In the wake of Manchester City’s guilty verdict on the almost all of the charges put towards them by the Premier League, the outcry from fans of opposition clubs in the past few days has been, as expected, extremely fierce.
The thirst for blood is real, and as I wrote last week, I believe Everton’s executives should be at the front of the queue demanding a proportionate punishment that fits the crime.
If it’s even possible to come up with a punishment that does suffice for committing circa £900M in fraud, while also managing to retain some integrity in the competition this season and beyond.
That is a problem for the Premier League, however, and not Everton.
And while we await news of a Man City appeal, and a sanctions hearing that is to follow, there is also, of course, the distinct possibility of litigation cases to follow, as clubs could potentially sue Man City for damages.
Everton are well aware of how that feels. They have had to pay Burnley almost £40M, even though that judgement is now being appealed, with the Clarets managing to have successfully claimed that they were owed money by the Toffees due to their relegation in 2022.
It’s all nonsense, really, but it has opened up the door, and Man City’s success has clearly come at the expense of other clubs.
This week, a graphic circulated on social media showing the potential amount owed by Man City to 38 separate clubs.
Everton topped that list, on £28,944,186.
Quite how that amount has been calculated is unclear, but it seems a reasonable assumption that it is based mainly on merit payments missed by Everton due to where Man City finished. That could, and likely does, also include missing out on the extra finances that come with European qualification.
Men In Blazers, meanwhile, posted that, in the nine seasons in which Man City have been found to have been committing these financial misdemeanours (2009-10 through 2017-18), Everton were the team that missed out on European qualification on the most occasions.
According to MIB, Everton missed out on Europa League qualification four times during that timespan, and on the Champions League once.
That Champions League near-miss came in 2013-14, when Everton finished 5th and Man City pipped Liverpool to the title.
Now, Everton actually played Man City late on in that season, at Goodison Park, Ross Barkley scored a stunning opener, but City then raced into a 3-1 lead before Romelu Lukaku grabbed a consolation.
It was a strange old game. By that stage, Everton’s chances of finishing in the top four were hanging by a thread, because they had lost 2 of their previous 3 matches, going down 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace and 2-0 away at Southampton.
And so, frankly, many Evertonians were not overly fussed when Man City won, given that it meant Liverpool were unlikely to win the title.
So, to suggest that Everton failed to qualify for the Champions League because of Man City, and not because of their own shortcomings, is a bit far-fetched.
However, perhaps, when taking the whole timespan into account, Everton really should be the ones who feel the most hard done by.
Back in 2009, Everton had established themselves as the best of the rest. They had reached an FA Cup final, despite missing some key players like Mikel Arteta and Yakubu, before losing Phil Jagielka just ahead of their trip to Wembley.
The following summer after that loss to Chelsea to cap off the 2008-09 season, Everton sold Joleon Lescott to Man City after a protracted transfer saga that threatened to derail the start of their campaign.
It marked a changing of the guard that was tough to take for Evertonians.
Between 2005 and 2009, Everton finished 4th, 11th, 6th, 5th and 5th. From 2009 onwards, when Man City began their upward trajectory, the Toffees finished in the top six just twice, in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
Again, that’s more to do with Everton than it is Man City, but it is incredibly frustrating to think that, in a time when the Toffees were doing things right, pre-Farhad Moshiri, but without the money to back it up, another club was charging to titles, and it was all based on sand (pardon the pun).
Liverpool and Manchester United fans may point to the titles they lost out on between 2009 and 2018. Arsenal supporters may point to having to deal with a juggernaut of a club under Pep Guardiola that was ultimately based on dodgy foundations.
However, perhaps it really is the case that, of all the clubs, it is Everton who suffered the most during the years when Man City have been proved to have cheated.
And if not for Man City’s cheating, could it all have played out differently for the Toffees?
Especially in those latter days of David Moyes’ first spell, Everton had to watch on as Man City spent huge money on buying the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Robinho, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero.
Sure, those players would probably never have ended up at Everton, but it was yet another super-club to compete with.
It’s a frustrating thought, what might have happened. Perhaps some of that success could have been Everton’s, even if that was just a few more times of qualifying for Europe, and the adventures that come with it.
However, I’m of the opinion that it should be left in the past. Get angry about it, but use it to fuel motivation for the future.
Man City must be punished in the here and now, and they must be punished severely. After all, as some might say, you’ll never change what’s been and gone.
Read more – ToffeeWeb Talk: Man City’s Guilty Verdict, Pickford vs Trafford, and Norgaard’s return – Episode Seven