chinapig

They went on to say he had been sending them threatening texts and emails. Doubtless he would pass the fit and proper person test, when you consider some others who have.

I agree, hard to feel sorry for the kind of fans you describe. Those who have no interest in the financial health of the club then complain when chickens come home to roost. We have those who claim Steve uses FFP as an excuse not to spend what we don't have. Fortunately they seem to be in a minority.

Forest's recent history means they are unlikely to rock the boat I reckon. Leeds appear to have their own financial issues so may want a get out in future perhaps. Boro are the only ones to put their heads above the parapet and got zero support. The bad guys have already won I think.

Of course they could, the EFL is the clubs. The signs are that, Steve Gibson aside, they are not interested in doing anything though. Perhaps other clubs are not pressing the case either because they have their own dubious practices they want to keep hidden or because they want the option of circumventing FFP themselves in the future. As you have pointed out, they quietly changed the rules to allow the sale of grounds to count against FFP. Entirely coincidentally of course, this turned out to be convenient for a number of big clubs. We know that some clubs wanted to further weaken the rules and I expect that to happen in due course. What is needed is a reputable investigative journalist from the national media - like David Conn at The Guardian - to get their teeth into this kind of stuff. Problem is it involves clubs who are media darlings so nothing is likely to happen. .

The EFL appears to be somwhere between incompetent and corrupt, so we cannot expect them to take appropriate action under any circumstances. For another example, the takeover of Bury last year was done without complying with EFL rules. Needless to say the EFL did nothing. Nor are they remotely embarrassed to admit it. I expect any shady dealings on Wednesday's part to go unexamined therefore.

Who me? Are you implying I'm cynical about FFP and wish bad things on all those big clubs who should be in the Premier League as of right? I'm shocked I tell you, shocked!

Would the market value of the land be a proxy for the value of the stadium?

Like the fit and proper test, FFP is an attempt to look like there is proper governance.

The potential asset stripping won't bother Villa fans, they're living the dream and so on. For it's long term benefit football needs a club behaving like this to crash and burn.

They have changed tack from they're coming for us to claiming the gap is a badge of honour because it makes them somehow more authentic. Admitting the truth would drive them to despair so they have to convince themselves they are special. And of course that everybody loves them and they are the world's most loyal fans.

True, but in England's second city. I would expect land values to be higher than in Derby.

Doesn't matter. The EFL will have seen Aston Villa on the cover of the accounts then rubber stamped them.

Can Wycombe expect a writ I wonder?

These are after all the people who couldn't understand why Tammy joined us on loan instead of them. They're probably miffed they didn't get Jay. After all, Wael is a close personal friend of Abramovich. Or something.

It seems Villa Park is worth rather less than Pride Park. Should have got Derby's 'independent' valuer in. https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-villa-park-ffp-16504236

Does this mean they haven't built that new training ground? Surely that can't be right?

Of course it's enabled by club owners, some of whom wanted to further water down the regime recently. I am confident that over time the rules will only be held together by the holes in them. The EFL can then claim they have proper controls knowing full they are a fig leaf so irresponsible owners can carry on as usual.

A bit subtle for the average Gashead though. They'll be coming for us again now.

My point was that I have no confidence that the EFL would come down as hard if a big club did the same. The fact that Derby's actions appear not to have even been questioned suggests as much to me. Not that I am cynical about the way football is run at all.

Does this mean they are officially not coming for us then? Phew, what a relief, we don't have to look over our shoulder now!

Does it strike you as odd to celebrate selling your stadium, getting compensation for a manager and not finishing below 9th? Time was when Derby County counted for more. Still, big club, should be in the PL as of right etc, etc.

Since nobody backed Gibson I think we can conclude that they don't give a toss about FFP. Still, are Derby about to move on to their, (ninth is it?), manager under Morris? What with that and selling off the family silver, a stable, well run club, and an example to us all!

The fact that big clubs appear to thumb their noses at FFP with impunity makes it a fig leaf for me. Brum were an easy target as the media are not going to fawn over them as they do the likes of Villa and Derby. I predict that within a year the rules will be relaxed to the extent that they will become irrelevant.

Yet it has been reported, allegedly coming from Sheff Wed themselves, that they have agreed a fee for Turnbull. If that were to happen I would definitely despair of FFP. Though it looks more and more like a fig leaf to me anyway.

Imagine how they feel about Posh spending that kind of money. Almost 4 times their record buy maybe. Must be galling for such a big club and its huge fan base.