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Indeed. He also flagrantly misrepresents the nature of the most serious 'charge', disguised investment. The point isn't whether Etihad received government funding to fulfil its monetary obligations to MCFC, as Etihad is a government-owned asset in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and there's nothing...

This is a great post in many ways, but I'm afraid I can't get behind the central premise. I'd support us if we got relegated to the Northern Premier and had derbies with that shower at FC United, but, if we have any kind of draconian punishment imposed, I'll be outraged, dismayed, disgusted and...

Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense. In that case, let's hope that Salford City Council can make a go of developing the area around the stadium and running the complex, while the clubs from the respective rugby codes prosper enough to keep the football club out.

The AJ Bell has reverted to its original name of Salford Community Stadium now, but you should avoid having to visit it, in the near future at least. Salford City were looking to acquire the 50% share in the venue held by Peel Holdings, and to move there to share with Sale Sharks, leaving...

I've written this on here before, but it's something I was told around 15 years ago, at the time when FC were in full 'nauseating and entitled badgering of the Council' mode with regard to help for their own stadium. The source was someone in an important role in the Council apparatus. MCC has...

Yes, it's ring-fenced for sport. A stipulation that was part of the original deal further to which Sport England provided grant funding to allow the stadium to be built for the Commonwealth Games and then leased to us afterwards.

I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, it's true. I just see a lot of factors at play here that point in such a direction. I recall that it was widely reported that Masters was interviewed by Manchester United and Liverpool before taking his current job. Martin Samuel, among others, has...

Clearly the 115 narrative was a PR stunt, but references to 'charges' or 'prosecution' or whatever are simply a convenient shorthand for referring to what's happening here. That involves a body instituting disciplinary proceedings against a member as a result of the latter's alleged large-scale...

No doubt Comical Ali will be back in due course to enlighten us about the 2.3 million people in north Manchester who've attended FC United home games and explain how the Council has been repaid 400-fold for the money it's loaned the club. But I'm just staggered by the arrogance of this lot in...

No problem. I thought so but just wanted to be sure. My speculation has always been that the PL overstretched itself in terms of the breadth of the matters it chose to prosecute. In other words, they've added charges on which the evidence is weak in the hope that they might make some stick...

When you say "heard ... from someone at Anfield", would I be correct in presuming that this means he was told by from someone in the City end at the recent Liverpool away game, and you're not using "someone at Anfield" as shorthand for someone within Liverpool, FC? It would be a valuable...

When I say I'm sanguine, I mean I think we can probably scrape a narrow, possibly undeserved win to stop the rot and lift flagging confidence. As injured players return and we're able to rest players now and again rather than send them out onto the pitch unfit and knackered, results will...

Let's say that, in January, we sign a player with a release clause (for the sake of argument, Zubamendi, but that's just an example) and a relatively cheap left-field option such as the Japanese striker at Celtic we were linked with in the summer. And would it be a surprise if we then we let...

Yes, but the rules also specify that any evidence thus admitted with the appeal panel's permission must have been unavailable during the initial hearing. I don't think that will be a serious issue for us, though. Why would we not have presented available evidence at the initial hearing if it was...

It appears that the hearing was adjourned last month, but will reconvene later this month for both parties to give their closing arguments. March seems like a reasonable bet for them to produce the final written judgment, given that it will need to be very thorough and be carefully drafted given...

I remember when Paul Joyce, northern football correspondent of The Times, wrote a piece claiming that, while City might be perfect for Guardiola in terms of the set-up created for him, it couldn't be regarded as an ideal job. This was because he'd never be able to forge the kind of bond with the...

From the vast resources generated by their phenomenal gates, of course. Why else would Arsene in 1987 have left a club averaging 7,721 for one that had just averaged 4,428 over the 1986/87 season? This, we should stress, was before football clubs were able to generate large amounts from...

TL, DR - There's nothing new in the public domain since February 2023 that justifies a change in how we view this case. The circumstances then allowed us to look with cautious optimism, and the same is the case now. * * * I'm waiting for the final verdict with a lot of interest beyond just...

Inimitable, I think we can agree. ;)

You and your fancy legalese! ;)