Everton, and particularly the playing squad and coaching staff, have been ravaged all season by matters outside of their control.
Most of those within the camp were not around when the Toffees were taking their first steps into the financial black hole they currently find themselves in, and yet are now having to weather a storm which seems unrelenting.
Last season was tough due to their underperformance and lack of effort. This campaign that has decreased wholly, but a ten-point deduction, later reduced to six, has not helped matters.
And now, with what the Premier League are seemingly planning to do, it suggests that their plight was all for nothing.
Premier League planning landmark PSR change
As per a report by The Daily Mail, published earlier today, the Premier League are plotting a change to PSR by abolishing points deductions all together.
This will come after a season where they have already administered two, to both Everton and Nottingham Forest, with a second potentially on the way for the former.
Journalist Mike Keegan writes: ‘The hefty points-deduction punishments for Everton and Nottingham Forest – coupled with a quiet January transfer window as clubs did not dare overspend and risk sanction – have left many officials to deem the league’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) not fit for purpose.
He then noted: ‘There are also grave fears are that, under its current guise, PSR will see the Premier League fall from its lucrative position as the world’s best league because it will no longer be able to afford the best players on the best salaries.’
Everton have been made the scapegoats once again
It is actually quite laughable just how farcical a campaign this has been from the Premier League, who have done their brand and its integrity no favours.
In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to display their power over the 20 clubs they oversee, they have arguably never looked so weak.
Seeking to use Everton as their scapegoat, throwing a cobbled-together book at them in some faux show of strength, has made for a tough campaign.
Sean Dyche has worked wonders to keep them alive at all, and they admittedly have felt the full force of the ruling.
However, in doing so the Premier League actually terrified the rest of their sides into submission, leading to one of the quietest January transfer windows ever.
It appears they cannot both keep the likes of the Toffees and Nottingham Forest down without also prohibiting their biggest money-makers, like Manchester City or Liverpool. This explains the proposed rule change.
There is no chance that this has been done with Everton, Newcastle United or Aston Villa’s benefit in mind. After all, the former has withstood the full force of the Premier League’s might, which could have set them back years. And now, the rules will just change.