New owners keeping cards close to chest
A LOOK AT KEY ISSUES SURROUNDING TOWN AT PRESENT
WE need to stress that there’s no guarantee we’ll hear anything this week, but Terriers fans will nonetheless be desperate for any updates on exactly who the anonymous potential new owners actually are.
All we know at the moment is that they are a ‘North American group’ and that contracts have been exchanged agreeing to the transfer of the shares in Huddersfield Town from now-100 per cent owner Dean Hoyle.
While rumours abounded about a couple of interested parties leading up to the club’s announcement on Thursday afternoon, there has been scant little information circulating about the group that has eventually won out bar a couple of names that were already out there about the deal’s brokers.
Even when it comes to the dark world of off-record intel and whispers in figurative corridors, whoever it is has done a brilliant job of guarding their identities.
■■EFL DECISION ON ROTHERHAM UNITED VS CARDIFF CITY ABANDONMENT
The Bluebirds remain understandably pretty miffed about their game in South Yorkshire last weekend being called off due a downpour, especially since they were winning at the time.
Contrary to what you may have seen or heard, there’s actually no hard and fast rule about what to do with abandoned matches, with every game treated on a case by case basis – remember Town’s trip to Blackpool on the final day in 2015?
There are three potential outcomes: the game could be rescheduled and restarted from scratch, the game could be restarted from the time it was abandoned with Cardiff’s lead intact, or the win could simply be awarded to Cardiff.
Our colleagues at Wales Online believe that restarting the game from the beginning at nil-nil is the most likely outcome.
Either way, Town fans will be just as anxious as their Cardiff and Rotherham counterparts to hear the
EFL’s final decision.
■■POTENTIAL RELEGATION RIVAL POINTS DEDUCTIONS
Wigan Athletic have already been docked three points for failing to pay their players on time for the fourth time in less than a year – a punishment that had been preagreed with Wigan and thus could be immediately applied.
They may yet face further sanctions with a new investigation under way.
As it stands, though, Wigan’s woes are largely immaterial to Town in the fight for survival.
Much more important is what happens to a couple of sides ahead of them in the table who could be sucked closer to Neil Warnock’s side if they face deductions of their own.
Reading and Birmingham City are both just nine points ahead of Town but both are under investigation from the EFL for allegedly breaching the league’s financial regulations. The early suggestions in the national press was that Reading are looking at a sixpoint deduction and that any Birmingham deduction would be likely to be suspended – but it’s possible harsher punishments may eventually be applied.
Quite when we’ll get a decision is anybody’s guess. Reading boss Paul Ince had a hunch they would know something last week, but the wait remains ongoing.
Town fans will be hoping the EFL throw the book at either club (preferably both), although Reading are in especially poor form, and a deduction could change the complexion of the relegation fight.
There has been scant information circulating about the group that has won out Steven Chicken