Wolverhampton Wanderers were today fined £25k for fielding an understrength side against United back in December. Wolverhampton Wanders lost the match 3-0, however made a number of changes from their game against Tottenham Hotspur the previous weekend for the clash against Manchester United. Mick McCarthy obviously felt that he should rest his side for the match against Burnley after United – a match that Wolves won 2-0. The Stretty Rant feel that the Premier League are demonstrating complete double standards on this issue.
Firstly, a £25k fine is quite pathetic compared to the prize money the club will receive from staying in the League but how comes the Premier League have no problem with United putting out a weakened side against Hull City but do with Wolves against Manchester United? If Kevin Doyle or Nenad Milijas were injured against United (the two players to score against Burnley) and didn’t play on the weekend – what cost could that be at the end of the season? Whether you agree with him, McCarthy obviously felt that it wasn’t worth risking the fitness of the majority of his first eleven in a match that he believes wouldn’t have a bearing on their season. Now, if that is the case, what has that got to do with the Premier League? If Wolves stay up by a point and Burnley go down by a point – the McCarthy made the right call. The people who have a right to be annoyed are the Wolves fans that traveled up to Manchester for the match to see a reserve team put out.
You may think “what has it got to do with you?” especially considering United were not punished for the match against Hull City last season. Well, we do take an interest in things that are non United related (like the decline of 3-5-2 in modern day football or Zonal Marking vs. Man Marking if you’re interested!), and I am generally disgusted at the level of hypocrisy showed by the Premier League. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got the best league in the world but its no thanks to those lads down in West London. United and Wolves have a rich history with some glorious teams (older readers will be aware that the great Stan Cullis described Wolves as ‘the best team in the world’ after beating Hoved of Hungry – who were made up of a number of the Mighty Magyars) throughout the years – which have been a contributing factor to what made football great (and the birth of the European Cup), not Scudamore and his money grabbing schemes. Game 39? No thanks.