It was the sort of comment that might have been made in recent seasons when Everton were found in the relegation zone. “The position Everton finds itself in is of its own making,” came the damning conclusion. Except that this was the independent commission’s verdict on their financial position, referencing losses that topped £300m in three years and – crucially – where they were deemed to have lost £124.5m under the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability rules, £19.5m more than permitted.
Deducted 10 points as a punishment, the position Everton find themselves in now is 19th, level on points with bottom club Burnley. Privately, Sean Dyche may note they are still above his former employers, even though Vincent Kompany has spent the kind of sums he was never afforded. If 38 points became a footballing cliché, a byword for safety, Everton, who only actually mustered 36 last season, may have to target 48 this year.
