Wigan 0 West Ham 3
Paul Jewell has accused Premier League chiefs of "bottling it" after West Ham were not docked points for their murky transfer saga.
The Wigan chief insists the Hammers were fined £5.5million instead so the Premier League could avoid opening a can of worms involving other transfer deals.
Jewell had no complaints with West Ham's emphatic win in this vital relegation six-pointer.
The Guardian
Inquiry let-off galvinises Hammers
As Wigan Athletic faltered from the kick-off and got worse, Jewell must have wished that he could rush through about eight transfers. Robert Green did not make a noteworthy save but his opposite number John Filan ensured his place in match reports with a mad charge from his line on the half hour.
Luis Boa Morte, running on to Lucas Neill's speculative pass, simply had to lift the ball over Filan and did so.
The Londoners were on their way, and when Yossi Benayoun made it 2-0 in the 57th minute with a goal initiated by Tevez and George McCartney, the points were West Ham's. Wigan were terrible and in minute 82 Tevez released Nigel Reo-Coker who, via Boa Morte, teed up the substitute Marlon Harewood for the third.
The Independent
Jewell leads Wigan's chorus of discotent over Hammers 'let off'
For Wigan's part, their marked lack of resistance makes their own Premier League status on the tumbling side of shaky, as Jewell conceded with a honest assessment of his team's recent meltdown. However, the straight-talking Liverpudlian reserved his most scathing criticism for the football authorities.
Jewell wondered aloud - very aloud - what were the reasons behind the inquiry's decision to punish West Ham for breaking the rules over the transfers of Tevez and Mascherano with a £5.5m fine that may yet turn out to be the biggest bargain in sport (it is worth at least £30m to remain in the Premiership) and came up with some mightily damning answers.
"They know they've bottled it as one of the officials said to one of my men, 'Please, please beat West Ham on Saturday,'" revealed Jewell. "I'm telling you, the Premier League were desperate for West Ham to be marooned. I'd bet my last pound to a penny that if they had been adrift, like say Watford are, then they would definitely have been deducted points.