POINTS RAP CAN’T MASK A SEASON OF MASSIVE UNDERACHIEVEMENT

SEAN DYCHE believes he would be getting “measured differently” if eight points had not been deducted and Everton’s tally stood at 35 rather than 27.

And Dyche is right, of course. But only to a certain extent.

Do not let the brutal punishment for the breaches of profit and sustainability rules mask the truth that this has been another underwhelming Premier League campaign for Everton.

Do not let the brutal punishment conceal the underachievement of Dyche and his team.

Do not let the brutal punishment give the latest Everton manager a free pass.

It goes without saying that the root cause of Everton’s problems is spectacular mismanagement off the pitch.

And the drawn-out and controversial takeover by 777 Partners – thrown into fresh doubt at the end of last week – is hardly a sign that those problems are going to ease any time soon. These are deeply worrying times for the grand, old club.

But even though their transfer spending since Farhad Moshiri took over has been, in the main, atrocious, this is a squad that should be doing better than it is.

If the points had not been deducted, Everton would indeed have 35 and would be sitting in

14th place in the Premier

League table.

And yes, they would be

“measured differently” but it would still not be good enough.

Dyche’s Everton arrested an absurdly long run without a

Premier League win by beating Burnley last time out but it was hardly convincing.

And, quite simply,

Everton should not be having 37 percent possession against Burnley at Goodison Park.

Lovers of statistics will point out that the disparity between Everton’s goals and their expected goals is the most significant in the league.

Maybe so. But that, eventually, falls down to Dyche (below). The fact that Everton have scored a meagre 16 Premier League goals from open play comes down to Dyche.

Only Sheffield United have scored fewer goals than Everton and any team that adopts a counter-attacking philosophy against the likes of Burnley is clearly limited in its ambitions. Even during that 13-game winless Premier League run, Dyche’s position was never in jeopardy. This season came on the back of two relegation fights, the points deductions have been tough to deal with, and the club could not afford to pay him off anyway.

But Everton’s remaining seven matches will still represent a defining phase of Dyche’s career.

After Monday night’s engagement at Chelsea, Everton have a run of three high-pressure home games. Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Brentford.

The relegation threat is real. This is a time when Everton have to get on the front foot and Dyche said as much himself. Amongst many pundits and fellow managers,

Dyche’s reputation remains high and it may be his performance is the least of the club’s worries.

But this tense run-in will prove if that lofty reputation is deserved… and if Dyche really is the man to lead Everton forward.