ClaphamFox

I remember reading one 'expert' (can't remember which one) suggest a while back that if the PL can't retrospectively apply the rules, they might announce what points deduction would have applied without actually imposing it. This would help to set a precedent for future cases but would not directly affect us. I've no idea whether any of this is true, but I wonder if a dispute over the legality of imposing the rules retrospectively is one of the reasons for the delayed announcement.

It's rare. There is no evidence whatsoever that managers who used to play for their club bring any advantage over those who didn't. If a former player happens to be the most qualified for a vacant manager's position, fine. But when choosing a new manager, no weight should be given to whether he used to play for us.

No. Yes.

1) Does he agree with Stefan Borson that the reason we haven’t heard the outcome of our 23/24 charge is because we’ve breached for 24/25 and that is delaying the announcement? 2) If not, what else might explain the delay? 3) Does he think the two additional 23/24 charges (late submission and lack of co-operation) will stick? 4) Given all the above, what points deduction does he think we will get for 23/24? 5) Given that we’ve basically stopped buying players and will likely shift a few more highly paid players in the summer, does he think our cycle of having PSR issues every season is nearing its end?

I don't blame him for not wanting to forego the £90k per week. I absolutely blame him for doing so while refusing to the job he's paid for.

Wholly expected. And I do understand why somebody would not want to leave one job for a less well-paid job. What I struggle to understand is how Winks can happily continue being the highest paid member of the squad while refusing to show the attitude or application expected of him, putting the club in an impossible position in which we can't benefit from his services nor use his wages to better effect elsewhere. It might be the rational choice financially for him, but he's knowingly causing us a massive headache at what is clearly a very difficult time for the club. You might think that self-respect would come into the equation, but apparently not.

Have a bit of sympathy—he was the victim of a serious assault by the ball.

He should have come on when James went off, but Marti's lack of trust in our younger players led him put Ricardo on instead, who had a stinker.

I don’t think it was arrogance—it looked like embarrassment. They knew they’d been absolutely honking in the second half and were too embarrassed to celebrate. It was very noticeable that in the five minutes of injury time after the equaliser they showed more fight than in the entire 90mins of normal time. Having shown precisely zero effort at 1-0 down, they suddenly seemed to think, “We may as well run around a bit now.” It was as if they thought that chasing an equaliser was beneath them, but they could just about see their way to chasing a winner.

He’s the latest of several managers to discover he does not have it in him to single-handedly fill the void where the club’s soul used to be. It’s a lot to ask of one man and it would take a genuinely elite manager to achieve it. Unfortunately we might struggle to attract one of those.

Vestergaard looked embarrassed that he’d scored.

Leicester are back! Leicester are back! Whooa! Whooa!

Wrexham to get a second.

Kenneth Williams wrote these exact words in his final diary entry before he committed suicide on 15 April 1988, a few days after we drew 1-1 away at West Brom in the old Second Division. David Pleat was manager at the time and the football we were playing was turgid beyond belief. Poor old Ken just couldn’t hack it any more

Do you know what it will be or is this just an evergreen comment that will apply whoever is actually picked?

There are various possible reasons for the delay. First, we were charged with two offences in addition to the PSR breach, which means there is more for the commission to decide on. Second, it's highly likely that we didn't just admit guilt (as Forest did) but robustly defended ourselves against at least some—and possibly all—of the charges, which has made our case more complicated. Third, because this will be the first case heard across jurisdictions (ie, charged by the PL under EFL rules), there may be further legal complexities to iron out. And fourth, as @Globalfox has described, the Commission has a heavy workload and we are just one of several cases they are looking at. Personally I've given up wondering when we'll hear the verdict. It will come when it does.

I was very confident before the Coventry game—I felt certain that it would be one of those games when the team actually showed up. And for 45mins I felt vindicated before the inevitable collapse proved me wrong. I'm more pessimistic tonight than I have been for any game this season. A strong, physical team playing at home that is usually better under the lights and is determined to bounce back from a shock defeat? I just can't see our players standing up to the onslaught they'll face this evening. It would be great if I am again proved wrong, but I can't see it this time.

Why?

We were charged by the PL and our case was reviewed by an independent panel. Neither the EFL nor ourselves will have much say in when the announcement is made. The most likely reasons for the delay are: 1) our case is not being fast-tracked because we’re not currently in the PL; 2) we likely haven’t admitted the charges but have strongly contested them, making our case more complicated than some previous ones; and 3) because ours will be the first ‘cross-jurisdiction’ case (ie, we were charged by the PL under EFL rules) and will therefore set a precedent for future cases, the panel will need to make its judgement as detailed and legally watertight as possible, which is adding time to the proceas.

As do I. I just think today will be a day on which the team sows further confusion about its merits by defying expectations with a decent performance and a result.

I’ve got a weird feeling that tomorrow will be one of those rare games when the team actually shows up. Not sure about the result, but I think we’ll give them a proper game. Not sure why—just a hunch.

Coventry will be the fourth team we've played twice this season after Derby, Sheff Utd and West Brom. We outplayed and beat Derby on both occasions. We were outplayed and beaten by Sheff Utd on both occasions. Against West Brom we scored an injury time goal to scrape a draw away, then scored an injury time goal to scrape a win at home (although a draw would have been fair). These results imply that we seem to be better suited to playing some sides than others, and that this remains consistent whether we are home or away. Against Coventry at home we were marginally the better side and probably should have won, although a draw wasn't an unreasonable reflection of the game. We were pretty evenly matched. I think it will be tight again tomorrow, ending in a draw or a narrow win for either side.

The lack of announcement might simply mean that the PL hasn't charged any clubs for 2022-25 and just decided not to put a press release out. However, as @Terraloon explains above, that won't necessarily let us off the hook as it's likely that if we're charged for 2022-25, the EFL will do it—and they don't seem to work to a specific deadline. It's been nearly eight weeks since our hearing for 2021-24 ended, which seems a long time for the commission to still be deliberating (the previous longest period between hearing and decision was four weeks). I have no idea why, but I think it's probably down to our case being more complicated because it's the first time jurisdiction has transferred between bodies and, possibly, because we've identified yet more ambiguities in the rules that have muddied the waters. I think the only thing we can safely conclude at this stage is that our case has not been a straightforward one—if it was, we'd have heard the verdict by now.

Yea, I agree (hence my comment about us not being off the hook even if we’re not charged today). However I also wonder if we are being charged by the EFL under PL rules, there may be a joint EFL/PL announcement today along with any PL charges for other clubs. That would seem the logical way to do it—which of course means they probably won’t do it that way…

I assume the PL will announce any PSR charges for 24/25 today (in previous seasons it’s been on the 14th or the 15th). It won’t necessarily mean we’re off the hook if we’re not charged today, but one potential source of bad news could be removed from the equation….