Irish Daily Star

Dyche: Anger can’t distract us

Forest boss calls for PSR mess to be cleaned up

- ■■John ■■Neil RICHARDSON MOXLEY

NUNO Espirito Santo says the ongoing row over the points’ deduction is damaging the integrity of the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest’s boss broke cover as he called for a quick solution to the “mess” that has developed in the wake of alleged issues over profit and sustainabi­lity.

Forest have seen four points wiped off their total — a punishment they are appealing.

Speedy

And asked if he now wants a speedy resolution with just six games of the season left to play, Nuno replied: “Everyone wants that — the teams that are involved — the teams that aren’t, so that we have a clear picture of what the real situation is.

SEAN Dyche circled the Everton wagons again after the latest points deduction, declaring: “The time for fault and blame has gone.”

The Goodison Park boss has spoken to his players who are immersed in a relegation struggle aggravated by the Premier League stripping the club of another two points in addition to the six already imposed for flouting Profit and Sustainabi­lity rules.

His message was simple: “Society now wants fault and blame for everything but we’ve got to

“I hope it’s resolved before the last game. Or it will create a big confusion on playing and decisions being made by every club.

“It can affect the integrity of the competitio­n, no doubt about it. In terms of our approach, that won’t change.

“Since we arrived at the club, the objective has always been the same — to win games and realise we have tough opponents and how we can do things.

“But there are decisions to be made.

“The competitio­n by itself needs some final decision because it’s a mess. And it’s a mess because it’s appeal after appeal after appeal and we don’t know exactly what is going to happen. There’s a lot of uncertaint­y. park it. What’s done is done. We’ve got to stay in line, stay connected. We’ve taken a few knocks but we’ve got to pull together.”

Run

Everton ended a 13 game winless run against Dyche’s former club Burnley last weekend and face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.

The points deductions *deducted 8pts ** deducted 4pts

“What can we do? We just wait and see what we need and the players just need to be focused only on the test.”

Nuno also defended skipper Ryan Yates in the wake of the incident with James Maddison last week.

The Spurs’ forward was accused of punching Forest’s midfielder in the stomach, leading pundit Roy Keane to question whether Yates went down too easily.

But Forest’s boss said: “Everyone is entitled to his opinion — but as I saw it, it’s a clear red card.

“I think VAR should better judge it. It’s difficult for the referee to see.

“The images were clearer on VAR. In my opinion, it was a red card.” ensure that the Toffees will have another nervy finale to the season — they only stayed up on the final day last year. Dyche (left) added: “We should be on 35 points and I would then be measured differentl­y, myself, the team, the players, the club.

“I’m working my hardest as the custodian and I will continue to do that no matter what is thrown at me or the club. That’s how I’ve

Punching

looked at football as a player, as a coach and as a manager.

“No one’s bigger than the club and no one’s bigger than this badge.

Clear

“I’ve come to be very clear minded on that, believe me.

“So my job is just to take it on. The bigger picture stuff is out of my hands and will be taken care of in due course.

“Meanwhile you’ve got to believe that you can win every game. It’s not that easy but there’s no rule saying you can’t.”

 ?? ?? NUNO: WE ALL NEED CLARITY
FRUSTRATED: Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo during the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur
NUNO: WE ALL NEED CLARITY FRUSTRATED: Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo during the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur
 ?? ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Ireland