Sky Sports pundit suggests Leeds United and Burnley hypocrisy amid Everton legal threat
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
The threat of legal action from Leeds and Burnley over finances at Everton came from desperation amid the relegation threat says Kevin Campbell.
News emerged in the final week of the season that the Toffees’ two main rivals in the fight against the drop, which the Clarets ultimately lost, had written a letter demanding answers over how the high losses posted by the club could be seen to not break profit and sustainability rules.
But Sky Sports pundit Campbell thinks the prospect of dropping into the Championship will make clubs look for anything as a “lifeline” and that it is very easy to point fingers elsewhere without looking at how you are keeping your own house in order.
He spoke exclusively to Goodison News and said: “At the end of the day, all this came out before the last game of the season because they’re fighting for their lives.
“And when you’re fighting for your life you need a lifeline. Maybe the financial thing was a lifeline.
“Remember, you’re not looking at yourself, you’re looking at somebody else. So it’s easy to be ultra-critical on somebody else when you’ve got holes in your shoes.
“Talking about somebody else’s shoes, when you’ve got holes in your own, that’s just the way it is.
“Because the Premier League is so rich to be in that when you drop out, it’s so difficult in that Championship to get back.
“So I think those clubs were just trying to look after themselves.”
The spotlight has been shone on the fact the Toffees have lost nearly £380million over the last three years, yet the Premier League appears to be happy with the club’s numbers on Covid-19 write-offs and other count-backs related to stadium development and the women’s team.
At he same time, the leveraged buy-out of Burnley in December turned a club with £80million in the bank to one loaded with debt and a “£65million millstone” around its neck after relegation (Telegraph).
Similarly, while Leeds are apparently unhappy with how the league regulates the financial situation at Everton now, when the prospect of an independent regulator arose the Whites chief executive Angus Kinnear took to his programme notes in November to deride the idea as “a philosophy akin to Maoist collective agriculturalism” which “culminated in the greatest famine in history”.
So while the figures on the Toffees’ books are alarming, the other clubs seem to be trying to have their cake and eat it by crying foul.
In other Everton news, the club have made enquiries over bringing an international defender to the club from a European heavyweight.
Be sure to follow Goodison News on Facebook for 24/7 updates on Everton plus more exclusive interviews with Kevin Campbell.