Amadou Onana celebrates his goal with his team-mates as Everton recorded their last Premier League win to date on December 16, 2023 at Burnley
Amadou Onana celebrates his goal with his team-mates as Everton recorded their last Premier League win to date on December 16, 2023 at Burnley
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Manager Sean Dyche describes it as “the noise” and implores his players to do their best to ignore it but the off-the-field distractions that seem to be omnipresent around Everton these days have reached a fever pitch ahead of the Crystal Palace game.
A nine-day gap between fixtures since what was already an early kick-off against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium for Everton last time out has produced a longer build-up and with so many issues remaining unresolved, speculation naturally fills the vacuum between an absence of hard facts. When the Blues visited the reigning English, European and World champions, well-placed sources were envisaging a result to their points deduction appeal verdict that coming week.
Former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness said: “I’m bullish on a positive outcome close to Valentine’s Day – hopefully a bouquet of roses rather than the thorns we’ve been getting recently.” The postman didn’t come knocking with any flowers or note to Goodison Park though.
Everton’s appeal – which the ECHO understands ran for three days from Wednesday January 31-Friday February 2 – was presented to a fresh independent commission than the one that hit them with the most severe sporting sanction in 135 years of English top flight football for a single Financial Fair Play breach back in November. In the build-up to the club’s appeal hearing many high-profile politicians, both Evertonians and non-Blues, including Steve Rotheram, the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, who is an unabashed Reds fan, spoke out vehemently against both the harshness of the punishment, which was greater than the nine points that Portsmouth received for going into administration in the 2009/10 season, and the perceived flaws and lack of clarity in the process that led to such a conclusion being reached.
The day after appeal proceedings concluded, Laurence Rabinowitz KC, who was brought in to spearhead Everton’s appeal, was pictured attending the club’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur in the directors’ box at Goodison Park. Dubbed the ‘super silk’ and hailed by some as being the club’s biggest signing of the season, the 63-year-old is a specialist in commercial litigation and is considered one of the best lawyers in the country, alongside Lord Pannick KC, who has been hired by Manchester City in their fight against Premier League charges, and Jonathan Crow.
Was Rabinowitz’s matchday experience just a thank you from his client or can beleaguered Blues grab crumbs of comfort from his public parading? We still do not know.
As the days went by last week, it wasn’t just Evertonians who started questioning the wait though. On Wednesday, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher tweeted: “What is the hold up on the appeals decision regarding Everton’s 10pt deduction?
“Two weeks have passed, this is surely a matter of urgency for Everton and the clubs around them. I’m sure they and the Premier League know their decision by now. Are the Premier League waiting until after Everton’s home game…”
It’s a curious question from Carragher as any kind of reduction on the Blues deduction would immediately have elevated them back up outside of the relegation zone before they faced Crystal Palace. Unless that decision is now announced in these next 24 hours, there will be no boost.
On the day of Carragher’s proclamation though, despite his suggestions, the ECHO understood that senior Everton staff had not yet been informed of any decision on the appeal.
Indeed, even Dyche himself made his own strong statement on the wait when asked about it in his pre-match press conference for the game against Crystal Palace. The Everton manager said: “Whatever they do, they need to get on with it,” before adding: “Fans of all clubs want a bit of clarity in this.”
In the meantime, the Blues just need to start saving themselves. James Garner put it plainly ahead of the Eagles visit by saying: “We can only control what we do and that’s winning at the weekend. I’m not sure what’s going on in terms of the points deduction.
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