Re: City & FFP (continued)
Just woken up with the mother of all hangovers and I would say my feelings about this outcome are broadly positive, for City at least. It seems from cursory glances at previous pages from last night that many are disappointed that we have declined to become torch-bearers for the wider interests of clubs like Everton and Villa, but that was never going to happen. Such an expectation was unrealistic given the scale of the investment in this football club and the likely prospects of success. Perhaps any notions of such a crusade were ended when the likes of Everton and Spurs willingly voted in FFP in the Premier League, which we conspicuously did not. I expect our feelings of empathy for those that didn't, like Villa, weren't sufficient for the club to jeapordise the enduring success of the 'project' at such a decisive moment in its realisation. Principled stances are rarely assumed against an undiluted backdrop of altruism, but rather when an individual or corporate entities interests are unlikely to be hampered unduly by assuming such a position. I have, on occasion in my working life, tried to help others out, possibly by suggesting them for job interviews to colleagues for certain positions for example, but I only did so at a time and in a way that meant my interests were not undermined in any way. If I felt at any time that they may have been, I wouldn't have uttered a word. It seems City have evaluated things along similar lines and given the scope and aims of the project it was always unrealistic for people to expect any other outcome.
I believe this has been accepted on the basis that the Etihad deal isn't an RPT and that in any event it most certainly represents fair value. On that basis the other, seemingly ad hoc aspects of our last accounts, which seem to have been the cause of our failure FFP, are of little use to the club in further years. The club clearly feels that the Etihad deal was the deal-breaker, partly because any other outcome would have conspired to undermine the club's integrity beyond the bounds of tolerance and also because it would have prevented the club being masters of its own destiny going forward. As it now seems to stand the Etihad deal is bona fide and free to be renegotiated upwards, as it is clearly now undervalued. In that sense the club will have shrugged its corporate shoulders and realised the futility of fighting battles on other fronts. Moreover they will have done that against the backdrop of the knowledge of what other deals are in the pipeline, upon which we will doubtless hear more in the next few months in the lead up to the opening of the training complex.
My overriding concern in football is that of Manchester City. Everything else comes a very distant second and I have sufficient faith in those that run our club, based on all that they have delivered so far, to state with absolute confidence that they wouldn't ave struck this deal if it wasn't in the club's best interests. Given the journey they have taken this club on in the last (just shy of) six years, I am struggling to see how anyone could properly arrive at any other conclusion. They have absolutely delivered hitherto and had significantly more facts and information at their disposal in relation to this, both internal and external to the club, than anyone posting on this thread. On that basis they absolutely deserve the benefit of any doubt that some might have that this was the right decision for City.
It might not be the best decision for the soul of football, but you've got to choose your battles. Anyone expecting the club not to ultimately act in its own best interests, given the might of what we are up against, was always going to be crushingly disappointed at this stage. Getting in before the drawbridge went up is an analogy that is always used when describing City's relationship to FFP and I've always thought of it as one with considerable force. Imagine, if you will, someone holding on to a drawbridge as it is bing raised. In the course of being there he may have sacrificed a great deal, he may have helped others. But at that moment, when faced with the consequences of not scrambling over the top as it closes upon the wider world, what are his primary thoughts? Are they about helping others? No they are not. In that situation his principal concern is survival and getting over before it closes and to deal with the whys and wherefores afterwards. That is what City were faced with in the last couple of weeks and they've made the right decision in their best interests. It really is as simple as that.
