Greed in football knows no boundaries

I IMAGINE it’s been a pretty good week for the top brass at the Premier League. Not only have they got away without the slightest bit of criticism over the Carlos Tevez affair, but they’ve saved themselves a few bob in the process.

West Ham and Sheffield United settled out of court last week with a figure of £20 million over five years believed to be paid to the Blades by the Hammers. In itself it looks like an admission of guilt from West Ham’s hierarchy, but for most football fans after two years of hearing the same story over and over again, it felt like the end, or so they thought.

Now former Blades manager Neil Warnock and his Sheffield United team of the time are threatening to sue West Ham for loss of earnings. There is an argument that they have a case, but where does this end? Surely Sheffield United supporters have a case for missing out on watching Premier League football.

While it appears West Ham were not as forthcoming with the facts about the third party involvement in the signing of Tevez in 2007 as they have led us to believe, they were punished at the time of committing the crime. £5.5 million by the Premier League to be exact. Should they have been docked points at the time which would have certainly seen them relegated? The answer after this week’s out of court settlement appears to be yes.

With West Ham eight points shy of safety when the Premier League made its announcement two years ago, clearly the thinking behind the decision was that the Hammers were already doomed, so a fine would be more appropriate. That was the Premier League’s decision made at the time, right or wrong and as far as they were concerned they paid their dues. The fact Sheffield United failed to stay up was as a result of their own shortfalls over the course of the season, including being unable to beat Wigan Athletic – a team in a similar position – on the last day of the season.

Rather than launching a campaign for compensation – a figure they believed to be in the region of £50 million – from West Ham, why on earth didn’t they put all their efforts into campaigning against the Premier League’s decision. Kevin McCabe and Sheffield United never gave up, and fair play to them for that, but surely their efforts would have been better served in trying to actually regain Premier League status, rather than chasing the pound note.

Will £20 million, at £4 million a year, get them back in the Premier League and will it all be spent on trying to do so? Who knows. But one thing is for sure, the Premier League have got away with making their decision scot-free and allowed one of their clubs to carry the can for it.

What do you think?


Glenn Pearson