ClaphamFox

Could be Benitez now we’ve signed Lascelles.

We may be finding that the stronger candidates are reluctant to join while we have a points deduction hanging over us, and the ones that are willing to join despite the looming points deduction aren’t very appealing. Which means we either stick with King until the summer or appoint an interim, and are sounding out candidates for the temporary gig.

Seagrave be like…

You may be right. I was impressed with his media interviews before and after the Charlton game—he had more steel about him than I expected. And the way the team responded early in the second half on Saturday suggested he must have given them a rocket at half time, which is something that Marti never seemed to do. It may seem counterintuitive given the result, but after Saturday's game I felt slightly more relaxed about King doing it for a bit longer. I'd certainly prefer that to Russell getting the job.

But surely if Russell was dictating transfer policy, it would be done already? And it it was done but not announced, we'd at least be seeing a few media stories and movement in the betting markets. I'll be very, very surprised if it's Russell. We need somebody who will do something different with this group of players and there's no indication that Russell would be any different from Marti.

If Brussel is the next manager, what's stopping us announcing it? He's a free agent so no negotiations with another club to worry about. Why would we delay it?

Hopefully he'll be on the pitch instead of Ayew, not with him.

Hopefully. Lascelles and Nelson seems the obvious choice.

All good points. Do you have a view on where the reports of a 10-point deduction—which have appeared in various places and are always stated with conviction (as if it's an open secret)—might be coming from? Could the club be leaking stories of a worst case scenario while hoping for a better one?

Yes, I've also been wondering about this. The guy on BBC Final Score the other week did imply that somebody at the club had told him that we're expecting a 10-point deduction. And yes, it would be very much in the club's interests to create a narrative that we're going to be hit with 10 points and then claim a victory when it turns out to be less. I definitely would not rule this out.

I'm still not convinced the delay has had anything to do with the transfer window. But if that was the reason, we should indeed hear very soon. Otherwise, yes, it's possible that legal discussions/arguments are taking place. Ordinarily I would assume that the verdict would be announced and then we'd launch our appeal, but maybe we're in discussions with the PL over some kind of compromise deduction that we don't appeal. Alternatively, maybe we're robustly challenging one or both of the additional charges because of the wording of the rule book, and the IC is struggling to resolve it?

On the WYS deadline day special yesterday, OPA said that "all indications are" that the announcement is imminent and that the points deduction will be "substantial", which is consistent with various other reports over the past few weeks. Somebody is clearly feeding this line to the media, but it's not clear who. Has the IC made its decision and informed all parties, which would suggest that somebody at the PL or the club is leaking the outcome to the media? Or has the IC still not announced its decision and somebody at the club or the PL is merely guessing at the outcome and informing the media about that? Either way, the radio silence remains defeaning.

We don't currently have a manager, so the alternative to making the signings without a manager was not making any signings at all. Would that have been less disgraceful? Marti should have been sacked earlier, but the fact that we find ourselves without a manager during the transfer window is not a reason to avoid bringing in desperately needed reinforcements. And the fact that all four signings seem to be loans would suggest we only recruited for the rest of this season anyway. Whoever takes the job on a permanent basis will presumably have a major say in the summer signings, of which there will be plenty.

Except not Martin.

Presumably one of Richards or Mukasa will be playing as striker.

Fine, but it was still a daft fake rumour to post.

No, loan.

We absolutely needed to strengthen the defence. Whether Lascelles stays fit enough to do that is a different matter, but signing a centre half was logical.

Mukasa and Richards confirmed.

My hot take on this transfer is that I think Lascelles will bring much-needed experience to our struggling defence, and in that sense he sounds just what we need on paper. However, I've heard from contacts at Newcastle that he's a bit injury prone, so that may be a concern. You're all very welcome.

I strongly suspect that's the plan (the bringing Antonio back bit, not the bit about him getting injured again).

The PL/EFL do not control the timing of the Commission's verdict. However, once the verdict has been reached, it is the PL that announces it—the IC does not make the announcement itself. The PL might work in partnership with the club over the timing of the announcement, but I don't think it is obliged to. One of the many theories that have done the rounds on here is that the verdict has been reached but the PL has agreed a request from the club to hold back the announcement until after the transfer window shuts. Personally I don't believe this theory, but if I'm wrong I suppose we may find out the deduction tomorrow...

Is there even a clear sense of what kind of sanctions are likely for the two additional charges if the IC upholds them? Are they even punishable with additional points deductions?

It won’t be.

"Ok, fine. But 12 points, not 10, ok?" (Unfortunately Rudkin answered the phone).