Everton again hit with points deduction in second PSR case

It means that this season Everton have had a total of twelve points taken off them, although four were finally restored after their recent appeal of the first penalty imposed in November.

Meanwhile, the only other Premier League club to face such a process and sanctions, Nottingham Forest, have only had four points deducted despite an initial breach that was considerably more than the Blues. And Forest have appealed this and could have some restored to them too.

Now this leaves the Toffees on twenty seven points and effectively completely cancels out the win over Burnley on Saturday afternoon.

This farcical, near comical and hugely unclear process has created havoc in the League this campaign and there is more to come as well.

Were Forest's appeal to be successful, then they might well leapfrog Everton again and could ultimately stay up at the Blues expense, depending on forthcoming results of course.

But I assume the Toffees will also again appeal their second breach and points deduction with that decision having to be decided before the season has actually finished.

So, we are left with the prospect of a campaign being completed on the pitch but with the potential for the outcome to be overturned right at the death. That could lead to all sorts of potential legal ramifications.

What a mess it all is and how deeply unsatisfactory the process has been, not just for the Blues but for every club involved and affected.

Well after today's decision, I really don't know where the club goes from here.

Even another successful appeal - which is far from certain - might only see a single point restored (I can't see both being rescinded) and so could still spell relegation in the end.

And that might then lead to administration if 777 Partners proposed takeover does not go through or if they decide to pull out altogether given all this confusion and uncertainty.

Then there is the prospect of yet another points deduction next season over a further dispute involving the Toffees stadium interest payments!

Although Evertonians can be rightly aggrieved at this process, the sporting punishment for financial misdemeanors and the way in which the Blues seem to have been singled out for excessively harsh punishment, in the end it is the consequence of failed leadership at the club for so many years.

Huge spending on average players by the owner and one manager after another and the constant merry-go-round sackings of those managers as results faltered, had left the Toffees with a bloated and expensive squad while the team has gradually slipped further down the league table.

One could argue then that finally the chickens are coming home to roost leaving Everton with a hugely uncertain future ahead.

And with this latest blow in a season of unprecedented upheaval, are we witnessing the beginning of the end of a once great football club?