Everton will certainly be feeling rather aggrieved after what has been a tumultuous week for the football club.
Hit with a landmark sanction on the Friday, the firestorm that has followed has seen the media explode into a frenzy of reporting, revealing new information, the bulk of which helps support the appeal the Toffees have now made.
Sean Dyche can seemingly receive no respite, as ever since taking on the role in the Goodison Park dugout he has been dealt with setback after setback.
This latest one though, seeing his side deducted ten points, is easily the harshest thus far.
And what could make things even worse is the compensation claim set to come too, should a number of clubs seek to receive damages for their relegation at the hands of the Merseyside outfit.
Reports have already circulated suggesting that Leeds United, Burnley and Leicester City will be spearheading such a push, with the latest news published by journalist Martyn Ziegler hardly aiding their case.
He details how, whilst writing for The Times, that the same panel who initially punished Everton will also decide on what compensation is owed to those sides.
This has drawn further scrutiny, as he notes: ‘Everton insiders have questioned how more than one club could receive compensation, considering that at the most only one team would have been relegated instead of Everton.’
Why are clubs trying to sue Everton?
The clubs interested in suing the Toffees are likely strolling down the wrong avenue, given it was not they who decided to only receive their points deduction now.
Their grievances stem from the fact that, had such a punishment been dished out in one of the last two full campaigns, it would have been them relegated in place of two of that trio.
During the 2021/22 season, Everton finished just four points from safety whilst the Clarets went down. Then, the following year saw them survive by just two points, with both the Whites and the Foxes instead relegated.
It makes sense why they would seek damages, but perhaps there is another organisation they should be accusing.
The Premier League and the independent commission were the ones who have only just administered the sanction now, making it their fault that these sides were the ones relegated instead of Farhad Moshiri’s club.
If anyone should be paying up it is them, but given the ludicrous conclusion the latter already came to, who knows what decision they will make.
Given the widespread condemnation of the points deduction they handed out, it is certain to be another unpopular one.
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