After what has been an exceptionally tough week, Everton finally seem to be gathering some steam in their appeal process.
Having garnered widespread support from a number of MPs, as well as welcoming many pundits’ views on their harsh punishment, it marked the perfect end to nearly seven days of hell to see The Overlap publish a video focusing on the topic.
A number of high-profile names in football would give their verdict on the ten-point deduction, which has seen the Toffees handed the harshest sporting sanction in the history of the Premier League.
Naturally, Gary Neville would waste no time in using this as an opportunity to lambast the organisation that continues to make gaffe after gaffe.
The former Manchester United defender would tell Stick to Football: ‘The trust and faith has gone completely, and the greed, I’m not gonna say corruption, but I’m gonna say the greed and selfishness is out of control. It’s lawless.
‘The Premier League is a defunct organisation because they’ve basically got 20 clubs all voting with self-interest and not with the greater game at heart. This has been coming for many many years, the Super League clubs, you mentioned the other day I think, that the Super league clubs were punished, six of them that tried to destroy, in essence, the whole of European football.
‘They were fined £22m, £3.5m each, which is an absolute disgrace and a scandal for what they attempted to do, which was the attempted murder of our game essentially.’
Why did Everton get a points deduction?
Whilst the easy answer would be to state how Everton overspent on the division’s profit and sustainability rules by £19m, there are a number of mitigating factors that have led to huge controversy.
After all, this deduction was as much a political manoeuvre as it was a fair sanction for the crime committed.
The Merseyside outfit were forthright and transparent throughout the entire process, in which they admitted wrongdoing but outlined their plan to move back towards sustainability. Just when it looked like they were reaching that level, the Premier League and its independent commission came to their damning conclusion.
With the government continuing to lobby for an independent regulator to take over the division and halt the spiralling finances which continue to reach ridiculous levels, such an outcome would have worked perfectly to dictate the power they claim to hold over their clubs.
However, in the end it has backfired spectacularly, and their plan has been ruthlessly exposed by the masses. Neville is but one of many to have seen right through their veiled charade which has come at Everton’s expense.
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