Who is Jewell talking about?

[SouthAfricaRed]

Wigan manager Paul Jewell believes the Premier League would have enforced a points penalty on West Ham over the Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano transfer affair if they had been 'marooned like Watford' at the bottom of the league.


The Hammers moved level on points with Wigan by beating the Latics 3-0 at the JJB Stadium on Saturday and could yet leapfrog Jewell's side and stay in the top flight.

Jewell claims the League 'bottled it' when an independent commission fined West Ham £5.5million over the breach of transfer rules in regard to the two Argentinians rather than deducting points which would have almost certainly condemned them to relegation.

He said 'If West Ham had been marooned like Watford are they would have been deducted points, as the Premier League could have done it without causing a fuss.

'They bottled it and they know they did. We know the Premier League were desperate for us to beat West Ham to right the injustice - because an insider told one of our men that.

'I'm convinced they decided not to take points off West Ham because if they had, they might have had to look at one or two other London clubs higher up the league.'

Anybody have an idea ?

[Reece]

Hmmm I wonder......

[tomasjj]

Arse and Chavs...

[spud_gun]

The Chavs. Its been alleged that they have been involved in several dodgy deals. THe Obi-Wan Mikel and the Alex deals are two that spring to mind.

[Dhav]

It is sad, but given the amount of money in the game and the relative importance of staying in the Premier League, qualifying for Europe, winning the title etc means that if teams get docked points then the football authorities are afraid of being tied up in expensive litigation for months and years. Either way, it is clear that they are completely spineless when it comes to docking points especially if there is league positions at stake and powerful clubs involved. YOu can bet your arse that if it was a mid-table club like Aston Villa where docking them points would have made very little substantive difference to their league placing then they would have had the bottle to dock them points for this.

Ridiculous situation if you ask me - surely when these clubs sign up to the FA and the Premier League they promise to abide by their rules, but obviously not their punishments when they're reprimanded for breaking those rules.

Feel sorry for the other clubs around the bottom if West Ham stay up and another club goes down, because they have benefitted from getting a top player illegally.

[SouthAfricaRed]

Arse and Chavs...

I was also thinking Spurs. They have an awful amount of money to buy players

[tomasjj]

I was also thinking Spurs. They have an awful amount of money to buy players

That would have been the next club on my list.

London clubs I tell you....

[Nic83]

Arsenal have done some dodgy dealings at underage level.

[Warren]

Arsenal have done some dodgy dealings at underage level.

As have Chelsea.

And Graham Rix

[thesilverfoxlfc]

As have Chelsea.

And Graham Rix

[REDSCOUSER]

He's talking about the premier league not clubs ya bunch of numpties

[Gordy Boy]

Feel sorry for the other clubs around the bottom if West Ham stay up and another club goes down, because they have benefitted from getting a top player illegally.

I have to say I am prepared to turn a blind eye on this occasion - their dodgy dealings did lead to us picking up Mascherano for next to bugger all.

[SouthAfricaRed]

I have to say I am prepared to turn a blind eye on this occasion - their dodgy dealings did lead to us picking up Mascherano for next to bugger all.

Not to sure about that. Masherano could be very close to a Club Record signing?

We paid 1.5-1.8 million up front for his 18 month loan and after that we will pay 10-13 million to secure his services for 4 years. If the higher end of these figures turn out to be true, then he could eclipse the current club record signing fee.

But I agree, he seems a good one. Looks worth the money

[Parm]

Not to sure about that. Masherano could be very close to a Club Record signing?

We paid 1.5-1.8 million up front for his 18 month loan and after that we will pay 10-13 million to secure his services for 4 years. If the higher end of these figures turn out to be true, then he could eclipse the current club record signing fee.

But I agree, he seems a good one. Looks worth the money

indeed he does.
I wonder, given the way in which we aquired him, would we go back for Tevez?

[AFII]

United probe - Premier League to investigate the champions-elect
EXCLUSIVE By ROB DRAPER - More by this author » Last updated at 23:43pm on 5th May 2007

Manchester United's dream of their first Premiership title for four years was under a cloud last night with the revelation that they face a Premier League investigation into goalkeeper Tim Howard’s £3 million transfer to Everton.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team beat derby rivals Manchester City 1-0 yesterday to go eight points clear at the top and they will clinch the title if Chelsea fail to win at Arsenal today

But United face seeing a season of triumph descend into chaos. In the worst-case scenario, they could have points deducted if they are found guilty of breaking the same Premier League rules under which West Ham were massively fined last week.

Howard,the 28-year-old American, had been on loan at Everton since last May and, under Premier League rules, was not allowed to play against United for the duration of the loan.

It was announced in February that the move was to become a permanent transfer. But it is understood that Everton agreed not to play Howard against United this season, and when the two sides met at Goodison a week ago, the American’s place was taken by second choice goalkeeper Iain Turner. The 22- year-old made a crucial error, allowing United to start the fightback which led to their 4-2 victory.

The Premier League are now set to investigate whether an agreement over Howard’s availability existed and, if so, whether it breached the same rules which saw West Ham suffer a £5.5m fine over the transfers to Upton Park of Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez.

Those rules, U18 and B13, ban clubs from entering into agreements which allow a third party to influence another club’s selection policy and dictate that clubs must act with good faith towards each other and the Premier League.

The League have confirmed to The Mail on Sunday that no such agreement regarding Howard was included in the transfer documents lodged with them by the clubs and that if United had requested it through official channels, they would have been refused.

A Premier League spokesman said: "There is no such clause in the transfer contracts of the player and we are contacting the clubs to try to clarify the situation."

Documents lodged with the Premier League when the transfer was agreed between the clubs make it clear that the permanent deal ran from February and that it was no longer a loan.

Reports at the time suggested the permanent deal would begin in June and the loan would continue until the end of the season.

Both clubs declined to comment on the issue last night.

But Everton will be questioned by Premier League secretary Mike Foster this week after their manager, David Moyes, appeared to confirm that there was an agreement between the clubs when he explained before the game against United why Turner was playing.

Moyes was reported as saying: "While Tim Howard was on loan he would not have been able to play against his parent club, United.

"Although we have now signed him ourselves, United wanted the loan clause to remain in operation. It was partly the reason we were able to tie up the deal for next season as early as we did. We have abided by their wishes."

United, managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, and Everton will be given a chance to explain the circumstances of Howard’s transfer and his availability for his new club.

It is understood that Everton will claim a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ existed over Howard’s availability and they were at liberty to pick him against United if they chose to. But such an argument may not satisfy the Premier League.

Premier League sources say that last season Birmingham attempted to insert a clause into a transfer deal forbidding Robbie Savage playing against them for his new club, Blackburn Rovers.

Birmingham were refused permission to do so.

West Ham were fined a total of £5.5m because they had allowed offshore companies to retain influence over Mascherano and Tevez.

The Premier League commission ruled that this represented a clear breach of rule U18.

West Ham were also found to have breached rule B13, stipulating that clubs must act in good faith, and the club’s former chief executive, Paul Aldridge, was accused of telling the Premier League a ‘direct lie’ when asked about the agreements over the players.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...e_id=1779&ct=5