The Football League have denied suggestions made by Matthew Le Tissier that they had imposed extra conditions for the takeover of Southampton above and beyond the acceptance of the club's 10-point deduction.

Le Tissier said yesterday that the Pinnacle Group - which he supported - had withdrawn its offer to buy the club because of these conditions. But a League spokesman rebutted the accusations.

“We are very surprised by the comments that other conditions, allegedly imposed by the League, led to the Pinnacle Group withdrawing from their proposed takeover of Southampton Football Club," he said.

“Throughout our discussions no conditions other than a waiver in regard to sporting sanctions [ie accepting the ten-point deduction] have ever been raised with us as a major issue.

“The Pinnacle Group has been in receipt of a contract from the League for over a week now. To proceed, all it needed to do was to provide clarification in regard to funding and sign the contract.”

In an unexpected twist, another of the men behind the Pinnacle bid yesterday denied that it had collapsed, but muddied the waters further by talking of a 15-point penalty.

Michael Fialka, 32, who emerged last week as one of the figures involved in financing the Pinnacle bid, said that the deal could still go through.

“It’s all up in the air at the moment,” he told the Jewish Chronicle. “The reality is that there are a few issues with the Football League. We’ve had a bit of a standoff as we would only consider a deal if the penalty was 10 points rather than 15.

“I need confirmation. Once it goes through then everyone will be happy.”

Fialka claimed that he would “end up with one third of the club and be the main director on a four-man board” if the takeover went ahead.

Meanwhile, Mark Wotte has agreed to stay in charge of first-team affairs until the club's future is decided. His temporary contract as first-team coach has expired, but instead of reverting to his previous role as academy director, Wotte has accepted an extension. Michael Svensson, the club's former defender who recently confirmed his retirement as a player after failing to recover fully from injury, will remain as Wotte's assistant.

"I am very happy to stay to help this club towards a better future," Wotte said. "I didn't want to leave while we are in such a difficult situation and I want to stick with the players and the staff at this great club and continue our preparations for life in League One."