Stuart Pearce shares ‘kills you’ view in Everton points deduction debate live on talkSPORT
Stuart Pearce believes Everton will avoid Premier League relegation this season due to the timing of their points deduction.
The Toffees went from the relative safety of 14th place down to 19th after being docked 10 points on 17 November.
After then losing to Manchester United last weekend, Everton are all of a sudden five points adrift of Luton Town in 17th place.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Friday [1 December, 11:32], Martin Keown stated Everton fans are right to feel nervous.
“A lot of people have been saying Everton will be fine, but they might not be,” he said.
“It’s quite an impact to find yourself in the international break going into the bottom two.”
Pearce interjected with: “The one thing with that, Everton got their points deduction when they already had points on the board.
“If they got it before then, and were points adrift, psychologically it kills you. I think they’re one win away from jumping out of the bottom three.”
Massive match
Pearce is not technically correct with regards to Everton being one win away from exiting the relegation zone, but the point he makes is a good one.
Had we gone into the season on minus 10 points, or been docked them on the back of one point from our first five matches, supporters would have been seriously worried.
As it is, four wins from the subsequent seven matches left us in a far stronger position, yet there is still plenty of work to do.
All of a sudden, the trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday (2 November) has taken on huge significance for the Toffees.
Lose that, and Everton will be at least five points adrift of safety ahead of games with Newcastle United and Chelsea. If Luton pick up a positive result away at Brentford this weekend, meanwhile, the gap will grow even wider.
The truth is that Everton are likely to now be in a relegation fight all season long. Let’s just hope the players have the fight to once again finish the right side of the dotted line.
In other Everton news, the Toffees could now move for a player in January after a “frustrating” verdict was shared.