Portsmouth's fate becomes clear as path forward for League One opens

‘The Board has always acknowledged that a single solution to satisfy all Clubs would always be hard to find,’ finished the EFL chairman in this afternoon’s key statement.

‘But we are at the point now where strong, definitive action is needed for the good of the league and its members.’

In other words we’ve given you plenty enough opportunity to come to a decision over what you’re going to do over the season, and you’ve not been able to do so.

The Premier League’s first CEO has told League One clubs they’ve kicked the can down the road far enough, reached a dead end and heads are being banged against the wall at being unable to arrive at the same destination.

The impasse between third-tier members has grown increasingly entrenched in the search for how the campaign will be concluded, with deadlock looking the only certainty at a time when any clarity has been hidden beneath a cloak of self-interest.

So this afternoon’s missive from the league has been greeted with relief but not a great deal of surprise, as the path forward for Pompey moves into sharper focus.

The option of a curtailed term with unweighted points deciding places is expected, as is the dying embers of the extended play-offs Peterborough and Sunderland were hoping for being extinguished.

Their hopes now rest solely on completing the campaign in the manner they and the Blues have campaigned for - and the league have once again reaffirmed is their primary objective.

The now confirmed key information a 51 per cent vote is required to ensure that happens makes such an outcome unlikely, however.

The test to realise that’s the case is crude but one which has been carried out by every manager, CEO, player and fan interested in how the end game of the criss-crossing narrative is reached.

Even a cursory glance down the League One table tells you how the two sides occupying the automatic promotion berths will vote. Coventry and Rotherham would be up without kicking another ball.

Then come the six-strong collective who’ve nailed their colours to the opposite mast with everything still achievable for most of them.

Those who fall in line with them with support for finishing this argument on the pitch include the likes of Doncaster, Gillingham and at the other end of the table Tranmere, who are the only side in the relegation slots with a hope of survival.

Wycombe are in favour of calling time on proceedings now and taking their chances in the play-offs. Not entirely surprising given how their season has ran out of steam.

Even allowing some optimistic wriggle room on the fag-packet calculations we’re all doing, the numbers fall short of 12 clubs needing to agree on carrying on.

So a date or two with Oxford United beckons with Fleetwood and Wycombe the other contenders, as the Blues hope to win a play-off match at the seventh time of asking.

These are extraordinary times, so you never know...