Everton’s manager, Sean Dyche, has said rules to fast-track financial breaches should be changed to protect the competitive integrity of the Premier League.
The rules, agreed by Premier League clubs, were introduced at the start of this season and are designed to ensure that a standard financial breach is resolved inside 12 weeks. They were changed so that any points deductions could be applied to the season in which a club’s accounts are submitted.
Dyche, however, believes Everton’s experience has exposed flaws in the system. The club plunged from 14th to 19th when hit with a 10-point deduction in November and climbed from 17th to 15th on Monday when the deduction was reduced to six points on appeal.
Dyche says the uncertainty affected his players and is unfair on Luton, Nottingham Forest and Brentford, who find themselves closer to relegation after the appeal verdict. He has called for points deductions imposed in one season to be applied at the start of the next, in order for all clubs to know where they stand throughout a campaign.
“What I’ve learned from the process and what I would suggest is they can’t judge you in the middle of the season,” said Dyche, whose team are without a Premier League win since December. “Surely it’s better to do it at the end of the season and going into the new season? Any sanction won’t be taken off you there and then but will be for the new season. That’s a more level playing field, although it’s not exactly a level playing field, for the whole league.
“Imagine at the end of this season, bang, you’ve been hit. You then have roughly three months [in pre-season] to do whatever you need to be the best competitive outfit you can be even with your sanctions. The idea of all football is to have a competitive league. It’s much more challenging for it to happen mid-season for the players, for the fan mentality and for the whole of football.”
Dyche welcomed “the clarity” brought by Everton’s partially successful appeal but the club still faces the threat of a second points deduction this season for breaching financial rules up to 2023.
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“All we’re focused on is that part is done,” Dyche said. “Whatever will come next is for the lawyers, if needs be. At the minute, we don’t know the exact benchmarks. We didn’t know with the first one. Everyone was scratching their heads going: ‘How did we get done 10?’ We just have to see what comes next.”
