There’s an old proverb: what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. In other words, what is good for one is good for another.
Application of action based on that edict ensure equality and a level playing field so that meritocracy is the key driving force and not just opportunity and chance.
Next season that goose/gander proverb needs to be fully exercised on Derby County to ensure fairness and equality for Sheffield Wednesday.
READ: Alan Nixon: Derby County face ‘massive’ points deduction as finer details emerge following season finale
Sheffield Wednesday were the goose but it’s time for Derby County to be gander
Sheffield Wednesday were rightly relegated yesterday after a horrible season for their fans to endure. Beset by inconsistency, the Owls were plucked match after match.
They lost 29 points over the season from winning positions but that wasn’t the only thing that crippled their chances of promotion. Nor was much-loathed owner Dejphon Chansiri to blame – he has to shoulder some of it though.
The South Yorkshire side was up against it from the off after having 12 points deducted for falling foul of the EFL’s FFP regulations. That was later halved to a 6-point deduction. Still, it was enough to damn them.
As Alan Nixon says in The Sun on Sunday (09.05.21, pg. 63), Derby County could face the wrath of the EFL over their own FFP transgressions next season.
The sauce of Derby County must taste the same as that of Sheffield Wednesday
Derby County, like other sides, had exploited a loophole that allowed them to somewhat (in the eyes of some) sidestep the EFL’s FFP regulations.
The Rams effectively sold their ground, Pride Park, to owner Mel Morris who then leased it back to the club.
There were cries that this side-stepped the EFL’s strict FFP regulations around profit and sustainability and there were calls for them to be punished. The EFL took that step but an Independent Disciplinary Commission didn’t agree and ruled in Derby’s favour.
Derby valued Pride Park at £80m and this ran alongside the issue of amortisation regarding ‘intangible fixed assets’ – or players – and their valuations.
As Telegraph reporter John Percy tweeted (tweet – below), the EFL are looking to appeal this:
Latest legal bout between #dcfc and the EFL starts tomorrow (virtually) before an independent disciplinary commission. EFL has appealed after Derby were cleared of breaching spending rules on the "amortisation of intangible assets". Derby to "vigorously resist" the appeal
— John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) March 19, 2021
READ: ‘Starts way above pitch level’ – Pundits savage Sheffield Wednesday owner Chansiri after Owls relegation
The Comment: Nixon bang on the money – Derby County MUST be punished
Writing in today’s print edition of The Sun, reporter Alan Nixon says that Derby County could face a ‘massive’ points deduction should an independent disciplinary appeal brought by the EFL swing in its favour.
Derby County is embroiled in a second takeover this season with Spaniard Eric Alonso attempting to take control of the Rams away from current owner Mel Morris. There is some concern over the particulars of that takeover with alarm bells ringing that Alonso is reportedly looking to levy a loan against Pride Park to ‘cover losses’.
Nixon writes that this news of a ‘massive’ points deduction and the EFL’s stance and appeal has been kept quiet as it was with Sheffield Wednesday last season.
Just as this application of fair sauce for both goose and gander has been applied, it needs to be further applied next season.
I am sorry Derby County fans, but should the EFL win their appeal then it is only fair that you play the gander and suck up a points deduction like Sheffield Wednesday had to.