Simon Jordan drops verdict on Everton 10 point deduction, Premier League accusing them of ‘Cooking the Books’
Simon Jordan believes the Premier League are accusing Everton of “cooking the books” after handing down a 10-point deduction.
The punishment was announced on Friday afternoon (17 November), immediately putting the Toffees in 19th place in the league as the club announced they would appeal the decision.
And reacting to the news live on talkSPORT (17 November, 12:22) Jordan revealed that the club had actually admitted to the breach, but were arguing about the severity of the breach and insisted that the 10-point deduction was “very heavy-handed”.
“It does feel to me, 10 points is a bloody heavy penalty.”
“It does appear, I’m just reading some stuff here, it does appear that Everton have argued the position, in terms of they’ve accepted they’ve breached the profit and sustainability, they’re just arguing about the quantum.
Martin Keown then intervened and asked how can they appeal if that is the case, to which Jordan responded.
“Well the scale of the penalty. Say for example you’re £120m over the budget and Everton are prepared to accept they’re £10m over, then is the consequence for being £120m over the same as being £10m? Because what the Premier League’s argument will be is that you’ve already accepted you’ve breached profit and sustainability, that’s what I’m reading here.
“It does feel to me, that to have the first sanction in Premier League history of a points deduction, besides the situation at Middlesbrough all those years ago, is a very heavy-handed sanction. 10 points.
“What they’re saying basically is that Everton have cooked the books, know they’ve cooked the books, they’re acting in bad faith, and with that in mind, Everton’a accounting principles are absolutely appalling is what they’re saying. That’s ultimately what they’re saying. I’m dressing it up in the most hyperbole.”
Crazy
The punishment is so harsh it’s hard to even conceive, especially if Everton have admitted that they’re happy to accept a breach in the case.
But the club are clearly not willing to accept that they breached the limit so severely to be worthy of a 10-point penalty, which is the biggest in Premier League history and more than club’s received in the past for going into administration.
The only explanation is that the Premier League are going to try and make an example out of Everton because of the situations at Manchester City and Chelsea that are coming around the corner at them.
But that isn’t acceptable and they’re essentially accusing the club of deliberately trying to con them despite the fact they have worked alongside the league for several years on the issue and have been working under a wage cap.
It’s a crazy decision and the club will rightly appeal it, but the chances of coming away with a points deduction now seem very slim since this decision has been made public and implemented immediately.
In other Everton news, Jim White and Simon Jordan react immediately to 10-point deduction live on air.