Opinion | EFL: Wigan Athletic belie administration woes but league has to answer

Between the water cooler and WhatsApp, office gossip would have you believe that most people don’t put in 100 per cent effort even on 100 per cent of their salary. So what would they do if they had only been paid 20 per cent of their wages? And what if they had seen most of their fellow employees sacked? In the case of Wigan Athletic on Tuesday night they put in 110 per cent – or whatever football’s peculiar brand of mathematics accepts as maximum effort – by putting eight past Hull City. An 8-0 scoreline is more suited to Wigan meeting Hull at rugby league, but the Latics, who were put in administration by their new Hong Kong owners at the start of the month and face a 12-point deduction for doing so, raced into a 7-0 half-time lead in mauling the Tigers. The defeat was Hull’s worst in a century. It was also the biggest defeat in Championship history – equalling Bournemouth’s 8-0 away-day romp at Birmingham City in October 2014. Incidentally, that was the same day that Haircuts and League Cups: The Rise and Fall of Carson Yeung, the book on the recently imprisoned Blues owner, was launched at St Andrews. 'It means more than it's ever meant'@LaticsOfficial captain @sammorsy08 talks about what wearing the badge means to him. #WAFC pic.twitter.com/fI7NcCPiFG — BBC RM Sport (@BBCRMsport) July 16, 2020 Yeung’s time at the club was a roller coaster, winning the Carling Cup in 2011 and then entering administration when he was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to six years in jail in Hong Kong in March, 2014. Times at St Andrew’s have not been any less interesting under Trillion Trophy Asia, the Hong Kong owners appointed by administrators Ernst and Young. There are certainly echoes of the Yeung era – Blues were managerless the day they shipped eight to Bournemouth, and they are managerless again now. The club are also in eye-watering debt to their owners, who sold the ground to themselves to alleviate profit and sustainability concerns. Once again they are in a relegation battle and it could be the third season in a row where they only survive in the second tier on the last day. The good news this season is that they are not hamstrung by a points deduction, although that was a close-run thing as they were found guilty at the second time of asking of breaching the business plan imposed by the English Football League (EFL). That Wigan dished out such a victory makes their administration all the more puzzling. This is a club that is regarded as well run by the standards of the Championship and they have several players attracting interest from other clubs. Defender Antonee Robinson was all set for AC Milan in the winter window before the move literally ended in tears at the last minute, while young striker Kyle Joseph has been linked to English Premier League sides. It’s a club where player sales balance the books, which is not unusual. What is highly unusual is that a new owner would pay well over £40 million to buy them and then decide they could no longer continue on the first day. At that stage, what is a few million more. It was speculated that they would need no more than that to finish the season – and then they could sell players. That @kierandowell1 hat-trick goal...#wafc ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/6cDxlYY5Ui — Wigan Athletic (@LaticsOfficial) July 15, 2020 The EFL (which could stand for Easily Flippin’ Led) has to answer for this. Wigan are the thin end of the wedge in a season when Bury, just down the road, have ceased to exist. More are likely to follow as the coronavirus crisis has clubs teetering like dominoes on a tray in the hands of a blindfolded unicyclist. Whatever the Owners’ and Directors’ Test is, it certainly is not working. It needs to grow teeth and quickly. EFL chairman Rick Parry all but admitted that they cannot do due diligence with Asian owners, which is a worry when the UN flags several areas of concern in the region. However, the EFL is also failing closer to home. Charlton Athletic’s former chairman Roland Duchatelet was fishier than the origins of the club’s Addicks nickname, and the farce that followed was insult to injury. Teams in the Championship are running at massive losses, living on the brink as they chase the promised land of the Premier League. Their behaviour is often closer to that of an addict than what you expect from a solvent, well-run business. Beyond the prize of promotion and the riches that come with it, there are opportunities for owners who do not have the best interests of the clubs in mind. Finger-pointing, the Philippines and EFL – what happened at Wigan? There are other models – Germany’s fan ownership being regarded as the ideal in protecting clubs – but at the very least the EFL should insist on more than proof of funds and guarantee the commitment of them. Yes, football is a business but it is the EFL’s business to make sure that owners keep clubs in business. Still the clubs drop and nothing is learned. Einstein might have said “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”, but you don’t need to be Einstein to see that the EFL is failing football.