Premier League might have awoken something about Everton that gave Alex Ferguson 'nightmares'

Unleash the Dogs of War again.

The battle lines have now been drawn between the Blues and the Premier League following the immediate 10 point reduction and now comes the call to arms.

Loyal but long-suffering Evertonians are no strangers to adversity but when the chips are down and they’ve seemingly been backed into a corner, this is when they can be at their most effective. In the wake of the independent commission’s verdict, a statistic was shared online that stated there was only one team who had avoided relegation from the Premier League when having four points or fewer from their first dozen matches…

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That was Everton in 1994/95, when Joe Royle came in, got his side off to a flier at a turbocharged Goodison Park by defeating Liverpool 2-0 and christened his battlers “The Dogs of War.” He also steered the team to FA Cup glory at Wembley, defeating Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United in the final for what remains the club’s last major honour.

Nobody can turn the clock back to those days but the ‘Spirit of the Blues’ from that era can now be rekindled, and to a certain degree has already been fostered this season so far under Sean Dyche even before this major setback arrived. Such a severe punishment might well have proven a death sentence to Everton in recent campaigns but this term there is a genuine belief that they can still survive in spite of the penalty.

To be dropped to four points after 12 matches would usually have left a club marooned at the bottom but even before the Blues start their appeal – Sheffield Wednesday had their