The club voted in favour of the Profitability and Sustainability rules without consultation with the fans and now they've been burned by them. Even though it looks like we will stay up, we will still have to sell Onana by 30 June. 

Wouldn't it be a good idea to reject any new PSR proposals until all the potential consequences of any changes and all their impacts are thought through and discussed in detail with the fans, small shareholders, FAB etc?

I don't want this board voting for something in all of our names again, at Premier League level, for something that might be against our medium- and long-term interests. When it's feasible, the new owners might be capable of taking us forward or indeed the owners after the next owners might be a sovereign wealth fund or multi-billionaire.

Any campaign by the fans would be better directed at cancelling PSR altogether. It should all be scrapped on 30 June and a full inquiry into its usefulness should be conducted. And the fans across England should in an ideal world get a referendum on whether something as impactful is thrust upon the national game!

Any new government regulator should only be looking at the fairness in regards to the sharing of TV revenue between clubs and how the game is run for the benefit of fans in this country as whole and not the concerns of the TV fans of the massive clubs abroad.

Or what suits our Champions League clubs in regards to their European competitions. Moving heaven and earth to suit them, ie, kick-off times, 5 subs, no extra time or replays in our domestic cups. No wonder the double and the treble is easier.

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They should also look at protecting the FA Cup and making that fairer. They could look at season ticket prices and how tickets for various finals and cup games are distributed.

However, pretending clubs need financial restraints to protect themselves from themselves is bogus. And it hurts the clubs even more if they've spent a bit extra and not got the results they want on the pitch. All they do is compound the financial difficulty they are pretending to worry about.

Financial difficulty and poor performances are a part of sport. And so is owners coming in with incredible wealth and disrupting the market. Otherwise Accrington Stanley would have about 35 league titles, Huddersfield 45 and we'd have about 20. Chelsea would be in League Two.

The problem isn't Man City and Newcastle. We are handicapping the whole league just to benefit Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd.

Portsmouth got an FA Cup out of their spending. Leeds (a yo-yo club before Risdale) got some lovely fish in his office and a Champions League semi-final.

What exactly was the problem were they actually trying to fix? Leeds and Portsmouth being relegated? Has anyone asked a Portsmouth fan if they regret that crazy time? So what is the true intentions of these rules and regulations?

Oh, I know, it prevents the challenges to the artificial dominance of the red three. Created thanks to the ever-expanding Champions League, its monetary rewards and the Premier League's favourable overseas TV deals. Let's stop another Chelsea or Man City from happening before we "deserving" red teams don't qualify every season.

We need to focus as a fan base because the next 30 years will be the same for us and everyone else. We need to be alert to FFP in all it's various forms and guises and push back against it at every turn.

You can't unfortunately "go about it the right way" anymore, because the revenues of the top clubs have never been this far ahead of the rest. It's baked into the system that they earn 4 times as much revenue as everyone else. The gap grows year on year.

And these rules or any variant of them will only be allowed to come in by the powerful dominant clubs if they continue to ensure that you can't do it the Man City way, or the Chelsea way, or the Jack Walker way, or the Moores family way anymore. The red dominant position will not be allowed to be threatened again.

Even though that is exactly how every successful club in history got to the top for any length of time. It's just that the numbers are bigger and the game is global.

They're basically trying to steal the dreams of the fans of the 86 other clubs in the Premier League and the Football League. Well, if you're awake you can't dream.

If anyone thinks Everton or anyone else can thrive in this environment by doing things not just right but perfect. That they can be ran 100% perfect and make every decision correctly, they will become like Arsenal or Liverpool, they are still asleep. Especially if their ground is under 60,000 and paying northern ticket prices.

Finishing 6th and 7th gets a club like that about £250M in revenue at best. Manchester United will earn about £700M in revenue. Any form revenue-based FFP is clearly protectionist and anti-competitive.

If fans are to do anything meaningful whatsoever, it's lobby for a complete and immediate cessation of PSR and FFP within the English game.

While we're at it, let's lobby for a return to 3 subs, extra time, no penalty shot-outs – just endless replays...

Anything else discussed about signings, managers, lovely new stadiums, who the DoF will be etc etc... is a complete waste of time!

The system is preventing anyone building a competitive club long term. Just ask Leicester. City. They won the league a few years ago and ended up selling players to teams five places lower. And it's a lot worse nowadays!

Reader Comments (4)

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Mal van Schaick
1 Posted 08/04/2024 at 22:39:33
The tail is wagging the dog. Premier Lleague clubs should have more say and control over the rules, financial or otherwise.

As I have said before, the Premier League are bringing the game into disrepute by imposing different standards regarding decisions across the board.

PSR should be scrapped, points returned and the rules re-written.

Peter Quinn
2 Posted 09/04/2024 at 08:01:01
Excellent points, Alan, very well made. You are quite correct about the Red three. They ensured Mr Masters was appointed, he is now serving their interests – albeit not even they expected the collapse of the winter transfer market!
Derek Thomas
3 Posted 09/04/2024 at 08:09:50
If I'm not mistaken (probably a first if true) the rules are getting revised and fines not points deductions will be the order of the day in most cases.

Man City especially and Chelsea, will plead guilty by letter enclosing signed, post-dated blank cheques and not bat too much of an eyelid. Case closed, court adjourned, nothing to see here.

Always remember the golden rule — them that has the gold make the rules.

Alan Smith
4 Posted 10/04/2024 at 11:15:24
The Purpose Of A System Is What It Does, Not What It Claims To Do — Forbes, 13 September 2021

Interesting principle. This why the fans should be aware of what new rules and systems are put in place and whether we as a club vote for them.

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