Everton have every right to be furious with the Premier League at the moment.
Having slammed down on the Merseyside outfit in November for breaches of their profit and sustainability rules, deducting ten points in what was a landmark ruling, last month’s announcement revealed their intention to double down on this persecution.
Their efforts to nail the Toffees to the wall have been relentless, and yet they could still come away unscathed should they succeed in the ongoing appeal.
However, new information has since come to light which will likely spark newfound frustration with their own division.
After all, despite pointing to their cobbled-together handbook as justification for their initial decision, we could now be set to see a rule change.
What rule are the Premier League looking to change?
Whilst altering the statutes is likely a move that needs to happen, given how outdated and clearly thoughtless the initial set was, it surely cannot occur after the previous set of guidelines were used to punish Everton (and potentially Nottingham Forest).
It makes no sense whatsoever, but admittedly nothing the Premier League have done throughout this trial has.
Their desperate attempts to prove their strength in the face of an independent regulator have arguably made them look weaker than ever, and this latest proposed change only reinforces that.
Speaking for Sky Sports, reporter Kaveh Solkehol revealed all: ‘The rules we’ve got at the moment, profit and sustainability, obviously they’ve been very controversial.
‘Basically, what they say is ‘clubs over a rolling three-year period can only lose a maximum of £105m’. Now under the new proposals being discussed, we would get rid of that £105m limit over three years and what you would have is something that would be closer to what UEFA have at the moment.
‘This is basically on squad cost ratios, so depending on what your turnover is you would be allowed to spend say 70% of your turnover on player costs, so that would be wages, transfers and agents fees.
‘So, for instance, if your turnover is £500m a year, you would be allowed to spend 70% of that, £350m a year, on player costs. I think it is going to be controversial, it’s going to be discussed at this meeting. There won’t be a vote but it’s definitely the direction we’re travelling in.’
Another argument for Everton to make
Although the appeal process has come and gone, and now they just await the expected mid-February outcome, this latest decision could cast further uncertainty over any potential negative outcome for Everton.
After all, surely this marks a fresh argument for them to make, if this summer rolls around and they instigate a complete reform of rules that they deem unfit for purpose.
How could they justifiable use these threadbare and poorly thought-out statutes to punish the Toffees, only to then abolish them straight away? Especially given no other team has been on the end of such severity like Sean Dyche’s side, accruing the harshest points deduction on top-flight history.
Whilst the holes in the Premier League’s decision just keep appearing, the fear is that this independent commission come to a similar conclusion to the last.
Especially if information continues to be coincidentally leaked, almost coercing this body towards an outcome they desire.
If this process was fair, Everton would have received no deduction at all.
This is a sporting sanction for a crime that was committed off the field, and yielded no on-pitch advantage, contrary to what has been reported.
Hopefully KC Laurence Rabinowitz has put this notion across succinctly, so they need not unleash another wave of fury with these proposed rule changes.
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