Everton’s ongoing battles with FFP are becoming tiresome, as a narrative that has dominated proceedings all season.
The average match-going fan has been forced to become a part-time financial expert just to understand what is going on with their club, and no longer is the Premier League based solely on what happens on the pitch.
In fact, relegation this season could be an eventuality decided in the courtroom.
It goes against everything that the sport stands for, yet Farhad Moshiri has only himself to blame. His reckless spending has left Sean Dyche in a truly untenable situation, and it is only through his experience at the bottom of the table that they are not in the same position that they were under Frank Lampard before him.
What Frank Lampard said about Everton’s FFP issues
Speaking to JOE, the 45-year-old tactician, who has enjoyed managerial spells at Derby County, Chelsea and Everton, was brutally honest about his time with the latter.
Inheriting a club in crisis, completely hamstrung by financial issues and reeling from the poisonous tenure of Rafael Benitez, it was a near-impossible job for him to succeed in.
And yet, despite keeping them up during his first six months in charge, that second season saw them heading towards a similar fate to the one the Spaniard had engineered.
However, he did admit that their struggles in the market did not help the situation, especially with one major sale.
Lampard would reveal: ‘I knew that there was more difficulties coming because FFP was there, we knew Richarlison would leave, we could bring in some players but our net spend was not far off zero, which generally means when you have struggled the year before that you are going to be in and around there. We couldn’t really move forward.’
An issue that every Everton manager will be stuck with
As aforementioned, this is not an issue which simply went away by changing the manager.
Whilst Lampard’s sacking was one widely expected and agreed upon by the fanbase, given the truly abysmal run of form they were enduring, things seem no different at the moment under Dyche.
And whilst he has earned more than the 25 points they currently sit on, the fact of the matter is they are staring down the barrel of a third straight relegation battle.
Until a huge financial overhaul is undertaken, or Bramley-Moore Dock can hopefully start easing their fiscal issues, things will likely never change.
Dyche will continue to suffer, as will any manager that might come after him.
So, it has to be evaluated whether anyone could do a better job than what the former Burnley man currently is, despite all the challenges.