Collymore’s column: Premier League have made example out of Everton in preparation for Man City, Sir Alex Ferguson must let Man United go and which two England outsiders could make Gareth Southgate’s Euros squad
In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Everton’s harsh Financial Fair Play punishment, why it’s time Sir Alex Ferguson let Manchester United go, and a look ahead to England vs. Malta, plus much more.
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Everton’s punishment harsh but necessary…
My take on it is painfully simple. The Premier League are looking to shore up their defence against Manchester City. They know that City are going to be lawyered up to the hilt following 115 charges brought against them, so the Premier League need to make sure they come armed with an example and unfortunately for Everton, they’re it.
The fact the Premier League have gone straight in with a 10-point deduction probably tells you that they feel they have a very strong case against Manchester City. What they’ve basically done today with Everton is set the punishment’s baseline at a 10-point deduction.
In my opinion, to be deducted 10 points for a £20 million deficit is fairly harsh to one of English football’s founding fathers and I’m sure other clubs will sympathise with them.
From my perspective, it’s really simple though. I have absolutely no problem with Everton being docked points. I think 10 is a bit harsh, as I said above, but I wouldn’t have a problem with any team being docked points if they’d broken financial rules – and that includes Aston Villa, by the way. But if the Premier League are going in hard, then they need to go in hard on any club that breaks the rules. Points deduction is one thing, but at what point do we start considering voiding silverware? There has to be an incentive there for clubs not to break the rules.
What is the point in a
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