Alex Miller: Sheffield Wednesday have been deducted 12 points.. but it's not over yet
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An ‘extremely disappointed’ Sheffield Wednesday have 14 days to appeal the 12-point deduction imposed by an independent disciplinary commission. Whether they decide to do so or not, they say, will depend on the ‘written reasons’ given to them by the EFL over the coming days.
And then there’s Wigan, so cruelly deducted 12 points that were taken from their tally this season to see them not only relegated but decimated in terms of personnel.
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Hide AdThis minefield process, one that has taken so ridiculously long to enact, one that will see misdemeanours ruled to have been acted out this season punished next, is in desperate need of reform. Any punishment thrown over the actions of Derby County – they of a different charge but similar motive – would only serve to further muddy the waters.
You have to feel for Wigan and you have to feel for Charlton Athletic, who have been kicked down to League One and would have survived had these points been taken from the Owls any sooner. What recourse options those clubs may or may not have in the coming weeks remain to be seen.
But we are where we are. A sigh of relief, perhaps, for the fact this verdict has finally arrived, but expect a further twist in the tale or two. Epic sagas such as this rarely end with a handshake.
From a football perspective – and hidden deep in the stench of this mire is a football team – where does that leave Wednesday? Notwithstanding an appeal we may or may not see coming, Garry Monk is now left leading a recruitment charge that just got a whole lot steeper.
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Hide AdFisayo Dele-Bashiru done, he needs young, hungry and dynamic. Whichever way you look at it, with points taken the Sheffield Wednesday proposition for further bright young things has been dulled; the big club lure of a playoff push gone. Glorious transition and relegation survival it is.
Questions need to be asked of a lot of people in the coming weeks, and they will be. For now, more clarity is needed before everyone can truly move on.