Everton were today slapped with a further points deduction for Financial Fair Play breaches.
The Toffees were handed a 10-point deduction earlier in the season which was reduced to six on appeal by the club, but investigations continued into further breaches of FFP/Profit and Sustainability rules which has now concluded and resulted in a further points deduction.
Everton have put out a statement today confirming the punishment highlighting their disappointment in the lack of consistency across the different commissions regarding the severity of punishment.
It does feel like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing when it comes to how to handle these FFP breaches with Nottingham Forest handed a lower points deduction than Everton. It all just feels rather arbitrary.
So, in light of this further punishment, what does this mean for Newcastle United?
Well, right now, nothing. The club have been super careful to not breach FFP since the takeover, some might argue too careful, but that's a different discussion for another day.
Going forward, however, this could be huge. The aforementioned lack of consistency is another big spotlight on just how ludicrous FFP really is, and another bullet in the gun that will ultimately kill it off.
Several alternatives are currently in discussion with the new 'luxury tax' idea being the one that will have the backing of most Newcastle fans - and really, any other Premier League club if they think about it.
The Luxury Tax will essentially be a fine for spending above the club's means (something that our backers could comfortably do) and that fine is then disseminated to the other clubs in the league. So if Newcastle were to go crazy in the transfer market, they would be hit with a fine that would then benefit other clubs. Everybody wins.
A new system is definitely on the agenda, but the big topic now is how punishments are going to be handled going forward because Chelsea and Manchester City should be expecting to be hit with massive penalties and if points deductions are the way to go, then they could find themselves dropping out of the Premier League - but of course the Premier League won't let this happen and will come up with a way for them to circumvent the punishment, while clubs in the "other 14" get whacked with points deductions.
It's not a conspiracy when it's actually happening right in front of our eyes.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
11 | 15 | 28 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
11 | 9 | 23 |
3 |
Nottingham Forest
|
10 | 7 | 19 |
4 |
Brighton
|
11 | 4 | 19 |
5 |
Chelsea
|
10 | 8 | 18 |
6 |
Arsenal
|
10 | 6 | 18 |
7 |
Fulham
|
11 | 3 | 18 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
11 | 0 | 18 |
9 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
10 | 11 | 16 |
10 |
Brentford
|
11 | 0 | 16 |
11 |
Bournemouth
|
11 | 0 | 15 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
10 | 0 | 15 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
10 | -3 | 12 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
11 | -6 | 12 |
15 |
Leicester
|
10 | -4 | 10 |
16 |
Everton
|
11 | -7 | 10 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
11 | -7 | 7 |
18 |
Wolves
|
11 | -11 | 6 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
10 | -11 | 5 |
20 |
Southampton
|
11 | -14 | 4 |