No deduction - yet.

There's good and bad news about the FL meeting today. The good news is that they aren't deducting points from us. The bad news is that they are going to hold a seperate enquiry so we could STILL get clobbered. So, we are no better or worse off than we were and STILL don't know our fate.

Southampton's finances to be investigated

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/samgreen/blog/2009/04/07/football_league_must_deduct_10_points_from_southampton

This comment from the Telegraph stings a bit

The Telegraph can go and screw themselves. Everyone is itching to see us get clobbered it seems. Points deductions are a completely crass and insane system. The FL should be helping clubs out, not kicking them and their fans when they're down.

The 10-point rule is there for a very good reason - to stop profligate clubs from spending money they cannot afford on players, enjoying the benefits of a superior team, and then, when financial reality bites, opting for administration and paying a small percentage of their true debts.

In that case, expect more and more clubs to be hammered and the FL to have no clubs left in the end.

The League announced on Tuesday that it is sending in forensic accountants to get to the bottom of the legal and financial labyrinth at St Mary's stadium "as a matter of urgency".

I hope that, if they find anything, it is enough to hang Rupert and Wilde, et al, out to dry. It may as well drag them down as the rest of the club.

Further to the above, I'd rather us get hammered this season rather than try and avoid being relegated down to League Two with minus 10 points! The whole thing is demoralising.

No matter what the outcome, I will still follow my team. Even with a 10 point penalty we will survive in the 1st division if that is where we start. If wotte had been in charge earlier I feel we would be a little safer. A new board with a new manager will soon sort our team out and add the necessary muscle to accomodate the more physical sides.Especially if we are not forced to sell our best players for stupid prices.
ADDED TO THAT IS THE FACT THAT A STRONG ANGRY FANBASE WILL SUPPORT THE TEAM IN ITS TIME OF NEED. WE HAVE BEEN LOWED AND NOW WE HAVE TO SHOW THAT WE WILL NEVER CONCEDE DEFEAT.
I AM SOUTHAMPTON TILL I DIE.

Found this interesting post on SW:

The rules couldn't be clearer, I don't know if there is anything different with being in the Prem tho...

West Ham United plc are regarded as the member organisation by the Premier League, meaning that the possibility of a sporting sanction against the team, such as the deduction of points, could not be considered in respect of any financial issues relating to the holding company.

So why don't the FL do the same as the PL? Or do the PL actually have more sense than to impose punitive sanctions that only serve to hurt, rather than help clubs in terrible straits?

I think the League are scared of the flack they will receive if we don't get points deducted.

I suppose the fact that they have decided to look into it can be viewed as a positive because it means that it isn't as clear cut as it might seem at first. It might mean that SFC have no case to answer, but if anything untoward does come to light, then hopefully it will be something that will hang Lowe and Co out to dry legally. If SFC go down, I want those scum to go down, too.

If SFC do not get points taken away, I hope that the other clubs and their fans baying for our blood accept it gracefully as we Saints fans will have to accept ours if the worst comes to the worst. We'll probably be hated, but the other clubs will just have to put up with it as we will have to abide by the FL's decisions, and we can live with that. But if we do have points taken away, it won't be to punish Saints as much as to avoid the other clubs' squinnying and legal threats and that I cannot accept.

In a related issue, the clubs hoping for our demise so they can be safe - aren't they actually cheating? Morally cheating, as opposed to physically cheating, that is.

Good points Per. Undies, added as candidate for Post of the Month.