"these things"? I wrote "these thugs" meaning the people that did the assault on the bus.
Yes, I agree that would be on the club.
Unless it can be shown that the club was negligent in some way, the responsibility for this assault is on the people who did it. Punishing the club, would be punishing people who are innocent of wrong doing. For example, ordering the rescheduled match to be played behind closed punishes fans who were not involved. Docking points punishes fans and the club even though they were not involved. Ideally, you target the punishment at the individuals who did the crime.
Apologies for the misreading
Part of the idea of 'punishing' the club here, or indeed the fans, is that it encourages better behaviour all round, and it mean it is seen to be being taken seriously by the football authorities. Say there is a full house of 60,000 at a hane and large sections of the home fans are constantly racist chanting. The club bars those it can identify but it's only a minority. Would you say no further action should be taken?
As to the question of collective punishment in sport, if one was absolutely against it, then you wouldn't have sendings off.
