Everton: Furious politician rages at ‘agenda’ against Toffees after new points deduction
Joe Anderson has accused the authorities of having an “agenda” against Everton and the club’s fans after the club were hit by a second points deduction.
The former Liverpool mayor reacted furiously via Twitter on 8 April after two more points were stripped from the Toffees, branding it a “disgrace” that the Premier League has sanctioned the club twice in the same season.
He pointed to the various situations on Merseyside which the club have argued unsuccessfully in mitigation, while bemoaning the “attack on fans who have done no wrong” after Sean Dyche’s side were dropped to 16th in the league table, while suggesting other clubs such as Manchester City will escape with no points sanctions once the current rules are replaced.
Anderson wrote: “The PSR cover 3 years when we had COVID, Ukraine, Stadium costs so to give a deduction of 8 points in one season is an attack on fans who have done no wrong.
“Fact these rules will change & will allow others to escape With EFC & Forest the only 2 teams to be punished, EFC fans twice.
“There is clearly an agenda against EFC & in particular the fans. A further 2 points in the same season as PL have already given 6 points for breaches of PSR is a disgrace.
“The rules will be changed & City & others will avoid any deductions under these rules EFC reward for cooperating.”
Joe Anderson furious as Everton and Nottingham Forest now have three combined deductions this term
Anderson will be far from the only one on Merseyside who feels this way, and the fact that this is seemingly not even the end of the issues from the current charge will enrage him and the club’s fans even further.
Two points in isolation may not be massive, but on top of the first punishment of six, which itself was only brought down from 10 on appeal, it is a hefty issue to overcome for Sean Dyche and the players.
In the wake of Nottingham Forest’s comparatively light four-point penalty there had been some hope that the Toffees might be able to escape without losing more.
But the subsequent release of the club’s accounts suggested those hopes were perhaps wishful thinking as major losses in the 2022/23 season meant Everton couldn’t argue in mitigation that their situation was improving.
Given the double jeopardy argument that two of the three years in question for this breach had already been punished in relation to the last one it seemed that perhaps a one-point penalty might be a reasonable ambition this time, but it is going to take another appeal to reach that if it is possible.
That the spending rules are set to change in the near-future looks to be an acceptance that the current ones have not worked, but that won’t do much for Everton when they are by far the club hit the hardest before they are replaced.
In other Everton news, Paul Joyce has issued a takeover update after new 777 talks ahead of key deadline.
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