Everton should focus more on the club’s financial mismanagement than who sits on the panel for their FFP case.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that complaining about the personnel on the independent panel is the wrong approach for Everton to take.
The Toffees were docked 10 points after being deemed guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial and sustainability rules.
Following the guilty verdict, Leeds United, Leicester City and Burnley all plan to claim £100million in compensation from Everton.
Senior figures inside Goodison Park are unhappy that the £300million case will be heard by the same independent panel that decided on Everton’s 10-point deduction.
As revealed by Football Insider, Everton have filed an official complaint over the panel chosen to hear their £300million case.
David Phillips KC is set to remain on the panel, but Everton are unhappy with his involvement due to his previous work with Leeds.
Maguire backed the panel to act impartially and suggested that Everton’s attempts to discredit the panel was the wrong approach to take.
“The current panel have already heard the evidence from the previous case and the panel are experienced litigators,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“There’s a relatively small pool of people who have sufficient qualifications and experience to form a judgement.
“If you look at some of the panels that have taken place at EFL level, some of the criticisms are that these people aren’t football people.
“But I think to try and discredit the panel isn’t necessarily the right approach from Everton.
“They act impartially in my view.
“You will always be able to find a connection between an individual and three or four other clubs if you look hard enough.
“So I think the focus has been far too much on the panel and the verdict as opposed to the financial mismanagement behind the scenes.“
In other news, Kieran Maguire drops intriguing Everton appeal verdict – ‘they will not end up with 10 points’
