Sam Allardyce believes that Everton will not be docked points in the Premier League even if they did tap up manager Marco Silva while he was still at Watford.
He has lifted the lid on the controversy facing the Toffees, and believes that they will avoid such a punishment – but added that they will face a suspended deduction for attempting to tap-up Silva while he was still in charge of their league rivals.
Everton previously tried to recruit Silva back in November to replace then current boss Ronald Koeman, but Watford refused to release him from his contract at Vicarage Road after the Toffees approached them.
According to the Times, an independent enquiry has begun in regards to the way Everton brought Silva to the club, and Allardyce has admitted that the Toffees were playing with fire by re-approaching a club for their boss when they have already said no, especially if a transfer window is opened to recruit managers.
“It won’t happen that. It will be suspended like the last one [Chelsea’s]. The fact of the matter is if you are going to go down that route it’s very dangerous. If you ring up for a manager and the club says ‘no’, then do you move on? Or do you make the rules so we can’t have that problem?” he said on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on Talk Sport.
“It’s easier to change the rules than it is to stop it. If we change the rules so they say: ‘the manager is there until the same as the transfer window or at least for one season’… if you’ve got faith in him and you’ve done your recruitment and interviewing right, you’ve now got the right manager for the job.”
OPINION
It remains to be seen what sort of punishment – if any – Everton will receive in the light of this revelation. Allardyce has made this claim based on the fact that Chelsea only got a suspended deduction for their illegal approach for Ashley Cole back in 2005, but this is a different situation. We now live in different times where by clubs will receive the justified punishment for their actions, rather than letting them off with something lighter. Everton knew what they were doing when they approached Watford for Silva, and they must have known that it would eventually lead to potential reprecussions later along the line. Whether Allardyce is right, we will find out in due course, but for now, it is best not to speculate the result of the independent enquiry. Obviously the possibility of being docked points will be a major blow to Everton, especially if they are aiming to finish within the top eight once again – but it is something that they should have known would lead to trouble.