I called it when they launched, once I saw some of the names they were hiring and the fact that the establishment clubs all had two or even three dedicated writers while City were given just the one.
I knew then it was going to be the same old shite with the same old prejudices and vested interests, while hypocritically masquerading as something different, something worthier.
As has been mentioned at length previously, their coverage of the CAS affair - from more than one writer - exposed their flaws, limitations and their inherent institutional bias.
It was actually a great opportunity for them to fairly follow and evaluate the evidence and set themselves apart from the rest but they fucked it. Presumably their editors and readership didn’t want to know or read why City were innocent, when ‘City are guilty’ does better numbers with their redshirt subscribers.
The Athletic is the emperor’s new clothes, the football equivalent of slipping your copy of Razzle inside the pages of The Economist as you leave the paper shop