SIMON JORDAN: Take your 10-point penalty on the chin Everton, you’ll stay up! The punishment is harsh and doesn’t feel like it fits the crime… the club are a victim of their times

• Everton were hit by a ten-point deduction from the Premier League on Friday 
• The punishment is ridiculously harsh and predicated upon sending a message 
• Southgate’s loyalty to his players is an issue and a weakness – It’s All Kicking Off 

Everton’s 10-point penalty is harsh, ridiculously harsh.

They spent £20million over and above the allowable amount and have been hammered with this deduction – so it doesn’t feel like the punishment fits the crime.

It seems to me to be predicated upon sending a message. 

The Premier League wanted to show that they’ve got control of their own destiny and the powers and ideals behind the independent regulator that is coming down the track perhaps don’t need to be as all-consuming as some would have you believe they are going to be.

By setting up an independent commission, the Premier League are trying to show ‘We’ve got this’ and prove they aren’t marking their own homework and are prepared to do what is required of them.

Everton’s 10-point penalty is harsh – it doesn’t feel like the punishment fits the crime

The club are a victim of their times but the simple fact is that Farhad Moshiri ran a bad ship

Unfortunately for Everton, they are a victim of their times. They don’t dispute the findings, they’re arguing over the sanctions.

Everton have tried to manipulate circumstances and move their arguments based on what they think they’re arguing against. The report talks about evidence owner Farhad Moshiri provides about how their spending was required because they had a non-existent midfield. 

Sorry, but what’s that got to do with the price of cheese? A non-existent midfield doesn’t justify breaching profit and sustainability rules! The simple fact is that Moshiri ran a bad ship.

But that’s not to say the punishment isn’t brutal. Such a sanction has never been handed down before and the Premier League have gone straight for the jugular. 

Portsmouth went into administration and were docked nine points but if you mismanage your finances by 20 per cent you get a 10-point penalty. No wonder Everton are disputing the severity of it.

But they can’t be ‘shocked and horrified’ as their statement says. That is not steeped in any conviction. They admit they are guilty but the language suggests they should never have been found guilty of it! It makes no sense.

Such a sanction has never been handed down before; the Premier League went for the jugular

After the deduction, the club are languishing 19th in the table but just two points off safety

The challenge for Everton now is what to do next. Do they really want this delayed and hanging over them when the best course of action might be to take their medicine? 

Despite the penalty, they are still only two points adrift of safety and given the struggles of the promoted clubs, it might be an idea to take this one on the chin as I don’t see Everton going down.

I also can’t see those clubs lining up to sue Everton getting very far.

Manchester City and Chelsea might be a little worried though. Some might question whether such a punishment could be handed down to one of the Premier League’s powerhouses but I don’t see how it can’t not be now.

At Chelsea, Todd Boehly disclosed where he found the buried bodies. He can’t then turn round and say it’s not his fault. 

Everton’s was much more straightforward than the complicated issues facing City and Chelsea but this has opened the door for other clubs to be smacked. And I suspect they’re feeling a little more twitchy than they were before Everton’s punishment.

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Source: Read Full Article