Everton: Luton Town CEO calls for bigger Premier League punishment at Goodison Park
Luton Town CEO Gary Sweet has expressed his disappointment at Everton and their recent two-point deduction, calling for a “greater” sanction to be applied.
Everton were docked an initial 10 points earlier this campaign, which was reduced to six on appeal, for breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), before their most recent deduction.
However, Sweet feels the punishment is insufficient, despite having overseen a 30-point deduction in his time at Luton.
Speaking to BBC Radio Three Counties, he said: “If you look at what clubs do, we spend hundreds of thousands of pounds in data analytics to recruit the right players who are going to give us the goals, give us the points and defend the goals. So we know the value of a goal and the value of a point in monetary terms.
“If we know then it is not beyond the wit of man with such important decisions like this for an independent party to come up with that kind of data analysis to value an overspend amount and convert to points – and it is never two. It is much higher than two.
“From that perspective [I am] really disappointed that it is that little. The punishment simply doesn’t fit the crime and ultimately what that means is it doesn’t become a deterrent.
“If you look at the [Nottingham] Forest four [point deduction] – which I was also disappointed with – two points off for co-operating is ridiculous. You should have had two points added if you didn’t cooperate – it should have been six.
“This is Everton’s second time, albeit a smaller level – so it should certainly be a greater amount, but it is not for me to say how many that should be.
“As a club that has gone through a 30-point deduction for something I see as relatively less, then it is somewhere between the two. It has to be a punishment level that is a real deterrent.”
Everton punished by the Premier League
Sweet’s grievances likely come from the fact that – despite both Everton and Nottingham Forest being docked points this season – the Hatters remain in the relegation zone, below both.
They occupy 18th spot in the Premier League table, behind Forest on goal difference alone, while Everton are two points in front with a game in hand.
The Hatters have produced several surprising results this season, taking four points off Newcastle, beating Brighton 4-0 and battling to a 1-1 draw at home against Liverpool, but their overall record of just six wins and 19 defeats remains insufficient to lift them out of the bottom three.
Sweet’s comments are likely to add an extra element of spice to what could be a relegation-deciding clash when Everton visit Kenilworth Road on 3 May – the third-last game of the Premier League season.
Should Luton fail to claim three points against their relegation rivals and complete the set of promoted teams dropping back down into the Championship, they are unlikely to feel any better about what they perceive to be overly gracious treatment of Everton – a view which few are likely to mirror.
n other Everton news, the Toffees are fielding interest for a star midfielder from two major European clubs.
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