League 'makes mockery of relegation battle'

It is the kind of emotional sight we have become accustomed to seeing once the outstanding issues have been addressed at the conclusion of the Premiership’s final day.

Grown men weeping openly, bracing themselves for a summer of regret and confusion as they slowly come to terms with their failure to avoid trouble when they had the chance.

Never mind Bramall Lane. That should have been the scene in Premier League headquarters in at shortly after 4.45pm yesterday, when West Ham’s so-called great escape was sealed.

Because in failing to dock points from the Hammers over the Carlos Tevez affair, ostensibly because they feared it might a difference, the game’s guardians made a mockery of the whole relegation fight.

Having made their ridiculous ruling, they had every reason to watch the final day through their fingers, hoping against hope that results would conspire to help them wriggle out of their almighty mess.

They didn’t. And now the result of their cowardice will be a summer spent protecting themselves against likely courtroom strife from at least one club which has every right to feel short-changed tonight.

“A points deduction today.. would have consigned the club to certain relegation,” was the bizarre conclusion of the report which elected to inflict upon the Hammers only a record fine.

In other words, points deductions should only be handed out to clubs when there is no danger of said points deductions having any sort of impact whatsoever.

It was a decision which, to make matters worse, was announced the day before West Ham and Wigan were due to go head-to-head in a potentially pivotal relegation showdown.

OK, £5.5million is a lot of anybody’s money. But it is a paltry sum when compared to the amount the Blades are going to miss out on as they spend next season in the Championship.

Little wonder one of the loudest and lustiest outpourings of emotion at Bramall Lane yesterday was the chant which echoed around the capacity stadium after just five minutes: “Stand up if you hate West Ham”.

And little wonder that the usual chaotic grief which characterises such edge-of-your seat occasions was tinged with a palpable sense of injustice.

Astonishingly, the talk all week had been of dark forces possibly conspiring against the Hammers, with the prospect of two aggrieved teams cooking up a result to send them down.

Such conspiracy theories were certainly not evident on Neil Warnock’s face, nor on the thousands of red, white and black painted faces in the stands, when Paul Scharner shot Wigan in front.

And they were absolutely rubbished for good in the way Jon Stead launched himself at Phil Jagielka’s cross to equalise in the 38th minute, all but knocking himself unconscious in the process.

Far from the maelstrom, across the Pennines at Old Trafford, Manchester United danced out their victory jig with Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes playing bit-part roles.

And, ill-fittingly yet somewhat inevitably, it was Carlos Tevez who had the final say. If it was a relegation confirmed at Bramall Lane, it was one conceived in the back streets of Buenos Aires.

As the electronic scoreboard sent the minutes ticking by, both sides stretched themselves to the limit in the pursuit of Premiership survival.

Blades keeper Paddy Kenny pulled off a miraculous point-blank save to deny Emile Heskey. Danny Webber burst clean through but snatched at his shot and hit the base of the post.

David Unsworth served up another of those grimly inevitable final-day twists by scoring the decisive penalty to seal the fate of a club in whose colours he had started the season.

No-one could deny the honesty and endeavour of the players on the Bramall Lane pitch. Only once, when he sent off Lee McCulloch, did he deem the law had been sufficiently infringed to merit major sanction.

On such a tumultuous occasion, that was a pretty admirable record as far as meting out necessary punishment is concerned. Praise which certainly cannot be bestowed upon the suits at the Premier League.