ED Pubs and foreign football

[Asset]

got you - I remember that now.

[Keef]

SimonM Wrote:

> Understandable at the time. Benitez had just

> fielded a second XI away to Fulham, who duly won

> 1-0 - a result that saved them from relegation. It

> also exlains why, when asked whom he thought woudl

> succeed as manage at United, he answered deadpan

> "Rafael Benitez" >:D me that Liverpool, having disrespected the Premier

> league, should fail to win the Champions League.

Sorry, but I think that's total bo!!ocks! A manager of a team can field whoever they bloody want, and they will put their team first. Had Liverpool been playing the blades indtead of Fulham, he would have fielded the same team, and Warnock would have been happy about it!

If (and this is unlikely) a Warnock team ever get to a cup final, you can bet your bottom dollar he will have that game in mind when selecting his team for the last couple of league games... Assuming of course that those games are not important to his team, which is also unlikely, as his team will probably be in a relegation scrap! >:D<

[Jah Lush]

Spot on Keef, well said.(tu)

[mockney piers]

Well said that man.

It all boils down to sour prescient grapes at the end of the next day.

If the Blades bid is successful I shall be a whiny little turd forever more, complaining about what a bunch of whiny little turds Sheffield Utd / Charlton / Wigan / Fulham were.

* points taken SimonM, edited accordingly*

[SimonM]

Sheffield United, Charlton, Wigan & Fulham all made it clear from the start they would not let this matter rest - long before any of them were confirmed as relegated/not relegated. So it can hardly be classed as "sour grapes". I have yet to see any premier league club come out in vocal support for the scandalously lenient "punishment" the so-called "independent commission" handed out to West Ham.

And yes, of course a manager can put out any side he wants, and any other manager whose team is adversely affected by (real or imagined) sharp practice is free to comment on it.

[Keef]

Free to comment yes. I in turn am free to think it was a nasty bitter comment, and hold it against him.

As for the whole situation with West Ham, you are right, it's not only Shef U who have complained about it. What I want to know is exactly what the rules say about punishments for this sort of thing... If they state that this breach of the rules is punishable by a 3 point deduction, then it's black and white, and West Ham should be docked the 3 points... Basically, the real issue here is that the league need to make their rules very clear, and those rules need to be punished in a uniform manner. At least then no one is left in any doubt.

[SimonM]

Everyone expected a points deduction (including West Ham): precedent strongly indicated a points deduction would be imposed (see Middlesbrough a few years back). The fact that a points deduction was the normal sanction was emphasised inadvertently by the Commission itself when it saw fit to add an excruciatingly long and unconvincing list of reasons to its "judgement" as ro why a points deduction had not been imposed. I think really the rules and regulations were quite clear until the Commission totally bollixed things up

[Keef]

It's a very fair point regarding consistency and Boro. However, there is still no guideline regarding punishments... In a court of law, a particular crime will carry a minimum and maximum punishment. The Judge then decides what s/he feels is appropriate in that case. The lack of these guidelines effectively means that the league can do what they want, and however unfair it may be, no one can really argue against them, because they can just say so what.

[mockney piers]

ha ha ha ha

"Against this backdrop, the Premier League confirmed yesterday that it is now looking at whether [sheffield] United themselves transgressed the U18 rule - a regulation that covers a broad range of offences, and which West Ham broke over Tevez - over the sale of the striker Steve Kabba to Watford in January this year.

United insisted that Watford, who paid ?500,000 for the player, could not field him against them at Bramall Lane in April, in a match that Watford subsequently lost.

Such clauses are not permitted in transfers between Premier League clubs, and while a similar situation occurred with Everton's goalkeeper Tim Howard against his old club Manchester United, those clubs escaped disciplinary action as there was no formal agreement between them.

If the League finds evidence of a rule breach in the Kabba case, theoretical punishments include fines or a points deduction. The precedent of the West Ham case could be used, another irony as United are calling for a points penalty."

[SimonM]

This is old news, brought again to the fore by digruntled West Ham fans in the media. The premier league would not dare penalise Sheffield United for, what is after all a long established practice, after letting Man Utd off for the same "transgression" :))

[mockney piers]

Aah, but we all know the FA are Man U fans (especially the refs)

[Annasfield]

Mockney Piers - is your real name Mourinho? ;-)

[mockney piers]

I do like melons, and some might say I'm a hamper short of a picnic.

[Annasfield]

Ugly melons or nice looking ones?

[mockney piers]

Canteloupe

* and i love the implicit assertion in your post that my real name is Mockney Piers!! ;-)

[Annasfield]

Is it not?!::o