Luton deducted another 20 points by those cnuts at the football league

[Termite Man]

. I'd expect Wycombe, Port Vale, Shrewsbury, Brentford and Darlo to be in the top five

I'd put Lincoln in there as well , they have made some pretty good signings and I'm not too hopefull for Wycombes chances this season , we have lost some very good players on transfers and I'm not sure what the new signings are like yet . Could be a good season for us or a bad one

 

[Doctor Carrot]

No I don't think they will survive unfortunately but I do want them to, I do think they'll be difficult to play against though as they're a team with nothing to lose, there's no pressure on them. Good Luck

 

[CyberRose]

Matt Spring - any good??

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Don't think they will, but hope they do.

 

[aylee]

Good luck to Luton, who have been shat on by all and sundry in recent years. I can't see them making up a 30 point deficit but if they get a good start, who knows?

 

[Brixton Hatter]

The one thing that might save us is that Bournemouth and Rotherham are likely to have points deducted as well. Whether that's 10, 15 or 20 points, no-one knows, or even whether it will happen. Either way it's not really something I'd like to see (more clubs being penalised) but you've gotta clutch at every straw possible and do what you can to survive. SO it may not be 80 points we need to make up - it might be 70 or even 60.

Matt Spring - any good??

I've always liked Springy and he's one of the genuinely talented players we've had at the club. He started as a youth player and got in the first team with a reputation for getting forward from midfield and into the box. He can see a good pass and takes wicked penalties. In a way his style is not unlike Steve Gerrard - bursting forward with pace and trying to get some shots on goal. He can be a bit inconsistent sometimes, but then which players aren't? We sold him to Leeds and his form dipped - the death of his baby girl didn't help. Then Leeds sold him to W**ford which obviously grated with the Luton fans. Springy bravely came back to Luton from the scummers and won most of the fans back, which I reckon shows great character.

To me, Springy will always be a legend for that cracking goal when we were up at the allotments a few years back. It was a 40 yard dribble followed by a 30 yard thunderbolt into the roof of the W**ford net in our 2-1 win in the league cup - 2002 I think. And we invaded the pitch

 

[xes]

I hear they've just signed a couple of Inuit players,as they don't mind starting at minus 30.

I jest
Good luck Luton Town,you're my local club,and I used to go see you play,so I've a soft spot for you. Mick Harford drinks in my local

 

[chieftain]

Matt Spring - any good??

Yes.

Good luck Luton

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I think it's doable. You won't necessarily need 80 points to stay up. Last season with a 30 point penalty you'd have needed 72, which without the penalty would have put you in 8th place. Not impossible by a long way. Obviously it depends on what other teams do but there are some teams who I really don't see getting many points - Dagenham & Redbridge, Chester, and also Rotherham and Bournemouth if they get penalties.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

. No team finishing with fewer than 49 points has ever stayed up.

That's not true. Chester and Notts County both did last year and were some way ahead of second to bottom. Also Macclesfield with 48 the season before.

ETA: Actually looking at the tables quite a few teams have. Not sure where that stat is from.

 

[niceonecyril]

ok ok, ok....

(NC 48, 21st, CC 47, 22nd...hardly "some way ahead" of second bottom)

but yes was using very old stats without realising. obviously bigger stattos in here than me

 

[Brixton Hatter]

Good luck Luton Town,you're my local club,and I used to go see you play,so I've a soft spot for you. Mick Harford drinks in my local

cheers mate

which local is that? In Luton? (i dont need you to out Big Mick's local, just give us a clue )

we used to go up Joe Kinnear's local....he was only there occasionally...then his wife banned him cos of his 'dodgy ticker'

 

[Brixton Hatter]

by the way, where are the other Luton fans on here? there's at least 3 or 4 other proper luton fans on here...tho i dont see some of them post on here recently. athos and the pious pawn are hatters...i think 1927 and agricola are sympathisers and ch750536 used to be involved with Luton...

so geri and other w**ford fans, fancy a little gentleman's bet? will we gain more points than you? i reckon we will.........

 

[xes]

Naah,not Luton,in Harpenden,they drink all around the town. (Him and some of the players)

(oh,and I'm not voting,cos I don't want bad JooJoo on Luton,cos I don't think you can do it,sorry)

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Rotherham are to start on -17.

 

[JTG]

Well at least they get to start.

Any news on AFCB?

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

They still haven't met the requirements and the league is meeting again tomorrow to discuss it.

Not looking too good for them tbh.

 

[JTG]

the League really need to look at their rules again. I know they want to 'maintain the integrity of the competition' but is deciding relegation issues before the season starts and fucking over clubs who have been the backbone of the competition for decades helping anyone at all?

In Leeds' case I had little sympathy because it seemed a clear case of the owners not changing yet still trying to pull a fast one. In the case of Luton, Rotherham and Bournemouth new owners are being punished for the incompetence of previous administrations and the cumulative effect is to make things worse for the club concerned. If we lose solid clubs with decent support such as these three then the League will be very much the poorer for it.

 

[Threshers_Flail]

No I don't think they can survive but I wish them the best of luck in doing so.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

the League really need to look at their rules again. I know they want to 'maintain the integrity of the competition' but is deciding relegation issues before the season starts and fucking over clubs who have been the backbone of the competition for decades helping anyone at all?

In Leeds' case I had little sympathy because it seemed a clear case of the owners not changing yet still trying to pull a fast one. In the case of Luton, Rotherham and Bournemouth new owners are being punished for the incompetence of previous administrations and the cumulative effect is to make things worse for the club concerned. If we lose solid clubs with decent support such as these three then the League will be very much the poorer for it.

I've just posted this on a Lincoln forum I post on. It's a bit long and probably dull as fuck to most people, but you might be interested:

So once again the penalties being imposed on clubs who ahve gone into administration are in the news. Luton are already on -30 and if they manage to start the season then Rotherham and Bournemouth could start on -20.

This is not a good thing for our league. For 3 teams to be fighting their own little mini-relegation league makes a mockery of the competition, and seems unfair on the fans.

Against this there is the argument that penalties are applied for good reason. Teams overspending pushes wages up for everyone and gives them an advantage while they can keep it up. This is unfair on teams who are well managed and time and time again results in clubs going into administration and not paying their creditors, usually HMRC as the largest creditor and including St Johns Ambulance, a charity organisation without whom we couldn't have any football. There is a lot of truth in this and the situation needs to be dealt with.

My suggestion is this: instead of points penalties being imposed, clubs coming out of administration should be given a number of strict financial conditions. This should include prompt payment of all creditors, who should be able to appeal to the league if their payments are overdue, and if the club persisted than a (relatively sane) points penalty could be put into place. Other conditions should relate to overall debt. An auditor or similar should be appointed to oversee this.

Also, and this is the key part, in order to ensure that the club can do this and to impose the appropriate 'punishment,' a strict wage cap should be put into place , on an individual player basis as well as overall, at a lower level than the club would otherwise pay. This would be inclusive of any bonuses etc and the level would be set by the league.

This penalty would be an appropriate penalty in kind for the overspending which caused the problem, whilst still maintaining the league with every team starting on the same number of points. It would also help the club in establishing financial security and break the cycle of teams repeatedly going bust, and would reduce unfair inflationary pressures on the wages market.

OK that's a bit longer than I thought it would be. Any views?

What do you reckon?

 

[Geri]

Fuck Luton.

 

[JTG]

you're not wrong. one of the big problems seems to be that once a club has gone bust they keep doing it - the problems of coming out of administration are passed on so the new owners have a tough task straight away. There is no clean slate seemingly, else Luton, Swindon, Bournemouth and a couple of others wouldn't keep having these problems under successive managements.

ever tougher penalties don't solve this at all.

The League really needs to back up its punishment with help for clubs that are clearly in trouble. Losing well supported clubs in decent sized towns is not going to help the Football League one bit.

 

[JTG]

Fuck Luton.

I'm going to Vicarage Road next Tuesday night

 

[Brixton Hatter]

Poor old Rotherham. My sympathies. It gives Luton a glimmer of hope I guess, but it makes League 2 this season more of a farce than it was already. And why 17 points and not 15 or 20 or whatever? Complete inconsistency.

the League really need to look at their rules again. I know they want to 'maintain the integrity of the competition' but is deciding relegation issues before the season starts and fucking over clubs who have been the backbone of the competition for decades helping anyone at all?

In Leeds' case I had little sympathy because it seemed a clear case of the owners not changing yet still trying to pull a fast one. In the case of Luton, Rotherham and Bournemouth new owners are being punished for the incompetence of previous administrations and the cumulative effect is to make things worse for the club concerned. If we lose solid clubs with decent support such as these three then the League will be very much the poorer for it.

This ^^^^^^

totally agree JTG. The FL need to look a little more closely at the reasons behind all these administrations and stop ruining the competition with points deductions. It's happening more and more - insiders reckon there are now around 40 league clubs who are struggling financially and close to administration. Who knows, it could be your club next.

Football is rich, literally swimming in money. But it's concentrated in the hands of a few. Clubs like Luton, Bournemouth and Rotherham have developed scores of young players for Championship and Premier League clubs - but clubs like us can go into administration with debts of £2m, whereas some of the top clubs have debts running into the hundreds of millions of pounds. The game of football in this country is a whole more than the sum of its parts - and all the clubs count towards the enjoyment (or pain) we all gain from it. The support football gets in this country is amazing: clubs below the conference get hundreds, sometimes thousands of fans - it's a proper community game and part of our way of life. What would we do if nearly half the clubs in the league went bust? The health of football is really important and I'd like to see something that encourages better financial management of clubs and more trickle down of cash from the premiershite. And I'd like to see former directors and owners prosecuted, rather than points being taken off to punish the fans.

As for Geri's constructive contribution to this thread, I actually wouldn't want W**ford to go out of business, or get relegated out of the football league, because football would be less fun then - who would we sing "you've never won fuck all" at then?

 

[Brixton Hatter]

and now Bournemouth deducted 17 points. a few weeks ago that would have been but now its just predictable. got a few mates who are cherries fans, they'll be gutted. still, another chance for the hatters. i should have put some money on us staying up last week, the odds would have been loads better

 

[JTG]

with no offence intended to the wee clubs of the League, the competition will not be stronger if we end up with loads of well run Accringtons and Dagenhams while losing Luton, Bournemouth and co.

 

[strung out]

I'm going to Vicarage Road next Tuesday night

me too!

 

[JTG]

oh cool, when you heading for London taaaaahn?

 

[Athos]

by the way, where are the other Luton fans on here? there's at least 3 or 4 other proper luton fans on here...tho i dont see some of them post on here recently. athos and the pious pawn are hatters...i think 1927 and agricola are sympathisers and ch750536 used to be involved with Luton...

so geri and other w**ford fans, fancy a little gentleman's bet? will we gain more points than you? i reckon we will.........

I'm still here. Just too depressed to comment really. I hope we'll do it, but, going by last Saturday's performance, I doubt it.

 

[Brixton Hatter]

hmmm, so urban has spoken and we have a 20% chance of survival!

decent result winning away at gillingham at the weekend - good to make some inroads into the deduction - only minus 27 points now, come on!

and a good result knocking plymuff out of the cup 2-0 last tuesday. my plymuff supporting mate went and said we totally deserved it.

i think we're up for the fight. dont worry athos, there's more to come!

been on holiday the last week so missed first few games, but cant wait to get to the notts county game on saturday.