Latest Nottingham Forest news: Point deductions for Reds and Toffees impact Premier League relegation race.
The top executive of one of Nottingham Forest’s relegation rivals has condemned the points penalty imposed on the Reds and Everton for breaking financial standards.
Forest has been fined four points for exceeding the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules by £34.5 million from their authorized level of £61 million. The club has filed an appeal against the suspension, and the verdict is likely later this month.
The Toffees received a 10-point deduction in November, which was reduced to six on appeal. A second PSR charge resulted in two points being lost earlier this week, with the club stating that they will dispute the decision.
In response to Everton’s latest penalty, Luton Town CEO Gary Sweet told BBC Radio Three Counties: “It’s quite astonishing.” One of the things that disappoints me is that the independent commission that determines the size of the penalty has definitely not looked into it thoroughly.
“If you look at what teams do, and what we do, we spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on data analytics in order to acquire the proper players who will score goals, get points, and defend goals. So we know how much a goal and a point are worth in monetary terms.
“If we do, it is not beyond the wit of man with such critical judgments as these for an impartial party to come up with that kind of data analysis to be able to evaluate an overspend amount conversion to points – and it is never two. It’s never two. It is far higher than two.
“From that standpoint, I’m incredibly sad that it’s so small. The punishment simply does not fit the offense, which means it is not effective as a deterrence. If you have the money, spend it.
“For example, if you look at the Forest four (points), which I was also dissatisfied with, losing two points for cooperating is crazy. If you didn’t comply, you should have received two extra points – six total.”
Forest are tied on points with Luton but ahead of them in the table on goal difference. They drew 1-1 with the Hatters at Kenilworth Road before the previous international break.
“Let’s look at it another way, if you look at the Forest situation there is a clear identifier there,” Sweet went on to say. “Chris Wood cost them around £15 million, plus another £5 million in salary, for a total of £20 million, or approximately half of their overspend.
“In the two games we’ve played against them, he’s scored three goals and taken four points from us while giving them two. That is a six-point turnaround in just two games, regardless of anything else he has done – and he also scored on Sunday (against Tottenham Hotspur). Considering what else he has done this season, he practically represents the level of points deduction they should have received – and that is only half of their overspend. It should be far more than four points, in my opinion.”
He went on to say, “This is Everton’s second time, but on a smaller scale – it should have been much larger. It is not my place to suggest how many that should be. However, as a club that experienced a 30-point reduction (during the 2008-09 season) for what I perceive to be a pretty minor offense, it falls somewhere in between. It must be a degree of punishment that is effective as a deterrent.”
