Maybe this doesn't belong in this thread, but it started in PSG thread and now I'm torn between here and the media thread.
Anyway, firstly, well done to PSG. I was saying it as soon as they started to click towards the end of last year, if I remember right. They were simply playing the best football for me, that midfield had me watching with envy, with how fluid and dynamic it looked. You can hardly say they had an easy route either, it was well deserved, on football merit.
That's how everyone else is telling it too, judging from the reactions I've seen on MOTD and ESPN type shows. The reaction to PSG's success is overwhelmingly positive. Everyone is happy for them, the consensus being the club and fans deserve it, after falling short so many times. I've been hearing the phrase 'It's good for football' a lot too. Not heard any mention of sportswashing, state ownership, with a heavy focus on money though. I take it the sports press, is much the same?
I was thinking the same after Newcastle's league cup win. It was all overwhelmingly positive, they didn't all feel the need to mention any of the negatives much, if at all. I couldn't help but notice then and I'm seeing the same now.
I've nothing against PSG or Newcastle but I can't help but compare it to City's coverage, whenever we've had major success. It just makes me resent the UK sports media even more, the reasoning that they've expected us to swallow over the years. The 'it would be the same for any other club in the same boat' reasoning. Remember the treatment City got, immediately after they beat a team 6-0 in a cup final, for example? The articles that were realeased the next day, all having a similar slant.
Those clubs are quite literally state owned, with as bad or worse human rights issues for both states vs the UAE. I suppose PSG is the closest comparison, with the money spent and the length of time. As well as the FFP breaches(to an extent) but that has to be the nail in the coffin for 'nobody cares about City'?
So too, for any denial that the red cartel's media influence, is a big part of why City's coverage has been so negative(it's clearly a factor, as is the anti-arab sentiment). Any praise, always feels like it's given through gritted teeth and they always caveat it with the anti-city bingo phrases, without fail. PSG's CAS victory was in March 2019, around the same time as the football leaks and that really was a technicality, because the deal was simply inflated. From a quick search, their latest breach was in 2022, for overspending on wages. The sanction they got was the largest fine UEFA had handed out, apparently(up to 2023). I had to go and find that information myself, what are the chances that this would be necessary, if it were City in their shoes? edit: I see someone has mentioned PSG have breached 3 years in a row now(is that financial breaches?). Which I can't seem to track down from a simple search. That would definitely not be the case, if it applied to City. They'd have a full timeline plastered everywhere. Is there a time-line for PSG's breaches anywhere, out of interest?
All this goes to show, the red cartel and their media puppets, clearly saw City as a huge threat from early on in the ownership. It didn't help that all 3 red cartel clubs have been hurt directly in close title races, that went to the final day/final weeks, with City coming out ontop. However, I'm really starting to think, United turning to shit and us being their local rivals, going from strength to strength. Is perhaps the biggest reason no other club will ever get as big a target on their backs, as City have had over the years.
I'm not sure how but if and when City beat the charges, proving their innocence etc. I really hope the club find a way to fight this bullshit, it's gone on too long. I'm sure we're all sick of having to deal with all the weaponised-brainwashed muppets, who seem to think City and anyone conntected to City are fair game for anything.
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