i'm not entirely sure what the situation is at Port Vale but from what I understand the contracts offered to them are short term contracts issued by the Administrators pending a takeover that is imminent (kind of).
The issue of a points deduction is irrelevant because they took the hit last season instead. There is a certain date whereby any administration after it results in the deduction rolling over to the following season. To their credit they took the hit whilst still in with a shout of the play offs.
The reason why administration wasn't an option for us was because the entire debt was to the tax dudes - who want all their money or foreclosure. When the debt is made of various sources there are numerous avenues that can be taken, one of which is administration. The Administrators will come in and raise what funds they can by whatever means they can, whilst ensuring that as many of the running costs can be met as possible.
The lessons to be learnt here are that;
- you must pay your legal obligations in a timely fashion
- you can rack up as large a debt as you like to everyone else but you must do it quickly then you can fire off 90% or more of it in one fell (foul) swoop.
I believe that a large portion of the Vale debt is something to do with the local council who loaned them a large sum of money to invest in one of their stands, which houses a load of community type stuff. The 'good' thing about their entire situation is that their debts haven't been racked up as a result of trying to buy the league.
Rotherham on the other hand ....