Rebels accused of just thinking of themselves

AS Coventry City begin to dream of ending their 25-year Premier League absence, a football finance expert has accused the division's ‘middle-class’ of ‘short-term self-interest’.

- By BRIAN DICK Sports Reporter

The Sky Blues are currently five points clear at the top of the Championship but more importantly 12 ahead of Preston in third.

A sizzling first half of the season has many predicting Frank Lampard will lead City back into the top flight - but then a whole new financial ballgame begins.

Premier League clubs recently voted to get rid of the controversial Profitability and Sustainability Rules, which allowed clubs to lose up to £105million over a three year period, and swap them for Squad Cost Ratio regulations.

From the 2026/27 season, when Doug King (pictured below) will hope to be a Premier League owner, clubs must ensure they do not spend more than 85 per cent of the money they generate on costs such as transfers, wages and agent fees.

And Kieran Maguire reckons that has levelled the playing field for newly promoted teams because previously sides coming up from the Championship had a lower loss threshold of as little as £61m - placing them at a massive disadvantage to established Premier League rivals.