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Alan Shearer offers Everton relegation verdict after 10-point deduction at Goodison Park
Alan Shearer has offered his verdict on the chance of Everton being relegated this season after it was announced the Toffees had been deducted 10 points.
Sean Dyche’s side have slipped into the relegation zone after an Independent Commission decided to deduct the Toffees points after they were found guilty of breaking the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
Currently, Everton sit 19th in the Premier League and two points away from Luton Town in 17th but having seen improvements from Dyche’s side over the last few weeks, Shearer believes that the Toffees will have enough to avoid the drop this season.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast (20 November, 20:00) he said: “If there is a going to be a time when you are deducted 10 points, this probably the season in which you think, ‘at least we’ve got a realistic chance of getting ourselves out of the mess that we’re in’.
“Because the standard at the bottom half this season is as bad as it has been for a long time. I think they can recover, I think they will get out of it.
“Such is what I have seen in the last five or six weeks that I believe they would have definitely stayed up [without the points deduction]. Even with this 10-point deficit, I think they will stay up, I think they will have enough, yeah.”
Enough quality
The mood around Goodison Park has dropped immensely over the last week as in the space of seconds, the Toffees slipped from 14th in the Premier League and nine points clear of the relegation zone, to 19th and two points away from safety.
But Dyche’s side has shown that they are more than capable of reestablishing that gap once again as over the last month or so they have been in impressive form that would allow them to pull away from the bottom three before Christmas if it is sustained.
The Toffees are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions, picking up results against incredibly tough opposition, including Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, West Ham at the London Stadium and a point against high-flying Brighton.
There is still two-thirds of the campaign to be played and plenty of points to be played for between now and May. Everton will have plenty of chances to make up that 10-point gap over the coming months and if they play anywhere near their best, they can match Shearer’s prediction and avoid to the drop to the Championship.
It is by no means going to be an easy season for the Toffees, but they have a manager who has become a master of dodging relegation and players who now have experience of surviving adversity in the Premier League.
In other Everton news, former FA chief David Dein has slammed the Toffees’ point deduction describing it as “extortion”