Thetownend.com

Cant see it happening now. It will be bent if they change there mind. They decided a fine was enough so why cant Sheff Utd fucking accept it. They had there chance to stay up and blew it. End of!

Sheff Utd were relegated because they were shit. End of.

Yes, but playing Devil's Advocate here... Surely West Ham should have been religated because they were MORE shit than Sheff United? The only reason they were less shit is because they signed a player illegally - take away the points he earned them and West Ham should have gone down.

Ah, but that's not strictly true, is it?

West Ham registered the player with the FA and were up front about the circumstances. IIRC, at the time he and Masharano (sp) joined West Ham, it was common knowledge that their registrations were held by a 3rd party.

The only people who fucked up here are at the FA, which, imo, is why they didn't get a points deduction.

Batch is right, if ever there was a team that was kept up by a single player it was West Ham this last season. Take away the goals that Tevez scored or set up in the last 10 games and they would have finished about 10-15 points behind Sheff U.

Yeah, the point I was trying to badly make myself.

West Ham lied about the transfer - fact. Take off the points Tevez gained them, they'd be down - fact.

Seems a pretty black and white decision to me.

You also forget that the regime and manager that signed Tevez and Mascherano are no longer at the club, so I think it would be extremely harsh to punish their current board, Curbishley and their fans.

How can you possibly tell how many points West Ham would have won/lost without Tevez?
quote]

You can't. Which is why the FA and League usually react to any breaches of rules around player eligibility by removing the club from the relevant competition or deducting all the points gained in every game the offendng player had played in.

And in that case, West Ham would have ended up pretty much bottom.

never gonna happen

West Ham have too much sway .. with Man Utd .. I mean the FA  :wink:

I do not want to see any club being demoted due to some red tape issue.  The signings of Tevez and Maschareno may not have been as clear cut as they should have been but I do not see a need for points deduction.

Sheff Utd need to take this on the chin and prepare for next season as if they carry on like this it could affect next season which would be a nightmare for them.

I'm getting fed up of all this, even though I do think the Premier League pulled a fast one by delaying it to virtually the end of the season before the punishment, but at the end of the day when it came to the final game of the season it was in their own hands...and they screwed it up !!

Premier League...You're having a laugh !!

I can see Sheff Utd getting relegated from the Championship next season if they carry on like this......if they aren't careful they'll end up with minimal preparations for the new season and spend it feeling sorry for themselves. They just need to accept it and move on, if they are a Premiership team as they would like us to believe then they will get promoted again. Simple

Exactly. If you can't beat Wigan at home you deserve to go down.

Sheffield United's bid to regain their Premiership status appears to be over after their bid to see West Ham docked points was dismissed.
An arbitration panel upheld the Premier League's decision not to dock the Hammers points over the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Sheffield United launched an appeal after they went down on the last day of the season and West Ham stayed up.

West Ham had earlier been fined £5.5m for their handling of the duo's deals.

A statement on Sheffield United's website said: "We are obviously very disappointed by this conclusion.

"In particular, in circumstances where the tribunal recognised that the outcome of the decision turned out to be 'unfortunate in the extreme', and that Sheffield United have done nothing wrong to merit this outcome."

The Blades had wanted the panel to order a new disciplinary commission to deal with the London club.

 The tribunal had sympathy for Sheffield United's grievances ... but it was impossible to find that the decision to fine West Ham was irrational or perverse."

Ruling from arbitration panel
Sheffield United also lost another claim - made jointly with Fulham - that the Premier League should have forced West Ham to de-register Tevez.

A statement from the arbitration panel read: "The tribunal have found in favour of the FA Premier League on both issues and dismissed the claims of Sheffield United FC and Fulham FC."

The three-man panel, headed by retired High Court judge Sir Philip Otton, did not have the power to change West Ham's punishment but could have ordered a new independent commission to judge the case.

The ruling from the arbitration panel said Sheffield United would not normally have been allowed to dispute another club's punishment but that there were "exceptional circumstances" because of their relegation, which affected their membership of the Premier League.

The tribunal said they had "sympathy" with the Blades, while West Ham had been "deliberately deceitful" and yet remained in the Premier League.

But they said they could not rule that the independent commission's decision had been wrong to fine West Ham in the first place.

 606: DEBATE
At least Sheffield United can now move on

IB

The panel's ruling stated: "The tribunal had much sympathy for Sheffield United's grievances.

"However, the tribunal had to apply the principles of judicial review and determine whether the decision was irrational or perverse.

"This is a very strict test and is very difficult to satisfy.

"It concluded that it was impossible for this tribunal to find that the decision was irrational or perverse."

The performances of Tevez in particular helped the Hammers string together an excellent run of results late in the season which moved them clear of the relegation zone.

Mascherano made less of an impact and moved to Liverpool during the January transfer window.

 I would like to reiterate that Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham United player

West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson

West Ham were still in danger of losing their Premiership status on the final day of the Premier League season depending on results, but Wigan's win at Sheffield United ensured it was the Blades who were condemned to relegation.

"We are happy that this matter is finally closed and all parties can now move on," said Hammers chairman Eggert Magnusson.

"The arbitration panel's decision is very clear and reflects what we have believed all along.

"West Ham United have been preparing for next season in the Premier League since the final whistle at Old Trafford in May and we will continue to do so.

"I would like to reiterate that Carlos Tevez is a registered West Ham United player with a playing contract that still has three years remaining on it, and that situation remains unchanged."

The decision of Sheffield United's appeal makes it all but certain that the Blades will be playing in the Championship next season.

In relation to Sheffield United's and Fulham's claim that the Premier League should have immediately terminated Tevez's registration, the tribunal ruled they had acted reasonably in allowing the Argentina striker to play in the last three games of the season.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6252310.stm

it's quite clear that west ham broke the rules, and the cheating bastards should have been penalised properly.

if i remember correctly, when the fine was announced (which itself is nothing compared to the money on offer in the premiership next season) there was a statement saying something along the lines of "we didn't want to give them a points deduction because that would condemn them to certain relegation". how very charitable.

if i was a sheffield united fan i would want my club doing absolutely everything they can to see that justice is done.

i agree with lebowski.west ham got away far to lightly with this

i still say tht any team that cant beat wigan at home deserves to go down in my book, they were shit end of