EFL rules a "joke shop" says Accrington owner over Wanderers' dilemma

Andy Holt has branded Wanderers’ wait for EFL punishment as “madness”.

The Accrington owner was critical of the league’s decision to allow Bolton to start the season in administration – believing the under-strength they were forced to employ in the opening weeks gave an unfair advantage to their opponents.

An independent panel was meant to meet tomorrow to decide whether Wanderers will be punished for failing to fulfil a fixture against Brentford last season and postponing their game against Doncaster in August over “welfare concerns” for their young players.

The league want the game replayed – but League One rivals Doncaster are pushing for heavy penalties for cancelling the game.

Holt waded into the row on Twitter yesterday, replying to a fan: “It’s a fact that (Bolton) should not have been allowed to start the season with kids and in administration,” said Holt, replying to a Bolton fan on Twitter.

“It’s damaged proper competition and (Bolton’s) chances of survival this season.

“This was evidenced by Bolton not being able to play against (Doncaster) which will likely lead to a further points deduction for your club.

“It was an awful decision by the EFL to let you start the season. It’s a shambles.

“I wish no harm to any club, especially local clubs. I’m fully aware of their importance to our towns and communities.

“There should be one set of rules that applies to ALL clubs, that is straight forward, with immediately implemented punishments.

“That nobody knows what should happen shows what a joke shop the EFL rules are.

“It’s madness to still be wondering about point deductions after all this time and now you’ve started getting back on your feet.

“My comments are reflecting the EFL response to problems, not the club.”

Source

He does make some fair points but I still struggle with the implication of playing kids as being "understrength" inasmuch that they were the strongest team we could put out at the time - as is the case with any club at any time.
Should games get called off if a team loses a couple of star players through injury or suspension? Where do you draw the line...5, 6, 7 first team regulars out?

And whose business is it if some other club doesn't rate the selected players' quality? Are the EFL expected to introduce a "quality threshhold" and if so what criteria are they supposed to apply given that nobody can predict how players will perform in any given game?
Surely a club can pick whatever team they want to from the registered players available at the time and it can always be argued that they were the best performers in training which is why they were picked anyway.

Fact is those kids are BWFC players and represented the club in the early games to the best of their ability and moreover, did so legally as registered players.