Everton certainly had a vested interest in Nottingham Forest’s PSR case, given how harshly the Premier League had come down on them.
As relegation rivals, they likely hoped that they would be treated in a similarly severe fashion, and essentially conclude the relegation battle with a big deduction.
However, the outcome has been nothing close.
In fact, despite the Premier League first pushing for a 12-point deduction before settling on ten, later reduced to six on appeal, the Tricky Trees have settled with a mere four-point deduction.
Nottingham Forest deducted four points
This entire turn of events has only elevated anger Evertonians already felt towards their own division, with their every move hardly easing such furore.
After all, this latest one has essentially alienated the Toffees from the Premier League completely, as it was previously thought that the attack was on those threatening to have enough ambition to try and challenge the ‘big six’.
However, having only handed Forest a four-point deduction, that is clearly not the case. It’s just Everton!
What makes this situation all the more controversial is the underlying reasoning behind this conclusion, which effectively showcases the biases throughout the process which saw one club clamped down on with immense severity, and the other afforded leniency.
The Premier League were too harsh on Everton
The outstanding factor that has drawn scrutiny is the figure with which Forest overspent.
And whilst their spell in the Championship does offset this somewhat, it is really inexcusable that whilst Everton got a six-point deduction for a £19m overspent, their relegation rivals got just four points for £34.5m.
The Premier League have desperately tried to paint the picture that Sean Dyche’s club were uncooperative and standoffish throughout the process, which simply is not the case. Selling Richarlison before they were ready in order to get that cash in before the deadline is an outstanding example of how they went the extra mile to at least try and comply.
Not to mention that they offloaded Brennan Johnson, the direct comparison for such a sale, outside the requisite time period.
There are so many holes in their reasoning behind yesterday’s conclusion, the likes of which will be picked apart by Everton fans in the coming weeks.
The only hope is that these arguments can be used once again in order to ensure that their six-point deduction remains their only sanction in what has been a horrid season.