Reporter Notebook: Everton’s sense of injustice can inspire Premier League survival after points deduction
Reporter Notebook: Everton’s sense of injustice can inspire Premier League survival after points deduction
Leicester City, Burnley, Southampton, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest are all considering taking action after Everton were handed a 10-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules
Everton appear to have been punished for building a soon-to-be-finished stadium. Had the club chosen to remain at a tired and unfit-for-purpose Goodison Park, and not attempted to move the club forward by increasing its commercial viability, the club arguably would not be in this position today.
Everton fans have been dealt a number of below-the-belt blows over several years now, some self-inflicted by the club. This punishment will not be seen as such. I expect those fans to rally, as they did during the past two relegation-threatened seasons. History has shown that in the club’s hour of need, the fans come together to drag the team over the line.
The Mail on Sunday’s Rob Draper and ESPN’s Mark Ogden discuss Everton’s immediate 10-point deduction after having breached the Premier League’s financial rules
This decision will create a siege mentality which Dyche and his team will undoubtedly use to ensure there will not be a third relegation scrap. It may be their toughest test to date – and the previous ones have been close calls – but fight they must, again, if one of English football’s oldest institutions is to avoid succumbing to a fate not seen for nearly 70 years on the blue side of Merseyside.
Another aspect of the commission’s decision will, of course, focus on the ongoing process involving the ownership of Everton. A 10-point deduction, one can imagine, would have an impact on a buyer and seller agreement. The product is undoubtedly devalued from what it was when the agreement was reached.
777 Partners, the potential new owners of Everton, did not wish to comment on the commission’s decision while the ongoing regulatory process was continuing. However, it is a valid concern of supporters and understandable that it may well have a detrimental effect on the future of the club, which would be taken into account when it comes to the purchase being completed.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire explains why Everton have been deducted 10 points by the Premier League and what he expects them to do regarding an appeal
Everton’s prospective new owners have shown already that they are wholeheartedly committed to the takeover, something which the £81m of funding of the club’s working capital lays testament to. But their new investment being plunged into a relegation fight at the drop of a hat must be of concern to the American-based investors.
There would also, surely, be a concern among the authorities carrying out the aforementioned regulatory process, that should the sale stall or worst-case scenario collapse it would lead to a financial crisis at the club which nobody would benefit from.
There is no sign that 777 Partners are shaken by the news, but the uncertainty surrounding the whole appeal process will remain a concern for the fanbase.
