Everton face an almighty battle to remain in the top-flight, after Monday’s hammer blow.
And whilst a two-point deduction could certainly have been far worse, it does undo much of their good work in opening up a four-point gap between themselves and both Luton Town and Nottingham Forest.
Fortunately, they will have the opportunity to reestablish that gulf, as they face them before the season’s end.
It will be simply crucial that they achieve the goal of safety, as the consequences could be dire.
The Esk makes important administration claim
Speaking on his Talking the Blues podcast, Paul Quinn, better known as The Esk on X, briefly combed over Everton’s unconvincing but integral win last weekend over Burnley.
And whilst many fans have remained frustrated over their actual performance, this writer and finance guru actually offered a rebuttal, justifying Sean Dyche’s tactical decisions.
After all, he would go on to compare the club to someone suffering from an addiction, stating: ‘But I think Dyche recognises that about everything. Obviously, ours is not an addiction problem, but ours is a problem that actually needs some clarity of thought and it needs somebody to say that it doesn’t really matter for the last four or five games, home games of the season, we’ve got to win three of them, four, including the Burnley game in order to stay in the division.
‘And the cost of not staying in the division is probably we go out of business or we go into administration. I think that was made clear in the accounts. Therefore, what do we have to do in order to achieve that objective?
‘Three or four wins, whatever we get away from home, you know, is just a bonus. And I think that’s exactly what he did. He did show a little bit more of his hand against Newcastle, you know, with the substitutions.
‘And that was great to see. But I think he really reverted back to absolute basics at the weekend.’
Everton should stay up regardless of their deduction
If Everton do not pick up the requisite points from their remaining fixtures, they simply do not deserve to be in the Premier League.
Now whilst that might seem harsh given they should be eight points better off, were it not for the two deductions administered, that is irrelevant when viewing their final seven league matches in isolation.
Right now, they sit two points above the drop zone with a far superior goal difference on all those around them.
Not only that, but having just beaten Burnley, they also have Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United all to come to Goodison Park, as well as a trip to Luton Town.
These are matches they should certainly be looking to win, and given the quality within their squad, they realistically should do.
So, whilst the scale of the deductions are obviously unfair, and have completely distorted reality around the relegation zone, it remains firmly in the hands of Dyche and his team to pull themselves to safety whilst condemning the others to a rat race.
Given The Esk’s comments, failure to achieve this could prove catastrophic for the club.
