‘Wrong bosses’ Blue the cash
BIRMINGHAM CITY have been deducted nine points after accepting a charge of breaching financial rules – despite trying to blame Harry Redknapp.
The Blues admitted to an independent disciplinary commission racking up losses of £48.7million over a three-year monitoring period between 2015-2018.
It broke EFL profit and sustainability (P&S) rules, designed to prevent clubs getting into financial trouble by setting a threshold for losses.
Half were incurred after Redknapp took charge as manager permanently at St Andrew’s in May 2017 on a £1.7m-a-year deal.
He signed nine players permanently and five loans for £23.75m, as the club’s wage bill rose to £22.45m – 195 per cent of turnover.
But Redknapp was sacked just 13 games into that 201718 campaign after six straight defeats at the club owned by Hong Kong-based Trillion Trophy Asia. In their defence at Monday’s hearing, Birmingham responded: “This is a case of a club which employed the wrong managers.
“They overspent on transfer fees, loan fees, signing-on fees and player wages, having no or adequate regard to the P&S rules or the club’s financial health generally. The managers and their support staff largely failed but were, in many cases, entitled to substantial termination payments when their services were dispensed with.”
Xuandong Ren, Blues CEO since 2017, accepted they should have imposed controls on the wages offered to new players under Gianfranco Zola, then Redknapp. City
CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE
were placed under a transfer embargo by the EFL last summer. The club still signed Kristian Pedersen from Union Berlin for £2m and the EFL initially refused to accept his registration.
But Birmingham managed to successfully argue this was not an “aggravated breach”, as they were hopeful at the time of the embargo being lifted
This helped reduce the club’s potential points deduction as the EFL originally wanted to fine them more. Yet the commission concluded they demonstrated “a deliberate disregard of the rules” and deducted nine points.
All the costs of the hearing are also to be paid by the club. Garry Monk’s side are now in danger of the drop after four successive defeats in the Championship.
It is the worst form in the division and means City fall from 13th with 50 points to 18th with 41.
Monk will have to lift his squad next week when they return to action on Friday, March 29 at local rivals West Brom.
City have 14 days in which to appeal, but must continue to comply with an ongoing business plan, overseen by the EFL board, designed to prevent future breaches.
It increases the likelihood of selling in-demand 21-goal hotshot Che Adams.
Redknapp has denied causing the
Blues’ woes as he claimed: “I didn’t know anything about Financial
Fair Play.
“I was never warned by anyone at the club there was going to be a problem with that.”