Phil Jagielka questions if Premier League wants to relegate Everton as club await points deduction appeal decision

Phil Jagielka has questioned whether the Premier League wants to relegate Everton.

Everton have spent the most seasons in English top flight football of any club (currently 121, some 11 more than nearest rivals Aston Villa) but some 73 years since they last went down in 1951, they are currently in the drop zone because of a 10-point deduction the received in November which was the most severe sporting sanction in 135 years of the competition’s history.

Sean Dyche’s side would be 12^th in the table if their points hadn’t been taken off them but with the Blues waiting upon the result of their appeal against the decision, a three-day process that the ECHO understands concluded on Friday February 2, Jagielka wonders if Everton are being unfairly persecuted.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Blues captain who made 385 appearances for the clubs, scoring 19 goals between 2007-19, was asked whether he shared the thoughts of many Evertonians that there was some kind of personal vendetta against them. Jagielka said: “I can see why they (the fans) think that way. I can’t believe that there’s only one club that’s ever made bad decisions financially since the Premier League started.

Sean Dyche has an obvious answer to his biggest Everton selection poser

'I'm not sure who was more shocked' - Howard Kendall ended Man City love affair for Everton marriage

“There’s only one team that’s been deducted points. I don’t know the ins and outs and whether the rules have changed blah, blah, blah, but if other clubs have got away with it, you can’t say it’s still pending, these investigations are pending for 25 years, who is going to care what’s gone on?

“It’s got to be done within a timeframe and it seems that for whatever reason someone has