Warnock backs Blades' arbitration fight

An independent arbitration panel will meet tomorrow to hear the Blades' argue that West Ham should have been deducted points rather than heavily fined for irregularities in the transfers of Argentinian Tevez and compatriot Javier Mascherano to Upton Park last summer.

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Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme: "I think it is quite right that the club has carried on the fight because most people thought at the time it was an injustice even though it happened late in the day.

"I don't think anybody is anticipating a reversal of the decision, but I think it is right that they carry on the fight to the arbitration."

Warnock announced his resignation as Blades boss three days after a 2-1 final day home defeat by Wigan condemned his side to the drop as the Hammers clinched survival with an unlikely 1-0 victory at champions Manchester United with Tevez, inevitably, scoring the decisive goal.

However, the row over the way the two Argentinians - Mascherano is now with Liverpool - came to be playing their football at West Ham had been raging on for months.

The Hammers were fined £5.5million by an independent commission in April after they were charged by the Premier League over a breach of their rules.

The players were part-owned by a third party, an arrangement which had to be ended before Tevez could play again in the wake of the commission's ruling.

The Blades immediately sought legal advice as they and the clubs around them also fighting against relegation argued that the Londoners should have been deducted points with plc chairman Kevin McCabe claiming United had been treated "like lepers".

West Ham eventually stayed up by three points after winning seven of their last nine games with Tevez scoring five crucial goals.

Warnock said: "West Ham have got the points from the last few games. They got the points on the board and it qualified them to stay in the league.

"The argument is whether it should have been allowed at that particular time.

"If I am honest, I don't really know all the ins and outs of the case because on the football side, you just get on with the football."

In the run-up to tomorrow's hearing, the South Yorkshire club has sent delegations to lobby Parliament - with the help of Hollywood actor and Blades fan Sean Bean - and Europe.

Club officials have repeatedly voiced their conviction that the decision will be overturned and that they will be re-instated, although most commentators believe that is an unlikely outcome.

However, whatever happens tomorrow, Warnock is confident the side he dragged into the top flight will return swiftly under new boss Bryan Robson.

He said: "It was disappointing for me. I decided it was the time to move on and I think the club is in really good hands now.

"Everything about the club is geared and I expect them to go back up as champions and then the club will move forward because we have worked wonders in the last seven-and-a-half, eight years."