The penalty leaves the club bottom of the League 1 table and, having just sold Bradley Wright Phillips to Charlton it appears that there is very little hope of them being able to preserve their status as a third tier side beyond the end of this season.
Point deductions are horrible things, they in no way benefit the club they have been given to and, if anything, only serve to further endanger their chances of recovering into any resemblance of a sustainable team in the future.
My belief is that, contrary to what Mr "Look at Me!" Barry Hearn thinks, the answer is not to relegate any team who lose control of their finances in the lower tiers but instead, to police the system from the top down by ensuring that the big clubs are held to account for their gross overspending and lavish wage offers to the "elite" players in the game.
When you consider that Plymouth have been deducted nearly a third of their points for an amount the equivalent of Yaya Toure's wages for a mere 11 days, you surely have to admit that there is something deeply wrong at the core of the game.
If the bigger clubs were regulated in a stricter way rather than being allowed to spend these vast sums on transfers, wages and so on you may well find that the smaller clubs demonstrate a far calmer, more measured approach to running their own finances, but with everyone looking towards the Premeir League as the example to follow, the common view amongst fans and owners is that they must spend themselves into oblivion for the fear of being left behind.
I feel deeply sorry for Plymouth Argyle, the fans, players and owners alike, and only hope that they find the sort of investment that we at Crystal Palace are now so lucky to have. We now know that the long term future of the football club we adore is in four very safe pairs of hands, who, having seen what can happen when things get out of control, are determined to run the club in a way that will not endanger it for the generations to come.
It may not mean that we are fighting for a Champions League place in 7 years, or the latest superstar is linked with us every summer, but it does mean that it will be there for us until the day we die, and as far as I can tell, that is all any real football fan wants from their club when all is said and done.
Anyway, back to matters on the pitch and an absolutely massive three points for us against Sheffield United on Saturday.
The game itself wasn't the best, lots of blood and guts without much in the way of flair, until out of nothing came one of the most sublime strikes I have ever seen hit the back of the net at the Holmesdale Road end.
After a looping header from Sean Scannell, James Vaughan neatly flicked the ball towards Darren Ambrose who proceeded to lift his first touch to around shoulder height before tilting his body to the left and hammering a volley past the despairing hands of the Sheffield United keeper and into the very top left hand corner of the net.
As soon as the ball went in, Darren sprinted towards Block B of the Holmesdale Road end with a look of what can only described as sheer elation on his face, only to be mobbed by the rest of the team whilst us fans jumped around like children.
It was clearly a massive weight off his mind and his celebration demonstrated just how desperate he was to get the goal, not only for himself but for the fans as well.
We managed to hold on to the lead, and in the process made it eight consecutive home clean sheets in a row, taking us five points clear of the bottom three. We now face a trip to Fratton Park tonight, hoping that we can improve on our dismal away record and get a win that would give us some serious breathing room from the relegation zone.
My thoughts this evening are with Plymouth Argyle and their supporters, keep the faith, we did and look at us now...
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