Ok, this has got to be the most subjective application of a rule I've seen - Wolves have been fined £25,000 for:
'Not fielding a full-strength team' - how on earth do you decide that? I know this one got done to death a few months back, but it really does defy common sense when all teams rest players
the team fielded in their league fixture against Manchester United on 15 December 2009 was not full strength and therefore in breach of Rule E20.
"The board also deemed that the club had failed to fulfil its obligations to the league and other clubs in the utmost good faith and was therefore in breach of Rule B13.
I did this myself, and as I pointed out then, while the media may report 'ten changes' - at least four of those ten were perfectly acceptable first-team players, so he was almost swapping first and second stringers across two games
If you take that view into account then how can you not question when Liverpool play a defensive midfield and go on to lose to Portsmouth? I had this argument with Robbo - his point was that when Arsenal/United etc rest players in the cup, or before a big European game, they are still aiming to win...right
Even though they don't..., as we've seen three of the big four knocked out of the FA cup, Liverpool crash in the league and Champions' League and so forth - why is this any different? These are managerial decisions that result in defeat being more likely, unless we are saying that McCarthy actually set out to lose, which would be match-fixing, then all we are doing is passing judgement on his team
Only one member of that team was a débutante, about half were regular players (such as Mancienne, Zubar, Foley, and David Jones, who have all played the last five matches) the rest were usually subs - take an example: before Robinho went, City had five major strikers in their squad - if they don't play the ones we decide are the best, then surely they should be fined too?
What we're saying is that Wolves' bench-warmers aren't good enough to play, but teams like Chelsea have a good enough team in reserve...even if they subsequently lose
I'm making no comment of the quality of the Wolves side that went out, simply that it stinks of a subjective, opinionated decision to fine a small team for something that big teams get away with all the time because some people have decided that these players aren't worthy, personally I don't think it's a fair application of the 'law', it's arbitrary and the rule is probably not even workable short of sending out a team of 12-year olds (the Carling Cup presumably doesn't have these rules...)
I presume from now on the Premier League will be informing all managers, especially teams like Hull, West Ham, Burnley etc who they must field each week
1 comments:
That is just about the most stupid decision ever made in the history of football.
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