- Gary Neville thinks Everton do not trust a ‘lawless’ and ‘defunct’ organisation
- Jamie Carragher thinks Everton are badly run and sympathises with fans’ woes
- Everton players will be fed up with the owners – listen to It’s All Kicking Off
Gary Neville argued that Everton‘s trust in a ‘lawless’ Premier League has fully eroded after their ten-point deduction.
The ex-Manchester United star claimed that the Premier League is a ‘defunct organisation’ where ‘greed and selfishness is out of control’.
Everton were deducted ten points for breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules after posting staggering financial losses of almost £372million over a three-year period.
That’s more than £250m above what the Premier League’s guidelines permits clubs to lose over a three-year rolling time frame.
However, with Manchester City facing 115 charges of breaking the league’s financial rules, and eight clubs blocking a proposal to ban clubs from loaning players from sister teams, Neville reasons that Everton’s faith in the league has been lost due to its wider issues.
Gary Neville argued that the Premier League is a ‘lawless organisation’ that Everton don’t trust
Everton were deducted ten points after posting losses more than £250m above what the Premier League permits across a rolling three-year period
‘Everton’s trust and faith [in the Premier League] has gone completely. The greed and selfishness is out of control – it’s lawless,’ he told the Stick to Football podcast.
‘The Premier League is a defunct organisation because they’ve got 20 clubs all voting with self-interest. This has been coming for many years.
‘The Super League clubs that tried to destroy the whole of European football – they were fined a total of £22million, £3.5million for each team, which is an absolute disgrace and a scandal for what they attempted to do, which was the attempted murder of our game.’
‘What we’re talking about here is not football anymore. I love football but it’s starting to eat itself from the inside out.’
Fans have slammed the call to dock ten points off Everton while City face 115 charges for allegedly facing financial rules.
The Toffees were co-operative with the investigation into them whereas City refused to hand over certain documents, prompting the Premier League to begin arbitration in an attempt to force their hand.
Portsmouth were hit with a lesser sanction for going into administration in 2010 while Everton overspent by £20million while also overseeing the construction of a new stadium.
Critics have labelled their points deduction harsh and while Jamie Carragher sympathises with that view, he also points out that Everton had repeated warnings that they were close to overstepping.
Jamie Carragher sympathised with those who think the points deduction is harsh but also labelled Everton’s hierarchy ‘ridiculous’ for overstepping the limit
Fans have protested against Farhad Moshiri’s ownership of the club, who he bought a 49.9% stake in in 2016
He said: ‘I get the points calculation, but Everton are £20million over and how does that equate to 10 points when you think of Portsmouth who went into administration and only lost nine points?
‘I have always felt that Everton are one of the worst-run clubs in the Premier League.
‘When you look at the books, they’re only £20million over and today, when you look at the transfer fees and the money, it doesn’t seem a lot. But on the flip side, how have Everton’s owners looked at that [the books] and continued working with the Premier League, who kept warning them that you’re getting very close, so why did they then spend on one extra player who cost them £10-15million, because that cost them 10 points?
‘It’s just ridiculous from the actual ownership. The ownership of Everton can’t be angry, they’ve been working with the Premier League who have been warning them of how close they’ve been getting, and then they still overstep it.
‘Did they think the Premier League would bottle it and not give them a sanction?
‘For Everton, I think that unfortunately they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Premier League, now, there is so much going on with lots of other clubs and it’s a bit like, “we’re making a stand, and we must stop people breaking rules and getting away with things.”‘
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher were speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
