Everton points deduction chaos to continue after Nottingham Forest appeal 'gamble' that's anything but

Nottingham Forest’s decision to appeal against their four-point deduction shrouds the Premier League’s regulatory process in further uncertainty.

The international break began with the verdict against Forest being made public, adding a second asterisk to the league table as it dropped the club into the relegation zone.

Forest responded to the sanction by launching an attack on the Premier League’s approach to the case and then, this week, submitting an appeal against the original decision.

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Like with so much of the profit and sustainability framework that has become such a prominent feature of the season so far, the past fortnight has created more questions than answers.

Chief among those queries surrounds the decision of Forest to appeal. Many who have followed Everton’s ride through the league rules and independent commissions since November were left surprised by both the size of the punishment that their relegation rivals received and the handling of the case, heard over two days earlier this year.

Previous Everton judgements appeared to offer insight into how an opaque system operated. However, the Forest case undermined some of the principles that appeared to have emerged from the arguments that saw the Blues deducted 10 points, then handed four back on appeal. They included that the size of the breach would be a relevant factor when setting a punishment.

Forest were held to different parameters to Everton due to their two years in the Championship within the assessment period. But while the threshold for the Midlands club was substantially lower