La Liga official complaint about City

[halfcenturyup]

That is why I do not agree with the line taken by Prestwich Blue, not because he's fundamentally wrong, he isn't, but because he's howling into the wind. The audience he's trying to reach is not receptive to "his" facts, they have "alternative" facts that pander to their allegiances and their prejudices, put simply they believe their "facts" because they want to, and they're encouraged in their belief, everyday and all the time, by powerful voices in the media who know that PB is right, but have their own agenda to promote and his facts don't fit.

Besides I doubt very much that PB banging on about the difference between the Sheikh's personal investment in City rather than the investment he could've made as vice chairman of the Emirati state-owned Mubdala investment Company, is gong to convince white van man that everything is tickety-boo.

Oh! And then comparing it to the Queen's race horses! Do me a favour!

I think that's a little unfair on @Prestwich_Blue, but he can defend himself.

What I would say is that we need people with experience in finance and law, like PB, defending the club's position, or at least the supporters' position, to the right target. And the right target is journalists, analysts and their editors, exactly where PB places his efforts. It may not stop them saying what they do now, but it will stop them saying "Oh, we didn't know that" when the time comes for them to change their approach to City. And it will come.

As for banners. That will just be snigger fodder for journalists and "white van man". Also, you will have people saying it is club sponsored. It shows weakness, imo, not strength.

 

[The perfect fumble]

Why does that comparison not work for you mate?

Because the Queen is a figurehead of State, she's Head of State, but not head of government. The Queen receives state money from our elected government to perform her duties as constitutional monarch, but she also owns stuff and buys stuff in a private capacity. That is a very real distinction because our monarch is not both government and Head of State

The Sheikh's brother is Head of State and head of government.

Sheikh Mansour and his extended family is the government of the UAE, he is a high ranking member of an absolute monarchy with exclusive executive and legislative power. From what I've read he's a smart well educated man and makes decisions regarding the sovereign wealth fund in a responsible way. Besides I'm sure there are checks and balances in the system that prevent him from splurging the investment fund money on fast cars, villas and yachts should the fancy take him.

That's not to say the Sheikh doesn't spend money on fast cars, villas and yachts, he does, a lot of money, but he does that in a personal capacity, but when he does spend his own money, he just takes one hat off and puts on another, because he is the living embodiment of both the State and the Government by dint of birth, in a way the Queen is not.

In a nutshell our detractors, the Guadianista's and Simon Jordan's are bad faith actors, they see the ruling families of the Gulf as nothing more than gangsters, hoarding the countries wealth for themselves, they have no respect for Sheikh Mansour because they have no respect for the "rigged" system that keeps him in power.

They point at Sheikh Mansour and accuse him of spending State money because he is the State and consequently all his money is State money. The difference between state expenditure and private expenditure, which is very real on the ground in the UAE, cuts no ice with them, they see it as a contrivance, it's all the same money they shout, just in different labelled pots, and while there are holes in this analysis, there is enough of a grain of truth to it to make comparisons with a constitutional monarch, like the Queen, look ludicrous.

 

[halfcenturyup]

Because the Queen is a figurehead of State, she's Head of State, but not head of government. The Queen receives state money from our elected government to perform her duties as constitutional monarch, but she also owns stuff and buys stuff in a private capacity. That is a very real distinction because our monarch is not both government and Head of State

The Sheikh's brother is Head of State and head of government.

Sheikh Mansour and his extended family is the government of the UAE, he is a high ranking member of an absolute monarchy with exclusive executive and legislative power. From what I've read he's a smart well educated man and makes decisions regarding the sovereign wealth fund in a responsible way. Besides I'm sure there are checks and balances in the system that prevent him from splurging the investment fund money on fast cars, villas and yachts should the fancy take him.

That's not to say the Sheikh doesn't spend money on fast cars, villas and yachts, he does, a lot of money, but he does that in a personal capacity, but when he does spend his own money, he just takes one hat off and puts on another, because he is the living embodiment of both the State and the Government by dint of birth, in a way the Queen is not.

In a nutshell our detractors, the Guadianista's and Simon Jordan's are bad faith actors, they see the ruling families of the Gulf as nothing more than gangsters, hoarding the countries wealth for themselves, they have no respect for Sheikh Mansour because they have no respect for the "rigged" system that keeps him in power.

They point at Sheikh Mansour and accuse him of spending State money because he is the State and consequently all his money is State money. The difference between state expenditure and private expenditure, which is very real on the ground in the UAE, cuts no ice with them, they see it as a contrivance, it's all the same money for them, just in different labelled pots, and while there are holes in this analysis there is enough of a grain of truth to it to make comparisons with a constitutional monarch, like the Queen, look ludicrous.

Question for you. Where does the Queen's wealth come from?

Genuine question. I don't know the answer. I would guess it has been extracted from the state at some point, whether recently as a constitutional monarchy or historically as an absolute monarchy?

 

[The perfect fumble]

I think that's a little unfair on @Prestwich_Blue, but he can defend himself.

What I would say is that we need people with experience in finance and law, like PB, defending the club's position, or at least the supporters' position, to the right target. And the right target is journalists, analysts and their editors, exactly where PB places his efforts. It may not stop them saying what they do now, but it will stop them saying "Oh, we didn't know that" when the time comes for them to change their approach to City. And it will come.

As for banners. That will just be snigger fodder for journalists and "white van man". Also, you will have people saying it is club sponsored. It shows weakness, imo, not strength.

PB does sterling work, but his approach is tactical not strategic, he's reactive, constantly countering the loaded arguments of our detractors, in so doing he inadvertently accepts their terms.

To defeat them we must reject their terms and make our own.

 

[oakiecokie]

Maybe thats correct. The club will continue to do what it does. At least I understand more about UAE structure and politics than I did a day ago.
Every day is a school day :-)

In that case I want you to go and write 1000 lines "I should have paid more attention during my school days instead of continually looking up Sally Breezes skirt".

 

[JGL07]

Because the Queen is a figurehead of State, she's Head of State, but not head of government. The Queen receives state money from our elected government to perform her duties as constitutional monarch, but she also owns stuff and buys stuff in a private capacity. That is a very real distinction because our monarch is not both government and Head of State

The Sheikh's brother is Head of State and head of government.

Sheikh Mansour and his extended family is the government of the UAE, he is a high ranking member of an absolute monarchy with exclusive executive and legislative power. From what I've read he's a smart well educated man and makes decisions regarding the sovereign wealth fund in a responsible way. Besides I'm sure there are checks and balances in the system that prevent him from splurging the investment fund money on fast cars, villas and yachts should the fancy take him.

That's not to say the Sheikh doesn't spend money on fast cars, villas and yachts, he does, a lot of money, but he does that in a personal capacity, but when he does spend his own money, he just takes one hat off and puts on another, because he is the living embodiment of both the State and the Government by dint of birth, in a way the Queen is not.

In a nutshell our detractors, the Guadianista's and Simon Jordan's are bad faith actors, they see the ruling families of the Gulf as nothing more than gangsters, hoarding the countries wealth for themselves, they have no respect for Sheikh Mansour because they have no respect for the "rigged" system that keeps him in power.

They point at Sheikh Mansour and accuse him of spending State money because he is the State and consequently all his money is State money. The difference between state expenditure and private expenditure, which is very real on the ground in the UAE, cuts no ice with them, they see it as a contrivance, it's all the same money they shout, just in different labelled pots, and while there are holes in this analysis, there is enough of a grain of truth to it to make comparisons with a constitutional monarch, like the Queen, look ludicrous.

You appear to be treating the UAE and Abu Dhabi as if they are the same thing.

Abu Dhabi is one of seven Emirates that make up the UAE and has 27% of the population (compared to 41% for Dubai and 23% for Sharjah).

 

[Silva61]

Just so.

That is why I do not agree with the line taken by Prestwich Blue, not because he's fundamentally wrong, he isn't, but because he's howling into the wind. The audience he's trying to reach is not receptive to "his" facts, they have "alternative" facts that pander to their allegiances and their prejudices, put simply they believe their "facts" because they want to, and they're encouraged in their belief, everyday and all the time, by powerful voices in the media who know that PB is right, but have their own agenda to promote and his facts don't fit.

Besides I doubt very much that PB banging on about the difference between the Sheikh's personal investment in City rather than the investment he could've made as vice chairman of the Emirati state-owned Mubdala investment Company, is gong to convince white van man that everything is tickety-boo.

Oh! And then comparing it to the Queen's race horses! Do me a favour!

This tack will not work, it does not work, I'm not saying PB should not counter fallacies with facts when he sees them, but as a campaign to move the dial on City it is nothing more than ineffective fire fighting.

Our detractors ramblings have the ideology of a cult, for eg the BBC or the scousers.

 

[The perfect fumble]

You appear to be treating the UAE and Abu Dhabi as if they are the same thing.

Abu Dhabi is one of seven Emirates that make up the UAE and has 27% of the population (compared to 41% for Dubai and 23% for Sharjah).

I am, for the sake of this argument the existence of the various Emirates is immaterial.

 

[mat]

Above is the leaked letter.

 

[The perfect fumble]

Our detractors ramblings have the ideology of a cult, for eg the BBC or the scousers.

The followers can look and behave a bit like a cult sometimes, but the key players are not fools or fanatics, we might disagree with them, but they're not fantasists, they have a rationale.