Simon Jordan and Danny Murphy clash over Sean Dyche comments on Everton points deduction appeal
Simon Jordan and Danny Murphy clashed live on air after what Sean Dyche said about the process of the Everton points deduction.
talkSPORT played a clip on Wednesday (28 February, 12:26pm) from the Toffees boss, where he claimed the length of time it took for the verdict to be given was having a “psychological impact” on his dressing room before the news broke that their 10-point deduction had been reduced to six.
Murphy said he understands where Dyche is coming from because the decisions you make when you’re down in the relegation battle may be different to when you’re competing higher up in the table as you may be more cautious about going out to win the game and decide to protect what you’ve got.
But Jordan argued that the situation was different for the Blues players as they were in a position where they weren’t there because they deserved to be down near the bottom based on their performances, adding that the players had a choice whether to take on a “victim complex” or have a desire to overcome the points deduction on the field.
“It’s a unique situation that obviously I haven’t had to deal with, not knowing how many points you’re on,” said Murphy. “Even in the season where I had the relegation battle with Fulham, there were no pending enquiries into the club’s financial woes or points deductions on the horizon, so I haven’t had to deal with that.
“But I understand where he’s coming from because the reality is when you play in games when you’re down the bottom, there are lots of details and times in games where you might go for it or you might shut up shop even to save goal difference.
“What you’re doing with Dyche, with Frank at Brentford, Nuno at Forest, Rob Edwards at Luton, you’re making these little nuanced decisions in a game that are really relevant, it could be a substitution. You’re playing a team around you, it’s a six-pointer in effect, but it might not be a six-pointer the week after when the decision is made, so you would’ve gone for it rather than protecting what you’ve got.”
“But aren’t you comparing slightly different scenarios because Everton are not in a position football-wise through merit?” responded Jordan. “They would be six points further up the table now, they wouldn’t be in a relegation battle be it a different dynamic.
“So the players would have a feeling of injustice, rather than a feeling that they are in this position because of their failing to be good enough and psychologically the approach would be slightly different, wouldn’t it? Because if you’re at the bottom of the table because that’s where you deserve to be over the course of the season, then psychologically you’re in a different place.
“Whereas if you’re in that position because someone took it away from you from nothing of a football-based position, then psychologically it’s about a victim complex if you decide to have one or a desire to overcome it as a result that this is not a football-related matter, thinking we shouldn’t be in this position.”
Difficult situation for Sean Dyche to manage at Everton
It’s difficult to say what the best approach would be towards the points deduction because it is a completely unprecedented situation for everyone.
The fact of the matter is, though, that the appeal process should never have gone on for so long as it was clearly having an impact on how Everton and the other teams in the relegation battle were competing in recent weeks.
The likes of Luton Town have gone from thinking they had a great chance of staying up to now being four points adrift again and they could argue they would have maybe gone for it more in certain games.
The whole process, from the initial points deduction being given to the appeal decision eventually being made this week, has been completely and utterly shocking.
The Blues will just be hoping that the situation regarding their second charge for breaching the Premier League’s spending rules will be handled differently and they don’t end up with another points deduction.
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