward than that. I think the panel saw West Ham as doomed to relegation anyway and took the opportunity to get a wedge out of them - nobody could have expected West Ham to pull off this relegation escape.

I see where your coming from, definitely makes sense, but, I'll be honest and this is a horrible thing to admit to ;-) I had them to stay up unless they were deducted points, the quality of squad (and Tevez's goals once it was clear he could play more to the point) was just to good for them to be relegated, !!! Should have put some money on it really. One good thing to come out of it - it's six points next season.

 

[Lofty]

The latest, and sorry I should have put this post here, is that Blatter is sticking his oar in. Apparently, it's still highly unlikely that West Ham will have points docked for this season, but that there is a better possibility of them having points docked at the start of next season.

 

[AJ]

it's still highly unlikely that West Ham will have points docked for this season, but that there is a better possibility of them having points docked at the start of next season.

Music to the ears down before the season starts, Tevez gone in the summer, 5.5 million quid out of pocket, and six points gained for us...fan-bloody-tastic

 

[Lofty]

Sheffield United today began arbitration proceedings against the Premier League, mainly on two counts. Firstly that the Premier League failed to investigate the Tevez case and to apply proper punishment to West Ham, and secondly against West Ham continuing to play Tevez despite questions over his eligibility According to the Sky report, one, admittedly remote, possibility, is that there will be 21 teams in next season's Premier League.

Sky Sports report here

and from the BBC

 

[AJ]

I really can't see that happening, I am positive there will not be 21 teams in the premier league next year, the chairman of the more successful clubs (top ten teams) would not allow this or fight seriously against it, if nothing else it's another two games and fixture congestion with the European games etc is already sourced as a major problem.