Everton have every right to feel like they have been harshly treated throughout this PSR scandal.
After all, back in November they were first administered the harshest points deduction in the league’s history, and even though it was later reduced on appeal, Monday’s ruling then saw them become the first side in top-flight history to receive two deductions in one season.
It’s laughable how uncoordinated yet severe the treatment of the Toffees has been, but now Richard Masters has truly shown his hand to the rest of the world.
Many speculated that the sole reason behind this Everton witch hunt was to ward off an independent regulator for the Premier League, and so to publish a piece trying to justify his position just a day after handing out another deduction only reinforces this notion.
Fortunately, many have seen through his weak, transparent efforts to garner public support.
Andy Burnham fumes at Richard Masters
Andy Burnham has never been Masters’ biggest fan, but after this latest decision, that position is only set to devolve further.
After all, there have been numerous grievances aired by a whole host of big-name people in the media, whether it be politicians or former players.
And they all seem to come to the same conclusion in their defence of Everton.
Having first been dealt a six-point penalty, and with a further two deducted on Monday, the Premier League have stolen eight points from Sean Dyche’s men for what are, on the surface, rather minor breaches.
Anger was only intensified when Masters penned that aforementioned piece, which has sparked the Mayor of Greater Manchester back into action.
He writes:‘Revealing that this appears the day after the @premierleague have hammered @everton – AGAIN.
‘More convinced than ever that they are using our nearly 150 year-old club as a pawn in their PR battle against an independent regulator.’
The Premier League aren’t even hiding their anti-Everton bias
It was a completely tone-deaf approach from the Premier League’s CEO, to desperately publish his letter calling for the masses to reject the independent regulator, just a day after his organisation had called for Everton to be dealt another five-point deduction.
If anything, it’s actually quite laughable how thoughtless the decision was, as it just showcased their true intentions behind this PSR drama.
Masters has quite obviously been using the Toffees, and also Nottingham Forest, as scapegoats for his ulterior motive.
It is just fortunate that they had actually broken the rules too, so he can at least cover those true intentions somewhat.
However, to many, this changes little.
This latest show of arrogance in writing for The Times just adds the final nail to the coffin, and hopefully the eventual employment of a government independent regulator sees him lambasted not only for failing to ward off such an eventuality, but also for coming down on the two aforementioned teams with unnecessary severity.