City launch legal action against the Premier League | City win APT case (pg901)

[Churchlawtonblue]

Mmmmm... You see the issue with this is sponsorship is only valued at what someone is willing to pay. This is where everything gets murky.

I was having it with a braindead Rag today, & said to him that the PL came to the conclusion that our sponsorship level is around or below that of Everton, Villa & WHU.

I shit you not, he said those clubs have a storied history & a loyal global fanbase, with packed grounds every week & fans that will follow them everywhere, hence why the PL placed our sponsorship level beneath theirs!

Obviously I was setting a trap for him about our rejected level of sponsorship, as the details have never been revealed to my knowledge, but this illustrates the lobotomised level of dialogue City fans have to deal with in defence of our club.

Pointing out that we'd won 5 of the last 6 PLs, were reigning World Champions & former CL & UEFA Super Cup champions, & were rated by OPTA as the best football team in the world didn't matter. Everton winning the 1985 First Division title under Howard Kendall was a bigger achievement than anything we've ever managed in our history.

We are also now the most watched football team in the world with more tv viewers than any other club. That's some achievement! I bet your rag didn't know that.

 

[Onholiday(somemightsay)]

Herbert is such a tedious ****.

Plus, selective with the truth? When you work for the Mail!

 

[Nightmare Walking]

I’ve read it. I’ve spent most of the last 10 years in litigation (claimant and defendant). This bad tempered fundamental disagreement is normal. It’s genuinely held but it’s also inherently one sided. That’s not a criticism- it’s a fact. I can be certain that the PL really also believe they won.

City have lost nothing as they had nothing to lose. The rules were already in place. The worst position that City could have been in post any judgement was the status quo remained.
As we sit here now, City are in a better position than they were previously, where as the premier league are up shit creek. The premier league rules have also been labelled unlawful, unfair and unreasonable. City can now claim for damages.
The media can spin it however they like. The simple fact is that it City who will be going to bed with smiles on their faces tonight, while Richard Masters will be having nightmares.

 

[Dribble]

We are also now the most watched football team in the world with more tv viewers than any other club. That's some achievement! I bet your rag didn't know that.

He does now. I dropped it on him last night & sent him the Nielsen link to prove it! :-)

 

[johnny crossan]

It was a serious remark. Some of the guys attacking slbn need their heads checking, or to go back to the lfc and utd forums, I didn't know which tbh, but I certainly would have thought they would know his history on here during these cases...

When the only voice City fans could hear was the media, slbn provided some clarity (as well as a few others tbf). When the only thing on talksport that City fans could here was how guilty we were slbn provided a balanced pov.

This load of twats now attacking him for seemingly being wrong, shill, a patsy, mealy mouthed... what have they done? Day back and fine fuck all. Except jealously moan at someone who just knows more than them. That's it, just childish jealousy.

Just seen this reply and if it was serious then heaven help us. Yesterday's verdict was the bridgehead, the PL simply want to destroy City and direct its income streams back to the cartel majority. Lose and our Gulf investment sources were effectively killed but victory kept us viable for 115 D Day down the road. We briefed Samuel to provide a clear and truthful account of our success and Pannick et al prepared for the inevitable media lies. It was a crucial moment in the ten year attempt to annihilate us and Mr Borson turned against the club and our only reliable journalist ally at the moment of our triumph. Why?

 

[M23 Citizen]

He was quite funny when he went mainstream, then a boring ****, his recent stuff was slightly better and reached chuckling level.

But now he can fuck right off, the bitter scouse miserable bindipping shitehawk.

Shouldn’t be anywhere near the co-op. He won’t sell out anyway.

He’s not even Scouse. He’s from Runcorn, Cheshire, but plays on it like he’s a top Scouser.

Oh and he lives in Manchester.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

I honestly don't think it is that at all. I don't think he is toeing any lines. I don't even think he is 'trying' to stay impartial.

I just think he has a professional opinion, based on his reading and experience, and he gives it. He gives it honestly and without pretence. He seems invested in his field, and I don't think there's anything worth him compromising that principle, not even footballing allegiance. I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if he also had a professional code of conduct that covered stating things with honesty and integrity or something along those lines.

I am in complete disagreement with his main takeaway of this. Not the wider details he discussed, just the main summation of who won what, and why it would even matter through what 'lens' that is viewed.

But I don't question his reasons, reasoning or intention. Just his (in this case) opinion.

At least based on how I read what I have read. Which is not the full 175 page document, just to be clear, but the two statements, and the summary page verdict.

After reading all 175 pages I am more convinced that City have played a blinder in the face of a hostile and malicious organisation. The way the club has been treated during this long-running dirty tricks campaign is appalling. The Judges, as they always do, have applied the letter of the law but the tone used in their final summary (ignored by some of the media) tells you everything about this case. The PL has become a poisonous organisation. It is not fit to regulate football because it has been corrupted by the influence of some Club Directors. The fact that Arsenal apparently drafted the new APT regulations which exempted interest free loans is incredible. Though it is redacted in the papers I suspect Arsenal were also the ones leading the 11 other clubs who tried to undermine Newcastle United aided and abetted by Richard Masters. Who is going to launch an investigation into the Premier League?

 

[Coatigan]

Martin Samuel's article is total nonsense though. Who do you think reads and agrees with that piece? Nobody outside BM. Pointless.

It is not total nonsense. And people don't have to agree with it for it to have a point.

 

[chris85mcfc]

Have to say , Stefan has trumpeted the cause for City for a long time now when nobody else has stood in our corner ever since the charges were brought , have a look again at todays talkSPORT debate now some of the dust has settled , at the end of the day he’s a lifetime blue with a different professional opinion based on his professional career at the top end of football finance , I’d rather congratulate him for standing our corner throughout all of this shit , so keep up the good work Stefan.

I get what you're saying, but he's absolutely not on there to defend City or fight our corner.

He's on there to try and debunk some of the legal jargon, so that the average Joe can go away with a certain level of understanding.

I think he's sat on the fence throughout his Talksport debates, aside from saying that the 115 charged will be incredibly difficult for the PL to prove hold any water.

He is still doing a great job, however, of reaching out to those of us with some form of intelligence, who are able to just about grasp how difficult this case is to judge.

Unfortunately, the above isn't your average Talksport listener, and they just label him as a City fan boy, and ignore the majority of what he says.

My take, is that there is that much information about, that Stefan has now become part of a small group of people that I listen to; albeit I take it all with a fair small pinch of salt.

@tolmie's hairdoo has been on the money in a lot of what he has fed us, albeit I appreciate that @slbsn information is more an experienced opinion rather than information he's been fed.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

Assume they’ll provide us with the benchmarking analysis and the databank and then it’s on us to make an argument.

I doubt we’ll be able to argue they’re at FMV as a consequence of getting that to be honest, which is partly why I don’t see it as a big win on those decisions as much as others.

That's true but the main issue for City was the painful delay in the turgid process. If we can see the figures quickly we can make quicker decisons and move on. It is the unfair delays which caused us the most damage and the Judges agreed with us on that.