By Dan Carter

20th Nov, 2023 | 12:10pm

Sam Matterface rages at Everton developments live on talkSPORT

Sam Matterface has been left in a rage over the situation at Everton and believes that action taken at Goodison Park could “cripple” the Toffees in the future.

Sean Dyche’s side were deducted 10 points by the Premier League as they were adjudged by an independent commission to be guilty of breaking profit and sustainability rules, leaving them 19th in the table.

Relegated clubs such as Leeds United, Leicester City and Burnley have signalled their intention to sue the Toffees for £300million as a result of the charges and Matterface has admitted that he is worried such action could cripple Everton.

Speaking on talkSPORT (19 November, 14:15) he said: “A knock-on effect is a little bit of an understatement because this is basically opening Pandora’s box, isn’t it?

“What is the point of the initial Premier League punishment if there is an opportunity for other clubs to then appeal that and say ‘Actually we want our piece of the cake’ as a result of them being punished for it?

“Is the punishment that they have received this season not enough? Now we’re going to go into a situation where because of the rules that are in the Premier League they could be crippled and in fact, if they were sued for £300 million how do they pay that back bearing in mind they’ve got no money?

“Are we going to cripple Everton now to feather the nest of others? Are we not now in the zone where we are starting to determine what happens in a football league, in a courtroom, in a tribunal, rather than on a football pitch.”

Worrying times

It is unknown whether or not the relegated clubs’ legal case will even have any legs and there is every chance that their case will be thrown out of the court without any punishment for Everton, but it also has the potential to be catastrophic.

Nobody at Goodison Park is claiming that the Toffees have done no wrong and it feels as though most supporters accept that they have broken the rules, but it seems bizarre that the punishment has been so severe considering the actual mistake made by the Blues.

The punishment already has been more serious than anyone else expected and should Everton then be sued for such a big fee, the reverberations of such action will be felt for years to come and as Matterface suggested could well be incredibly damaging for the Toffees.

A 10-point deduction is more than enough for the issues the Toffees have faced. Any further action would not only be severe but potentially club-defining.

All the teams in the Premier League have signed up to the rules which have seen Everton punished in this way and it seems ridiculous that they are now trying to change those rules to get their boost.

In other Everton news, Simon Jordan has slammed Farhad Moshiri and the Toffees for their justification of overspending