Tony Cottee speaks confusingly but for many on Premier League spending rules and punishments


 
 
 
 
 
 

Whenever I hear anything about Tony Cottee, one thing and one thing only, springs to mind.

That is, 27 August 1988.

It was the first day of a new season, a new season that ended after 30 seconds.

Tony Cottee scoring that opening goal at Goodison Park and going on to complete a hat-trick for Everton on a 4-0 final scoreline.

Newcastle United fans had actually approached that first game and the new season with something approaching optimism, despite Gazza leaving.

His £2.2m transfer fee reinvested in the likes of Dave Beasant, Andy Thorn, John Hendrie and John Robertson. Easily the most money Newcastle United had ever spent ahead of a new season.

The season started with that 4-0 defeat at the hands of Tony Cottee and Everton, whilst it ended with Newcastle United rock bottom and relegated with only 31 points and seven wins in 42 games.

Anyway, enough of my tortured memories regarding Tony Cottee (***Amusingly, Tony Cottee was gutted when in another match against Newcastle United, he played up front and didn’t score, despite his team winning 8-1, yes that infamous April 1986 match at Upton Park when West Ham’s Alvin Martin scored against three different Newcastle United ‘goalkeepers’).

The former West Ham and Everton striker has now, some 36 years later, turned his attention to the world of football finance and the Premier League.

Fair to say that the expertise Tony Cottee had with regard to scoring goals, hasn’t carried over into the world of football finance…

However, his emotion and confusion does speak for many!

Tony Cottee speaking to ‘best anonymous casinos’ about the situation in the Premier League with financial restrictions (PSR – Profit and Sustainability Rules) and points deductions:

“All of the points deductions and that, no one wants to see that.

“Just to compound it all and make it even more stupid, they’ve allowed it to be that potentially the act that the latest ruling could be after the season’s finished.

“I mean, what? What idiot thought that was a good idea?

“How can you have rules where someone’s going to challenge something and we’ll give you a decision after the last game’s been played? It’s complete nonsense.

“They’ve made themselves look really, really foolish, and that needs to be changed.

“You’ve got to have rules and dates in place that work for everyone and we can’t have this in the future.

“There’s no way in a million years we should ever have to worry about the last day of the season being played and then there might be a change or a points deduction that could alter the league.

“Once you’ve played that last game, once that last final whistle goes, Sunday, the 19th of May, that is the end of the season. You cannot have things going on after that.

“Whoever thought that was clever, I don’t know.

“With the PSR and all the rules that have been brought in, there’s going to be new regulations coming in the summer.

“I’ve got no idea.

“I don’t think anyone understands it; no one knows what’s going on; it’s an absolute shambles.

“At the moment, Everton are battling against the Premier League. They’re challenging the points deduction and quite rightly so. So we’ll have to see what develops from that.

“But I think this is all being caused by the Premier League. I don’t understand the rules. I don’t think anyone understands the rules.

“How you’re only allowed to lose £35m in one season, I don’t get that, because if you’re trying to buy a new player, you’re trying to buy a Dominic Calvert-Lewin, it’s going to cost you £56m. So that’s one player.

“When these rules were brought in, which I think was 10 years ago or so, players weren’t going for £100m. There’s been huge inflation. They’ve got to sort the rules out; just clear the decks and sort out the situation.

“You’ve got my old club Leicester, you’ve got Chelsea, you’ve got Man City, you’ve got Everton, you’ve got Forest – all these clubs are in situations that need clarification.

“Get it sorted out and put some proper modern rules in, because that’s the key to it.

“They’re not modern; they’re outdated rules.

“Put the rules in; everyone knows where they stand, and let’s just make the Premier League what it has always been.

“Get it back to being the best league in the world.”