Not sure how the conspiracy theorists on here are going to cope with this. On the one hand there was a cartel of clubs acting in their own interests at the top of european football. But then they asked us to join in? Its a difficult proposition to be faced with.Our board members must've been drugged to accept the deal. I'm sure they just heard 4.8bn then said count us in.
That is all true but dirty politics has always been there at the top of football and it has always been driven by money and greed. Transfer bungs, gate money fiddles, even match fixing. It has been happening through the 60s, 70s, 80s and then into the PL area. The governance of international football has always been corrupt. The difference nowadays is that because of the way the modern media works we are all much more aware of the scale of it.When you take a step back, you realise what it has all become and it isn't appetising. What has happened to the game?
Prior to 2010, when did City fans ever talk about cartels, 4D chess, winning influence, screwing our enemies, Trojan horses, etc? The fact we get excited about winning battles at executive level is so far removed from the reason we all got involved in the first place.
Agree 100%. well putI believe the Ceferin comment below is significant in that it praises and welcomes City back. There was no need and it was specific only to City.
The FFP saga and vendetta against City has taken years to play out. Our owners know the bad guys. It cannt be coincidence they are in the spotlight over the super league debacle. For too long the American owned teams in red have had undue influence over the FA, PL, UEFA and media.
Their actions have always about what they can take out of football. In contrast, our owners have invested in the game and community. Their business model is the antithesis of the Americans. Compare the regeneration of East Manchester with Liverpool running down and knocking down streets of houses to extend their ground.
None of us know the facts but I am far more forgiving of City. The means can justify the ends and City have kept their enemies close. Finally they have been exposed and their greed universally condemned.
If it eventually leads to UEFA reform then job done. hence the significance of the Ceferin statement and its timing.
Aleksander Ceferin is happy that Manchester City was the first club to take the step on Tuesday to withdraw from the plans for a Super League.
The UEFA president hopes that more clubs will follow.
"I am happy to welcome City back into the European football family. They have shown that they are sensible and listen to the many opinions. Especially those of the fans," said Ceferin in a brief comment.
"They have recognized that the current European system has many advantages too. It takes courage to admit a mistake, but I never doubted they had the common sense to make that decision."
That's an interesting theory because the one thing that baffles me most about all this is that the ESL was such a shite plan. A closed league with the same 15 teams playing each other all the time couldn't sustain financially for more than five years. Where was the end game?23 years is the length of the JP Morgan mortgage/loan/whatever, I reckon. However, my feeling is that this was a short term plan to last 5 years until it crashed, and then all the debt-ridden clubs return to where they came from with a miraculously healthy balance sheet. How this is done, I wasn't sure, but without any governance or auditing of the organisation it could be back-handers or finding a way to screw over those clubs with money via fines for ridiculous rule breaches. Like FFP on steroids.
No change in my feelings towards the club. Best owners and best management. What happened was unavoidable given the situation. Well played at the end.
I have to say I'm still pissed off that we only have three lines on our website and no apology and perhaps most remarkably we have heard more on the City website from Joel Glazer than we have anyone at the club throughout the whole thing!!!
Honestly..... you can't fucking make it up!!! talk about being asleep at the wheelHi Joel