City boss Bryan Gunn this morning refused to be blown off his survival course by the financial crisis currently engulfing City's relegation rivals Southampton.
The Saints are widely assumed to be just hours away from going into administration and running the very real risk of earning a ten-point penalty off the Football League – something that would all but guarantee the Saints a trip to Yeovil next season as they and Charlton fill two of the three drop slots.
Today and the Daily Echo was claiming that precedent was on their side – that following the Derby County model, Southampton would be spared a points deduction because administration was something that applied to the parent company – Southampton Leisure Holdings, PLC – and not the club itself.
It is a position that is bound to anger their Championship relegation rivals as they sense a loop-hole being exploited.
But the Echo found itself a Football League 'spokesman' to stand up their claim.
?Let's be very clear, if the club goes into administration the club will be deducted 10 points,” the spokesman was quoted as saying. But if the holding company goes into administration then they won't be.?
As long as its the parent company, not the club itself the Saints will be spared.
?The league rules are very specific, it has to be the club which goes into administration for points to be deducted,” he confirmed.
?At the end of the day the Football League applies it's rules and they specifically state it is the club that has to go into administration before points are deducted.?
Precedent, the paper claimed, came in the case of The Rams in October, 2003. Then parent company Derby County PLC were taken into receivership by the Co-op Bank with debts of around ?30 million.
'But Derby County Football Club, a seperate organisation under the umbrella of the Derby County PLC company, were not taken into administration and had no points deduction,' reported The Echo.
All of which was deemed wholly irrelevant, by City boss Gunn.
If Norwich can guarantee their own survival by their performances on the pitch over the next six games, then events at St Mary's would remain someone else's worry.
The Canaries would have done the job themselves – a job that they could make that much easier by victory over Sheffield Wednesday this weekend.
So, did he have a view on the whole Southampton saga?
“No,” he said, simply.
“I'm not going to get dragged into anything like that,” he added, a position that City chief executive Neil Doncaster has also maintained as the Football League Board prepares to field that real curve ball.
“We'll concentrate on the football. And I'm sure Southampton will be concentrating on their football as well. And administrators, Boards and Leagues will deal with things appropriately.
“So I don't want that to take anything away from our focus on Saturday and taking three points – and over the next six games winning as many games as possible that will keep us in the Championship.
“And that's the only way that we can do our job is by winning games, drawing games and accumulating as many points as possible in the next five weeks.”
The City chief revealed that winger Lee Croft – absent from the spirited 1-1 draw away at promotion hopefuls Birmingham City – would resume training again today.
Northern Ireland international Sammy Clingan appears – for once – to have come through his World Cup adventures unscathed and has been granted an extra day's stay in Belfast before returning to Norfolk tomorrow.
As for the growing talk that Gunn could yet be in line to win March's Manager of the Month award after taking those ten points from the last available 15, the blossoming City boss had a ready-made answer ahead of the forthcoming announcement.
“I'd much rather get it for April,” he said.
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