The Super League | FA + PL: New Charter & Fines | UEFA: Settlement

[Rammy Blue]

please

What, so do you not like our owners? You might have beef with Soriano but do you no longer like Sheikh Mansour and think he’s not a decent custodian of our club?

 

[jollylescott]

Please hear me out.

I believe that most on here are doing our owners a grave disservice. Let’s examine the facts, and then draw some conclusions based on the available evidence.

A Super League has been mooted for quite some time. I can find proposals from June 2019 where it was mooted by European clubs. One of the drivers of the proposal at that time was Agnelli (who has now fallen from power) from Juventus. At that time, a Guardian article stated that he wanted to ‘close the financial gap between his club and the premier league clubs’.

So I think it’s safe to conclude that this new proposal built upon that initial shot across the bows.

The next critical piece of evidence is from Tolmie. He has more inside information than any of us on here. He has stated for quite sometime (well before these events) that Ceferin has been an ally of City. In March last year, Ceferin was interviewed on Sky and said City remained a ‘valuable asset‘ for UEFA. I trust Tolmie’s information on our relationship with him.

I also think it’s completely implausible that both Ceferin and our owners were caught off guard by this current proposal. As Tolmie said, our owners know more about politics (particularly of the Machiavellian kind) than any of us will ever know. They would have known well in advance that this was coming.

So who was going to benefit most from this proposal? Certainly our premier league rivals, most of whom are economic basket cases. Also the Spanish/Italian axis. It would have, in one fell swoop, saved them from ongoing financial misery. So was it in our interests for this to go ahead, thereby allowing these hopelessly run businesses to catch up with us? My conclusion would be a resounding no.

Let’s then look carefully at what transpired. City leaked information that they were reluctantly dragged into the agreement. Ceferin is interviewed and urges the Premier League clubs to change their minds. Then there are leaks that two English clubs are waivering. Then City responds to the fans concerns and withdraws from the proposal, and Ceferin issues a statement that he is ‘delighted’ and welcomes City ‘back into the European football family’.

Now look at the fallout. Woodward and Agnelli have gone. The American owners are completely disillusioned. Our European enemies are left clinging at a mirage. We remain on course to continue the development of our long term sustainable business model. The super league is dead in the water. Our enemies in the Premier League will continue to hate us, and remain financial basket cases.

If this was Survivor, we have outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted our European and Premier League enemies.

 

[Keeper!]

Obviously not, but I’m a glass half full kind of guy, shit happens and we deal with it. Life goes on.

Exactly but for a club that allegedly is a fans club and understands the local community , this is a serious error of judgment, why were we not consulted in any way? This would have been a monumental change in football and not one fan of any club had ANY input, shameful.

 

[John Wayne]

If you’re gonna pull off a magic trick you can’t tell the audience how you’re gonna do it ; )

That is a good way of putting it, but we have no way of knowing that it happened without further explanation. As far as I'm concerned, all this "we played a blinder" talk is like a woman who has just been assaulted by the man she loves saying that he did it as an act of love. This can of course be shown to be the situation but we can't just assume that's the case just because we like owners who stick a lot of money into the club. I think we deserve some answers here.

These are the facts:

1) City have never consulted with the fans about a proposed Super League.

2) All we had by way of information was a standard statement put on the club's website very late on a Sunday night.

3) There were no appearances or references made by anyone associated with the club.

4) The club did not put the statement on its Twitter feed. It is unclear why such big news would not appear on all communication mediums.

5) The owner of Manchester United was the person quoted on our club's website in the statement. The reason(s) why nobody from the club commented are unclear.

6) The club resigned from the European Club Association (ECA) along with the 11 other clubs. The reasons for this are unknown.

7) The club had no representation at the ECA's meeting on Monday along with the 11 other clubs.

8) The club were the first to withdraw from the Super League. The reason(s) for this are unknown. It is most likely that the club did not like the backlash but this is still unknown.

Anything else is mere speculation.

So on the basis of the above, I am not inclined to view the club favourably in the absence of any explanation. I am happy to listen to the club but think it's important to hold its custodians to account, whoever they may be. Whether it's Peter Swales or Sheikh Mansour who is the custodian is irrelevant - they should ALWAYS be answerable to the fans and never be given free reign to drag our name through the mud.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Still alot to come out yet, it's going to be interesting the back tracking and blame, I hope the media go for the journalistic approach doubt it though, can see the press spinning this in favour of the usuals

I don’t think they can spin it mate, whichever way you look at this it’s the Yank owners that get a kicking.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Bollocks, we have right royally F%%ed Up and if that's the case, what about the RAGS? The Glaziers are done, they will have new owners in a few months, it could just be what the rag fans have wanted, so it could also be good for them, the same applies to the scousers.

If you say so. The effect is as I described though.

 

[theres only one carlito]

We’ve just got home from a two day bender and the wife ain’t happy. That’s how I see it. :-)

 

[franksinatra]

To be fair, they both say absolutely nothing but the same time everything, contempt.

That is true and I have no faith in Arsenals statement but at least their trying to appease fans. We have almost destroyed the fabric of the game and the only statements have been quoting Joel Glazer and notification from the club were not joining. The arrogance and contempt for the fans is staggering.

 

[City Raider]

And you regrettably seem to no longer remember what it was to be outside the elite. We all have our crosses to bear I guess.

Hang on. You asked how it could be classed as a PR win and I provided proof and now your shifting goalposts? Quit while your behind.

And you know fuck all about what I do or don’t remember so quit the fucking sarky comments. You’re a fucking guest.

 

[Keeper!]

What, so do you not like our owners? You might have beef with Soriano but do you no longer like Sheikh Mansour and think he’s not a decent custodian of our club?

Our owner has done incredible things for this club, made dreams come true but my word, as someone has just said, this was a decision PJ Swales would have taken not something a man the calibre of Khaldoon Al Mubarack would have done,

 

[SheliaTakeaBow]

I’m disgusted... not with the club or the board but with some of the comments on here.
People have forgotten we have the best owners in football, the fact is the club really didn’t have much of a choice in joining up - we don’t have a bottomless pit of cash you know... you all want the worlds best talent playing for city and that takes money... our owner has already invested will over a billion into our club and not took anything out.

The board would have taken the SL money are reinvested it into the club I’m sure whilst the other owners would have bought super yachts with it - that’s the difference so please stop with the constant bashing of the best owners in football who didn’t have much of a choice... and comparing them to the owners of the rags, dippers etc is fucking shameful and you should hang your heads in shame...

We all want City to attract the best talent and play the best football but not at the expense of football as we know it. The owners have invested a spectacular amount of money into the club yes but on Sunday decided - however reluctantly - that the league in which City have enjoyed so many highs and lows wasn’t for them anymore. It would have completely fucked over the rest of the game and would have deprived those of us who follow City home and away of the thing we love.

And the thing is they might try and do the same thing again in a few years. They could join another breakaway league, bin off domestic football, start playing home games in Abu Dhabi - who knows?! The only way that doesn’t happen is with continued pressure from fans like you say this week.

Which is why people aren’t willing to just let this go. The club need to prove that this was a massiv error of judgement that won’t be repeated. They can do that through offering an apology, making sure there’s a reckoning for those who pushed this dreadful idea, and ensuring that fans have more of a say in decisions like the one we thankfully u-turned on yesterday.

 

[franksinatra]

We were first, and had the balls to get it out there whilst everyone else sat and watched. Arse and Kroenke have far bigger bridges to build than we did.

I think both clubs have bridges to build but in the context of those statements only one club is building bridges.

 

[onceabluealways]

Will be an interesting transfer market with Perez’s Real Madrid claiming they are so poor!!

Not one of the six come out of this good, time will tell what the impact will be.

 

[Keeper!]

I don’t think they can spin it mate, whichever way you look at this it’s the Yank owners that get a kicking.

The Yank owners are finished, that's one big positive to come out of this.

 

[Rammy Blue]

I think both clubs have bridges to build but in the context of those statements only one club is building bridges.

You've missed the point completely, and intentionally, imo. Arsenal fans hate their owner already, and know full well he was in with this full on from the beginning. I personally have faith that we were railroaded, had minimal notice and little choice, and knew exactly what we were doing and made sure we had means to bail. Being first to back out is always the hardest, everyone else piece of piss to follow.

 

[inchy14]

We were first, and had the balls to get it out there whilst everyone else sat and watched. Arse and Kroenke have far bigger bridges to build than we did.

Plus everyone knows that Kroenke and Arsenal were one of the main instigators in this.

 

[117 M34]

While all the super league was going on, uefa released the changes to the champions league that will see some teams allowed in based in history.

 

[BamberBridgeBlue]

As you say, its not put anyone in a good light, and it is noted fans from all clubs are quoting "my club has pulled a blinder!" line, as some are unable to see fault where it clearly lies.

The truth will out (possibly, but probably not) at some point, but this whole farce is mostly on Perez for me.

Not put anyone in a good light is very true, but I mean ANYONE. I’m sure now that the threat of the ESL has subsided everybody will revert to type and renew rivalry’s. Name any club in country, including your own and there are skeletons in the closet. Sky’s triumphalism last night was sickening too. Clubs (Chelsea and City from the dirty dozen and those outside), governing bodies, broadcasters all searching for the moral high ground or as a minimum holding up the soiled bed sheets and pointing the finger elsewhere.

Whatever anybody says about our involvement, Sheikh Mansour has the power to take our club out of meaningful competition and effectively wreck our club. That is wrong and we need a German, fan owned model.

 

[bluemoon32]

I'd love to be inside Perez's head this morning

 

[Brendan110_0]

You've missed the point completely, and intentionally, imo. Arsenal fans hate their owner already, and know full well he was in with this full on from the beginning. I personally have faith that we were railroaded, had minimal notice and little choice, and knew exactly what we were doing and made sure we had means to bail. Being first to back out is always the hardest, everyone else piece of piss to follow.

I'm a back them or sack them kind of person, the way City have treated us all since Sunday evening is nothing short of disgraceful. Someone will be falling on their sword for sure. Bollocks did we have little notice, and if we did, you pull an all nighter to consider it properly.