View: Points deduction leak may offer Everton hope as PL struggles at FFP hearing
Points deduction news may offer Everton hope as Premier League struggles at independent commission hearing
The news that the Premier League want Everton docked 12 points unsurprisingly sparked concern around the club potentially getting relegated, but the story might in fact offer some hope.
The Telegraph reported the news on 25 October right in the middle of the Toffees’ independent commission hearing where they are alleged to have committed a single breach of profit and sustainability rules, which they deny.
Stan Collymore wrote in his Caught Offside column on 27 October, in which he suggested the aim of the authorities is currently more about sending a message to Manchester City than disciplining Everton, that “the Premier League are quite prevalent at briefing journalists”.
There would seem to be no benefit to anyone at Goodison Park leaking the 12-point deduction idea, and unless the independent commission isn’t fit for purpose nor would they.
The story also came out following a week in which the league supposedly struggled to present their case in front of the commission, with Simon Jordan telling Jim White live on talkSPORT on 26 October that he understood they “weren’t particularly impressive”.
It is impossible to say with any certainty until the commission reaches a decision and either finds in favour of the club or the league, but that would seem to suggest that perhaps the position Everton had vowed to “robustly defend” might be more secure than feared.
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A points deduction of even half what has been suggested would give Sean Dyche’s side a major uphill battle to avoid the drop, but if the Toffees’ stance that they haven’t breached spending rules turns out to be correct it would be a major bullet dodged.
It is potentially very likely that there will be appeals which prolong the issue whichever way this case goes, but as all sides wait on a decision those at Everton might actually take some solace from the timing of the 12-point deduction news emerging.
If the Premier League felt that they hadn’t managed to prove their argument adequately, as Jordan suggested, and if it is the case that they are more focused on all-conquering Manchester City, then getting out in front of the commission’s findings with one of the briefings to journalists that Collymore alluded to might be a form of contingency plan.
Few would paint a picture of the situation at Everton as exactly rosy right now, but with the spectre of a punishment that would likely relegate the club being sent out to hang over them there is a chance it isn’t such a bad sign after all.
