PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

Interesting times, but whatever happens to Everton, it's a right fucking mess and the PL have no-one but themselves to blame. I can't imagine there is any way in which the handling of all these cases (City, Everton, Forest) could have been worse. Trying to show they can regulate themselves? Dear God, it couldn't be a bigger mess if they weren't actually trying at all.

It is a really strange situation they find themselves in, because the backdrop to this is the plateauing of the TV rights deal (domestically at least). The 'product' they sell is the very one they're currently undermining in a desperate attempt to circumvent an independent regulator. The whole thing stinks of politics in the worst possible way.

Basically, the league was never broken, and there was nothing that needed fixing. Money into the league from super wealthy owners does not have a detrimental effect on the league as a whole. On the contrary it simply strengthens the position as the best and most successful league in the world. Trying to reign in 'investment' via this sort of punishment is objectively nonsense.

All of that isn't to say that Moshiri was clearly a front for Usmanov's money and him becoming persona non grata fucked Everton - but the league as a whole allowed the Moshiri/Usmanov deal to go through same as they let the Saudis buy Newcastle. I've got no idea what Richard Masters end game is here.
 
"Independent" panel. Yes, I get the point about the professionalism of KCs (and their counterparts) and their presumed lack of bias, but it is pushing the definition of independent when the PL appoints someone who is solely responsible for selecting all the members of a judicial panel, a disciplinary panel and an appeals panel, and then even chooses which members of those panels sit on which cases.

This doesn't mean I think the panels will be at all biased, but it is another example of poor optics from the PL to put alongside almost everything else they do. It's a bizarrely opaque and closed organisation, more reminiscent of a secret society than a members' club, imho.
The other point is that it differs from the UEFA version in that it deliberately excludes CAS.

Even with CAS we had the option for each side to choose a Professionally qualified legal member which did not result in a unanimous decision relying on the head to decide.

Even if no further evidence than the CAS had then surely 3 picked from the PL side could make a mockery of independent if the Panel judges like CAS did?

Hopefully all 3 will base their decision on evidence.
 
It is a really strange situation they find themselves in, because the backdrop to this is the plateauing of the TV rights deal (domestically at least). The 'product' they sell is the very one they're currently undermining in a desperate attempt to circumvent an independent regulator. The whole thing stinks of politics in the worst possible way.

Basically, the league was never broken, and there was nothing that needed fixing. Money into the league from super wealthy owners does not have a detrimental effect on the league as a whole. On the contrary it simply strengthens the position as the best and most successful league in the world. Trying to reign in 'investment' via this sort of punishment is objectively nonsense.

All of that isn't to say that Moshiri was clearly a front for Usmanov's money and him becoming persona non grata fucked Everton - but the league as a whole allowed the Moshiri/Usmanov deal to go through same as they let the Saudis buy Newcastle. I've got no idea what Richard Masters end game is here.

To be fair to Masters, and I hate doing that, this all started with Platini not having the balls to do FFP properly in 2012 when he was threatened by the big clubs. Once UEFA had fucked up FFP, it was hard for the PL not to follow. And to be fair to them, they gave much more generous "break-even" targets and it's only now that these targets are biting some of the clubs on the backside. But that is the past.

His end game? I am not sure he has one. I am not sure he is that good, to be honest. What will the end game be? Immediately, there will clearly be some changes in FFP in the summer, and I have no doubt whatever happens will be just enough to get United out of the shit they are in this year with their three year rolling period. More long-term, it seems he is sleep-walking into a situation where fans are becoming more unhappy with the way things are going. If I was wearing my tin foil hat, I would say Masters is doing exactly what the big clubs want him to do. Paving the way for fan acceptance of an ESL in the future. Without the tin foil hat, I can see neither rhyme nor reason in his descent into a bigger and bigger mess.

Maybe he is just out of his depth, after all.

Anyway, feel free to pick the above to pieces. All this agreeing on everything is making me feel dirty :)
 
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The other point is that it differs from the UEFA version in that it deliberately excludes CAS.

Even with CAS we had the option for each side to choose a Professionally qualified legal member which did not result in a unanimous decision relying on the head to decide.

Even if no further evidence than the CAS had then surely 3 picked from the PL side could make a mockery of independent if the Panel judges like CAS did?

Hopefully all 3 will base their decision on evidence.

Can't argue with that. Just keep in mind the possibility of a real arbitration procedure. I know our legal guys don't think it would get that far (I am still waiting for a blasting for raising it) but that would be a CAS equivalent under the PL umbrella in this case.
 
Be interesting when all the clubs meet up what they will agree to regarding PSR!?

I'm going for what has already been muted to be is the uefa PSR but add in new owner or buy in to a club can spend not 105m over 3 years but 300m!
 
Be interesting when all the clubs meet up what they will agree to regarding PSR!?

I'm going for what has already been muted to be is the uefa PSR but add in new owner or buy in to a club can spend not 105m over 3 years but 300m!
£100m is so small, 2 or 3 goodish players.
 
To be fair to Masters, and I hate doing that, this all started with Platini not having the balls to do FFP properly in 2012 when he was threatened by the big clubs. Once UEFA had fucked up FFP, it was hard for the PL not to follow. And to be fair to them, they gave much more generous "break-even" targets and it's only now that these targets are biting some of the clubs on the backside. But that is the past.

His end game? I am not sure he has one. I am not sure he is that good, to be honest. What will the end game be? Immediately, there will clearly be some changes in FFP in the summer, and I have no doubt whatever happens will be just enough to get United out of the shit they are in this year with their three year rolling period. More long=term, it seems he is sleep-walking into a situation where fans are becoming more unhappy with the way things are going. If I was wearing my tin foil hat, I would say Masters is doing exactly what the big clubs want him to do. Paving the way for fan acceptance of an ESL in the future. Without the tin foil hat, I can see neither rhyme nor reason in his descent into a bigger and bigger mess.

Maybe he is just out of his depth, after all.

Anyway, feel free to pick the above to pieces. All this agreeing on everything is making me feel dirty :)
This, i dont think masters is some kind of evil genius by any means, i think the bright lights appealed to him and now he is massively out of his depth and isnt smart enough to find a way out, its very telling that the two other people they shortlisted for the job wanted no part of it and his previous incumbent left after 1 month, they all saw what was happening and didnt want their name and reputation tarnished, masters didnt have anything to lose at the outset and now he is trapped.
 

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