I am 100% worried about Everton – there are positives but it is a really strange place to be.
Phil Jagielka, Everton’s former captain, has spoken on the club’s fight to stay in the Premier League.
Former captain Phil Jagielka is concerned about Everton’s performance this season, using their points loss as a motivator for Luton Town to maintain their Premier League position.
Everton are awaiting the decision of their appeal against the 10-point deduction they received in November for a single Financial Fair Play violation, which ended on Friday. The punishment, the harshest in 135 years of English top division football, places Sean Dyche’s team in the relegation zone. They would have been 12th in the table otherwise.
Jagielka, who made 385 appearances for the Blues from 2007-19, told Ladbrokes Fanzone that Everton is currently facing a difficult situation. The points deduction occurred at a time when, fortunately, the team had managed a couple of wins each side of it, allowing them to just about stay out of trouble.
“That entire situation, however, not only demoralizes Everton, but also galvanizes teams below. Obviously, that is what occurred with Luton.
“Luton would have thought Everton were miles away earlier in the season, but now they’re right on their heels, and they’ve even moved above them. Fair play to Luton; they’ve beaten some tough clubs during this run of form, and they’ve managed to drag a few more into the relegation battle in the process.
“You look at the Spurs game over the weekend and say, ‘it’s a home game, we want three points’ – regardless of the opponent. You don’t want to reach a situation where you have to settle for something.
“I’m not saying draws aren’t good enough, and there are some games when you absolutely would accept a point, especially in the way it happened at the weekend and so late in the game.
“However, Everton must return to winning ways. That is the most crucial thing.
“There is so much going on off the pitch that all the players can do is attempt to focus on the game. As entertaining as the title race will be, I believe the battle for relegation will be equally exciting.
“I believe the bottom two sides will struggle from now on; they are already lagging behind. But it would take a daring man to predict who will die beside them.
“Yeah, I’m 100% concerned about Everton this season. I was less concerned before the points deduction, of course. But then that happens, and there’s clearly talk of another one.
“You know, you look at all games now, not just Everton’s. And I believe there is an issue when you are examining who other teams are up against and how they are doing.
“It means one of two things; you’re looking because you’re trying to win something and you’re hoping your rivals have dropped points, or it’s the other way, and things are going south.”
Jagielka, who has visited the construction site of Everton’s new stadium, admits that the excitement of moving to their future home is being dampened by concerns about their Premier League status. He stated, “Currently, I spend the majority of my weekends looking at the results of other teams.
That’s a significant problem. Having said that, I believe Sean Dyche has done an excellent job of constructing a team of men capable of dealing with their current predicament. There appears to be a strong sense of community there, which will hopefully be the reason they stay up.
“Everton is a very unusual place to be right now. You obviously have the thrill of the new stadium, but there is also the looming possibility of more point deductions and, maybe, relegation.
“But if you put your positive hat on, you know, you’re saying to yourself this is almost like a fresh start. If we can get through these points deductions, if you can get through survival, when it comes to moving into the new stadium, the club itself should in a really good place.
“The playing staff should be good enough that they can start climbing back up the table, getting back to where they need to be. Plus, I presume that building a new stadium will generate more funds, and hopefully the club will start being run how it used to be run for so many years. Properly.
“I don’t want to think about the negatives, and if the club goes down and they play in the Championship in that new stadium, and it’s half-full, it’s going to be a huge damp squib. So, without putting people under pressure, which is the last thing anyone wants, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
The 41-year-old sees certain positives at the club, such as Jarrad Branthwaite’s return to centre-back. Jagielka stated, “The excellent thing that Everton appear to have been doing over the last two or three years is bringing in wage caps, which have sold well.
“So I’d expect that after this trial, unless there’s anything further going on behind the scenes, it should be the end of it all. The most important thing is to avoid losing our Premier League status.
“There have been a few standout performers for me in that Everton squad this season. In terms of goal scoring, [Abdoulaye] Doucoure has unexpectedly landed a role.
“You wouldn’t call him a flair player, but he’s been in the right place at the right time a couple times this season and has scored some vital goals.
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