Blackpool fined £25,000

[funkyfred]

by the Premier League for fielding a weaken team.

This is the same as last year when Wolves were fined the same amount, but I think was suspended.

My point is, who the hell are the PL to dictate to the manager who plays were and when. OK Holloway made 10 changes to the team that played the match before, but they still only got beat 3-2 by Aston Villa, with Villa scoring a last minute goal.

My understanding is that each team nominates 25 players at the beginning of the season to play, surely its down to the manager to use his players as he see's fit. Who are they to say A is a better player than B.
At the beginning of the season Gareth Bale at Spurs probably wouldn't have been 1st choice left side midfield, 3 months later he is being told he is the best left sided midfielder in Europe/World.

When Mr Holloway gets the sack from Blackpool, which he will at sometime, does the PL take the blame for poor results?

 

[brendy]

It is a bit of a joke really. Cups etc are helpful to field younger or new players and get them some proper "flying hours" and build up experience before dumping them straight into a pressurised league match.


edit: just read that this particular match was a league game, I was referring to another game back in June that they did similar but were only warned.

Rule E20 states that the team shall produce a full strength team. As mentioned, if you find a player good enough to pay to play for the club as a serious employee, then surely you would consider them good enough for the first team also. I think patronising the manager and trying to tell him how to run his team is downright awful. A managers job is to pick a team who he thinks will get the job done.
Does this mean come the end of the season and a team only needs a draw or better to win, cannot field 10 outfield defenders?

 

[hangover]

the fa and the premier league are a disgrace

 

[Robobum]

Has anyone actually read the ruling that Blackpool have fallen foul of??? Just before calling them a disgrace etc??

I haven't read it, but it would be interesting to see how it's worded. All clubs have to sign up to agreeing to it before acceptance into the league.

 

[freddielong]

Its a real tough one, you have to say if a manager gives a player a squad number then he considers him good enough for his squad and therefore his team, I dont see how the FA can start picking starting 11's.

 

[USER1999]

It sounds like rubbish to me. You have a 25 man squad, so how you use it is up to you. If the FA want an 11 man squad, they should have said so.

Also, 25k? Strange amount of money. I wouldn't think that would be much of a disincentive to the richer clubs.

If fielding a weak team keeps Blackpool up, it will be worth it.

 

[chrisd]

They should have been docked 20 points!!


No, not really, but I had them as certs for relegation in my works annual prediction bet (top 6 places and bottom 3) and they have let me down big time!


Chris

 

[Driven2Distraction]

a total disgrace......

unless of course the Premier League have a secret plan to re-distribute the wealth by giving a larger share of the Sky revenue to the "lower teams" which will help/enable them to put together a better squad of 25 players that the authorities find "acceptable" so as these teams can rotate their squads in the same manner as the "big boys" thus encouraging parity and competitiveness within the league..... or maybe not

 

[Gillespie16]

Its stupid, its the manager's choice if he wants to field 10 different players for a match, its not the choice of the fa/premier league.

 

[need_my_wedge]

Ridiculous decision, if the players were all listed in his 25 man squad.

 

[smange]

Its an absolute nonsense

The players who played are part of his 25 man squad that the F.A say you have to name at start of the season so they are classed as first team players.

Why bother with managers?

Hand your squad list in to the F.A at start of season and they will pick your team for you every week on the basis of who they think are your best players.

 

[chrisd]

I agree that it is a nonsense rule in todays Premiership but the rule years ago was, as far as I recall, bought in to stop team,particularly at the end of the season from affecting the relegation places by fielding weakened team just because it didn't matter if they lost.

The situation has changed now, because the League payout gives huge sums of money to teams according to their league place at the end of the season, so one place different can mean a lot more income and therefore teams have more incentive to win as many games as they can. Also the size of team squads is much larger, so rotation of players is more necessary and I defy any League official to decide what is a weak team!

chris

 

[Fyldewhite]

Just to put an alternative view........ Imagine you had paid good money for a season ticket at Blackpool expecting to see the best of the best visiting Bloomfield Road this season only to find that many top sides put out a team with 9 or 10 squad players. Now, I'd feel a bit short changed to be honest. The rules are there to ensure the paying public get a decent deal and that matches are always the spectacle they should be. This is not a new rule, it has been in existence as long as I can remember and way before the PL was introduced. What has been allowed to happen to the FA Cup in respect of allowing teams to efectively play reserve sides is nothing short of a disgrace.

As for Blackpool, they have broken the rules, pure and simple. Other sides, sides who may end up being relegated by a very small margin come the end of the season have not. How can it be right to let Blackpool off the hook? To do so would open the door to making every match less of a spectacle. I know squads should all be good players but most teams would still field their "1st eleven" if there are no injuries most of the time.

 

[funkyfred]

Its an absolute nonsense

Why bother with managers?

Hand your squad list in to the F.A at start of season and they will pick your team for you every week on the basis of who they think are your best players.

They already do, they have some Italian guy, and look what a cock up he made of it during the summer.

flydewhite

Back to the Blackpool game, they were beaten by a last minute goal
Apparently according to the Sun (i know) they contacted the PL and were told that Blackpool would have been fined even if they had WON the game.
Therefore should Aston Villa be charged for playing a sub stardard team who couldn't beat a bunch second raters

 

[Fyldewhite]

Back to the Blackpool game, they were beaten by a last minute goal
Apparently according to the Sun (i know) they contacted the PL and were told that Blackpool would have been fined even if they had WON the game.

Hmmm, the result is not relevant really. They broke the rules when they wrote the team sheet. However, they still lost. The fact is they went to West Ham 3 days later with a team of fully rested players and got a point. If West Ham win that game it's a swing of 3 points in the relagation battle.

Therefore should Aston Villa be charged for playing a sub stardard team who couldn't beat a bunch second raters

Errm, they did beat a bunch of second raters - it may have been a last minute goal but last time I checked they still count

 

[Bacardibatman]

who's to say which are the best players out of a squad

apparently the FA & EPL

a manager job is to manage the club for the best of the club,and if that means he drops alot of regular players for a game or two what ever the reasons if HE decides that for the best

it could be the regulars need a rest

he wants to drop alot after a poor performance to try and make them work rather than think they'll walk into the team with out trying

he wants to blood some players to bring them on for the future of the club & it potentially should ironically help for the future of the EPL too


as long as teams arent doing it with some regularity to a certain team - potentially fixing matches by not competing


the epl are only concerned in how much it can sell itself for,and dont want ppl putting teams out that might affect what tv companies will pay


as a fan you support the team not the 11 so called best players

shame EPL's reasons are more mercanary

 

[chrisd]

Ok.. so say they had won and still been fined, and then changed the team back for the next game to the original one .... and lost, would they have been fined again for fielding an inferior team to the inferior team they got fined for fielding, before the team which proved to be superior to the inferior side, which eventually proved to be sub standard thus leading to Ian Holloway threatening to leave?


Chris

 

[Bacardibatman]

exactly Chris

its a fine based on an opinion not absolute certainty

and thats what makes it..... id not say daft

I'LL SAY DOWN RIGHT IDIOTIC

 

[Fyldewhite]

I really don't understand why people get so hot under the collar on this one. It has ALWAYS been the rule that you must never field a deliberately weakened side. Yes, we can argue all night about different players ability and "ifs" and "buts" etc but Holloway (IMO and the EPL's apparently) clearly played a much weakened side at Villa and therefore broke the rules. Period.

It's not about the PL deciding which is his best side it's about ensuring teams stick to the rules which are there as I explained earlier to ensure the integrity of every fixture and help ensure the fans get what they have paid for. In most cases it is difficult for them to make a call but when it is so blatant as with Wolves last season they have to act.

Anyway, let's hope the point they got at West Ham 3 days later (the real objective of the exercise) keeps them in the Premier League.

Up the Pool !!

 

[Marko77]

I get the points being made here but who are the FA to say this player is better than that player?

A raw deal for the fans was one of my thoughts but if a player is good enough to be named in the 25 man squad then there shouldn't be too many questions asked if he gets into the first 11.

Blackpool will appeal and the fine will be suspended I thinks.