David Ornstein responds to Everton points deduction question with ‘no indication’ verdict
David Ornstein has offered his verdict on the possibility of Everton receiving a points deduction this season, saying there has been “no indication” that the Toffees will yet be punished.
The Toffees had been expected to appear before an independent commission on 25 October having allegedly broken the Premier League’s financial fair play rules, but reports have emerged that the process has begun in secret behind closed doors [Daily Mail, 18 October].
So far there has been no official time frame placed on when any sanction would be imposed, should the Toffees be found guilty and Ornstein has said that there is yet to be any indication as to which way the decision may go.
Replying to a question in his weekly Q&A on Thursday (19 October) he said: “No indication yet as to whether Everton will be punished or if they are then to what extent. So the chances are not growing or receding. There are reports today suggesting the case will conclude by next Thursday and then a decision communicated at a later date.
“Everton feel they have been working alongside the Premier League to fully comply with the rules, so this seems to have come as a surprise to them and they’ll be hopeful of clearing their name.
“Some of their rivals are of the opposite view and want to see them punished for such heavy financial losses.”
Now we wait
Everton have remained confident that they have done nothing wrong throughout this process and that still seems to be the case, even given the increasing attention that this subject has received given the recent developments in the past couple of days.
The good news for Toffees’ supporters is that it doesn’t appear as though the situation has got any worse in the last couple of days with Ornstein suggesting that there has so far been no signs that an imminent points deduction or even fine will be imposed.
Realistically, there is very little that Everton can do about the situation between now and when the decision is communicated “at a later date” and given the vagueness of the current timeline, there is very little point in stressing about a potential punishment right now.
All that Sean Dyche and his side should be focusing on in the coming weeks is picking up as many points as possible so that the Toffees are prepared and in a better place should the worst happen. If they come away unscathed, they won’t have wasted valuable time stressing about a situation outside of their control.
In other Everton news, one pundit has described Jordan Pickford as a “loose cannon” ahead of the Merseyside derby