Every football fan in Britain must be at least slightly aware of Portsmouth FC's plight and for Rams fans, after our own club's recent history, it's likely to be of increased interest.

 

Portsmouth, while having a long and proud history, are nevertheless a fairly unremarkable club... and I mean that in the nicest possible sense. I suspect that if the club was to go out of business and was playing in anything other than the Premier League, the football authorities would make some sympathetic noises but otherwise do very little to help.

 

As it is, it seems likely that the club will go into administration by the weekend and will therefore have nine points deducted. Personally, I've never quite understood what this is supposed to achieve. It seems to me to be of no more use than going home and kicking the cat after a bad day at work.

 

I don't have a better suggestion but I can't see how a points deduction helps any club coming out of administration or penalizes any previous owners, especially if their intention was always to cut and run. I suppose my point is really that why do something that patently doesn't work just because you have nothing better?

 

In Portsmouth's situation, administration would seem to be the only option. Going into administration indefinitely suspends the threat of being wound up and that is surely what would have happened next Monday in the High Court. It would be pretty embarrassing for the Premier League to have a club go out of existence part way through a season (and that embarrassment is probably all the PL is bothered about if the true be known).

 

Of course, any points deduction would seem to be pretty academic in Portsmouth's situation as they must certainly have already been cast iron certainties for relegation. I'm not saying administration is A Good Thing because it obviously isn't. I'm sure many businesses around Portsmouth and elsewhere will be innocent victims and in the current economic climate, who's to say it might not be the last straw that puts some out of business themselves?

 

It will of course mean that there's still a Portsmouth Football Club for the local community - the club's own website proudly proclaims "More than just a football club" - and it will allow the club to reinvent itself.

 

But I think what this whole sorry episode must ultimately produce is much tighter controls on how a football club can be run. The authorities must take their heads from up their backsides and come up with a way of not allowing a club to overstretch itself.

 

Since their inception, the Premier League and Champions League have become the Holy Grail of football and far too many clubs are throwing caution to the wind in an effort to drink from it. Additionally, the way some clubs are financing themselves is questionable and needs to be addressed by some form of regulation. The way Manchester Utd is being run is increasingly becoming a concern. At one time the club was financially strong but now is reported to be over £700m in debt.

 

A club the size of Manchester Utd is unlikely to be allowed to fail financially but there's no doubt it's now having to run up the down escalator in an effort to keep on top of its interest payments.

 

Meanwhile, we already have Crystal Palace, Cardiff City and Notts County all currently the subject of winding up orders or administration. Something has to give for football not to find itself treading the same path again.

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