Sheff Weds Points Deduction Halved - My Reaction #SWFC #EFL #Championship

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[ItsJustWithers]

Listen to all Blunts and Tinpots crying because we’ve had something go for us for a change. Obsessed as usual 😂

[MrJohnberth]

Good on you Wednesday.Clubs should never have points deductions.It only punishes the fans.

[paulhobday]

Take my hat off to you Ben! Amazing, fantastic explained content! You are footballs TOP MAN!

[darrenjoyce]

Very interesting video. I'm a SWFC fan and thought we got a result with deduction of 6 points. I wont be arguing over which season it should have been applied to. Although, it is interesting listening to your view. We now have a good chance of staying up and maybe our chairman starts acting like one. We really need leadership and stability.

[chickens]

Hi Ben - a fairly even handed assessment in my opinion. People might have their objections to the halving of the punishment, but bear in mind the psychological pressure that was put on the Owls by knowing that a punishment was coming, evident from their disastrous performance in the second half of last season. OK, that might not have been the sole reason for the poor performance, but it did weigh heavily, not least on Wednesday fans (like me) who weren't responsible for any of this. Think of this as time spent on remand being deducted from the sentence. And since you're allowing it, might I add that the EFL are indeed a bunch of wallies….

[Nat-]

Thank you explaining it in a simple manner for us simple football fans

[leechurchus]

Wednesday decided to buy big, pay huge wages on the hope of promotion and they almost did it, it was a bit of a gamble but knowing there was a loop hole of selling the stadium to themselves if they didn’t go up, the error was on the part of accounts ( not the only ones to do so I must add!) The aftermath is they now have to operate on a sustainable budget which all clubs should

[alanshaw]

Can you imagine what would be happening if the EFL had relegated SWFC last season. It would cost them Millions as the 6 points would have not relegated them. Also the halving of the punishment has still been a bigger effect than that as they have not been able to bring the players they wanted due to the -12 position in the transfer window. I think that the EFL board and especially the main man need to be removed, they have looked to make an example of SWFC and as you say were always on dodgy ground. They failed and they must go. The EFL still don't accept any responsibility as seen by their statement about the appeal

[MarkPitsmoorOwl]

I think SWFC have been very Unlucky with just how much this as dragged on and damaged ourl transfer market ambitions. The points should have been backdated to 2018 season. But the 6 points off is better than nothing. I thought we would Win the appeal. Massive club SWFC good luck to the OWLS going forward

[matthewmarch]

Consistency is the most important thing to consider here. You're spot on Ben...if clubs commit identical or largely similar infractions in the same time periods, the consequences should be felt by both clubs at the same time. Without this, it really opens the EFL up to criticism and encourages the pitchforks to come out due to some perceived "favorable" or "unfavorable" treatment. Perception is reality to a lot of people (even when the two are not remotely similar) and the EFL could go some way to narrowing that gap by just being consistent and establishing some timeframes.

By the way, I think these "commentary on the news" videos are great! Always look forward to your take!

[richardbeck]

I'm not an expert, however I think what we have seen from clubs appealing punishments to do with FFP tend to win, look at man city for example, they appealed, it goes to an independent court who effectively agree that a football club can spend the money they want. The football governing bodies can impose financial restrictions but in an independent court these don't stick.

[robertshirley]

Refreshing to see a measured, reasoned take on the decision of the League Arbitration Panel (NOT THE EFL!!!).

With regard to the level of points deduction, you're right to say there is a set, sliding scale with the number of points reflecting the level of overspend. We'll know more when the findings are published but, I suspect, the reduction is probably as a result of a level of blame being attributed to the EFL (not SWFC) for the way it was handled, not least their apparent agreement to what the club was doing.

[mikeprior]

Not S.W. specific, but it's all a complete farce without,

1. Consistency.
2. The punishment actually being a deterrent.
(I think any decent manager would happily take a 5 point (See below) deduction for an extra £40-50m to spend on the squad.)
3. Loopholes being closed.
(As it stands it would seem that any stadium "buyer" could "expect" to get planning permission for luxury homes and shopping centres, thereby inflating the value by tens of millions. - Coming soon, thank me later.)
4. Swift action by the E.F.L.
(As far as I'm aware, no team can be punished the following season if they get promoted to the P.L. - They have won the gamble surely.)
This is made more imperative by lawyers' ability to drag things on for months, while getting paid very well for doing so.

As I don't see a further points deduction for S.W being likely, it's all so much worse as the punishment bar has been set so low, allowing future appeals of,
"We weren't as bad as S.W. so we should only get 4 or 5 points deducted."
"Plus we told you about it, so we want an extra 1pt not deducted like Birmingham, taking it down to 3 or 4 points."
"In addition, we also have this

So we are now facing a situation where teams can gamble winning a potential up to £170m (last season's estimate) with no punishment, against losing a handful of points at some point.

At Bristol City, we are lucky enough to have rich owners who play it straight. However, for clubs like us competing against parachute payment clubs, the illegal and "legal cheating" make the P.L. even more distant.

The E.F.L surely aren't stupid enough not to realise what a toothless mess this is, and one that will only get worse and more complicated over time. However, there seems no will or rush to sort it out.

Any name you choose to call them will probably be appropriate.

[inspectorpadgett]

the points should have been taken from the season the offence took place, but the efl didnt want to do tht because it wouldnt relegate swfc and would seem a pointless punishment, then they realised they could’nt take the points from the next season because they left it soo late and swfc would’nt have a fair chance of survival. so the points get taken from this season. they appeal the decision and get six points back, the chairman always stated that everything they did was within the rules, i think they could have got all 12 points back but are accepting of 6. many teams have done the same thing and not even been punished.

[jimwest]

Delighted with the decision but still can't see how the deduction isn't backdated to the correct year. This is a half-way fudge I suspect and Chansiri seems like he will take it and run rather than push it further.

[userwl]

Owls have more points than blunts even -6 points.. WAWAW

[paulflewitt]

I'm not going to try to interpret the outcome without reading the findings in full. I can make an educated guess as to why the deduction was reduced, but it wouldn't be based on fact, just supposition based on Birmingham's verdict.
What I will say is similar to what I said when the original judgement was published, which is that any fan crowing about wanting stiffer punishments and relegations should really consider the position of their own clubs as the FFP ceiling becomes less and less sustainable. We'll increasingly see clubs breaking FFP rules just trying to tread water. In Wednesday's case, they are guilty of an accounting error. They didn't break the rules in selling their ground, but used a loophole that other clubs have also taken advantage of. Frankly, I fear for the future of some clubs who tread a financial tightrope already. I would also say those fans trumpeting about relegations as a punishment should think long and hard, because sympathy may be hard to come by if you end up in a similar position due to your own ambitions.

[jamesallan]

As a Wednesday fan I'm by no means sticking up for the efl, but we have been placed on a couple of transfer embargoes for failing to hand in our accounts on time, which may explain why sanctions and punishments weren't placed closer to the offence as the efl didn't have enough on us at that time. I'm not too sure of where that fits with everything, but I do still agree with you that 18 months was far too long

[tolhaller]

Can you imagine the consternation if Wednesday had been deducted 12pts last season and relegated then given 6 pts back.

[PunkRocker]

Wednesday have been punished far more than just the six points. Recruitment has been hugely impacted because players wouldn’t come due to the fear of relegation nailed on.