They seem to have been a pawn in some bizarre Far East speculator's games. There was nothing significantly wrong with Wigan's finances, beyond the normal chaos of every Championship club, and they were put into administration it seems to wipe out the recently (and suspiciously) acquired debts of someone who maybe doesn't even exist. It's all very murky. Good article here: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ed-into-administration-au-yeung-investigation If the intent of a points deduction is to prevent unwise spending decisions or a team getting a competitive advantage by scrapping a load of debt, it's harder to argue either scenario applies to Wigan. They've already lost players on the cheap in the last month.
This is interesting, thanks. It seems to me it would be very difficult for the EFL to not uphold the points deduction. Not only would it be unfair now on Barnsley, but it would mean a judgement would have to be made on every administration case. In a way it's not dissimilar to the L*t*n case a few years ago when the current owners were penalised for the financial misdemeanours of former ones but still had to suffer docked points. On the other hand Wigan would surely be due some kind of compensation (not financial?) if a subsequent investigation shows they have been the victim of fraud. The main issue here looks like another failure of the infamous 'fit and proper persons test' for potential club owners.
I assume it'll go to an independent panel to decide now. The EFL has, in a way, already upheld the points deduction by imposing it as its rules require it to do. There was some talk early on I think that they might not even do that but I imagine that would have been subject to challenge. And I think short of banning foreign owners there's no meaningful way for the EFL to stop this sort of thing. Its staff obviously have no jurisdiction outside of football and while I suppose it can get some cooperation from Companies House and HMRC etc here, the EFL have got no ability at all to investigate foreign dealings and interests. It relies on the paperwork prospective owners submit. The test really isn't designed to act as a vetting process beyond the basics. If someone isn't a convicted fraudster, isn't currently in prison, isn't a current bankrupt, has proof of funds on paper etc there's little the EFL can legally do to prevent them taking over. Even if it did take a stand to stop them, it could well end up in costly litigation. It's up to the government to bring forward laws to really sort this out.
Think the owner has done the dirty on them. Buying them up. Approved by the FL. Then saying he had no funds and shady links to betting syndicates on them to be relegated. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1279000646335836163.html
Hope they go up. They would crucify us with their pace, skill and understanding even if they lost a player or two.
How have they got in this position? Until recently they were almost always in the bottom two divisions (much like Bournemouth), occasionally pushing for promotion to the second tier, but almost never succeeding (and the one time they did they went straight back down).
Excellent. Hopefully a Brentford Fulham final. I was looking at Cardiff and Swansea and they both have aging squads and won’t be much of threat next season. I really hope Brentford go up. Fulham will most likely lose Mitrovic if they don’t go up which makes them significantly weaker. Granted Brentford would probably lose 4-6 of their players to lower league Prem teams/some team around Europe, but I just like the idea of Brentford being in the Prem.
Insanely good scouting system, and, for now, and a very forward-thinking ownership. Be interesting to see how they go now, they're on the brink of promotion, how will their approach change if they go up (ours changed massively, and certainly not all for the better), how would they bounce back if they fail to win promotion and lose the core of their squad?
Swansea are your typical Championship play-off team, a long way off being ready for the Premier League, and relying on a lot of loan players who may not be there next season (you'd certainly expect Brewster to be given a go somewhere in the Premier League). Cardiff aren't the most talented of sides, but they're well-drilled but hopefully (assuming they don't do the impossible and go up from this position!) they are at the end of their cycle and can't kick on. Fulham are a weird one, a lot of talented individuals in that squad, but not so much a coherent team, like their last game, they seem to be relying on moments of brilliance (and not just from their main man, they've won 4 out of 4 in games he's missed since the restart)
It's obvious Brentford are gonna lose a lot of players if they don't go up, but knowing them, they may well react by signing a load of new players ready to take the Championship by storm. Probably rather they go up, not least because they're a joy to watch
If Brentford do go up I might adopt them as my PL team on a temporary basis until we bounce back to the PL
IMO Brentfords advantage isn't scouting, most clubs at this level have good scouting, and it isn't collecting data, most clubs at this level have data coming out their ears. Their advantage is understanding what all the information actually means (context) and from that make focused decisions. It will be interesting to see how they get on in the PL. Initially I suspect very well but it won't be sustainable. Lots of clubs have had smart operating models but I can't think of one which has established itself in the PL. You can't work smart and find better players than your opponents when your opponents have the best players in the world. In the PL revenue is king. Gino is right in that respect, the way to establish as a PL club is to grow revenue.
Me too but I will keep WFC as my second team as long as they make a good start and retain Sarr, Doucs, GD and of course Deeney.
Largely agree but I don't think "revenue" is king. I think the personal wealth of the owners is king, as long as you can afford to back your management to pay £50m for a footballer on a 4 year contract and not really care if you ever see a return, you'll survive and do well. Only the very largest clubs can truly operate profitably and outside that only the wealthiest can confortably survive, not really caring if they make a profit or a loss. A team's TV and gate revenue is quickly swallowed up in player salaries, transfer fees and agent fees as we saw.
Which brings us around to Norwich's approach, who have been promoted to the PL 4 times this century and returned quickly without spending a huge amount of money, their method seems to me as a means for long term viability as a business.
When do you consider a promoted club is 'established' in the PL? Is it just down to time? Were we established after 4 years at the start of this season? Were Swansea after 7 years, or Stoke after 10? Or are there some other criteria?
Doesn't having a fair amount of cash (like with Bournemouth) also have something to do with it? That would help not so much in signing the best players (as Brentford are a small club without a lot of prestige, so it would be hard to attract them) as in retaining the best of what they've already got. In previous seasons, like other lower league clubs, they'd put together a good team, presumably from their academy and astute signings of talented players on an upward curve, but after a season or two when they'd failed to win promotion they'd sell their best players to balance the books and end up struggling or even relegated to League 2, and then rinse and repeat. I presume it's different now because thanks to more money they can build a good squad for the long haul and become competitive in the Championship and maybe even in the Premier League.
We would all have different definitions, mine would be something like 7 or 8 of the last 10 years spent in the PL.
Bournemouth have accepted a £41m bid from Man City for Nathan Ake. They turned down £70m last season. Wow, big loss on that for them.
They don't spend that much (net spend was modest this season, and the last few seasons before this they made a profit), I don't know how much they spend in wages (which is the more accurate way of saying where a club 'should' be), but I don't think it's anywhere near as much as the bigger clubs in the division. They may not be a 'prestigious' club, but they're well-known for being an especially good club for developing young talent (especially in Denmark), think I heard the comms say that they wanted this squad to make one big push for promotion hence they kept a hold of a lot of their talent who will obviously leave if they don't go up
Hmmm, that's actually more than I thought they'd get for him, annoying, because they really do need the money. Hopefully they don't make too much more money, and hopefully it does set a precedent which we can benefit from. I saw Everton were linked with Sarr and Doucoure, we can probably persuade them to spend the best part of £200 for the both of them!
Apparently they're keeping a hold of Marc Guehi from Chelsea (which is probably why Wilmot didn't play so often there)
So, Fulham or Brentford then. I guess I'm glad the Championship will lose a good side, although in fairness Cardiff will be one of those tough games that nobody will be looking forward to
Cardiff have an aging squad. Their biggest threat came from long throws into the box. Just need Brentford to go up now.
