Just what I wanted to know. Thanks very much for a very full and considered reply. I conclude that any interpretation by the PL which lays us open to penalties would be controversial enough (in our eyes perverse enough!) to provide grounds for appeal.It's my pleasure.
That's an interesting point about the position taken by the PL's independent commission, and got me thinking. The PL's PSR are more generic than the FFP ones, which are quite specific.
FFP goes into detail about owner investment, about allowable expenditure and other things. The PL Handbook only talks about submitting accounts, and the process for doing that, acting in good faith, and generic requirements like that. The only area they go into specific detail on is associated party transactions.
So the commission won't have any empirical yardstick to judge our charges against. They could, for example, say that the Etisalat sponsorship (where ADUG seemingly paid upfront before being reimbursed) was not done in good faith. They could take the same view of the Mancini contract, or the players' image rights payments. That's potentially a very different test to the PSR or FFP financial calculations, or CAS declaring that there was no evidence of disguised owner investment within the Etihad contract.
CAS essentially asked:
They were happy that there was an acceptable answer for all those questions.
- Did Etihad pay what was in the contract?
- Was any of that sponsorship funded by Sheikh Mansour?
- If not, how was the additional money due funded?
- Did Etihad pay a fair market price?
- Did City provide adequate exposure for Etihad as part of that contract?
Asking "Did City act in good faith?" is more subjective. Having said that, I'm sure we'll be bringing the CAS output as part of our evidence, and I think they'd be foolish to ignore it.
Just goes to show the absolute power of the media / press.The one thing that struck me after watching it last night was how much positivity you have created on here with your appearance on the show.
A lone voice, talking sense about the situation was so refreshing for most of us on here after days, weeks, months and years of gutter press bile and hatred being fired at the club.
I slept like a log last night pal.
Thanks for that
thats harsh on sheila reid
And Talkshites headline would be City face expulsionThe problem with speculation about potential punishment is that there is nothing in the PL Handbook about the scale or severity of sanctions. UEFA published a clear tariff of penalties for failing FFP, dependent on the seriousness of the breach and whether it was a first or repeat offenc, so we can safely talk about the scale of any punishment in that situation. Everton may try to use that as part of their appeal.
But the PL doesn't, so in my opinion it's unhelpful to speculate, using words like 'relegation'. And, being pedantic, the PL can't relegate us, as they don't control the lower leagues. As with Bury and the EFL, they could potentially expel us and we'd have to apply to the EFL.
I know it's easy to be wise when you're not the one in front of the camera or microphone but I think my answer to the "What will happen if they're found guilty" question would have been something like "We just don't know. It will totally depend on whether we're found to have breached any of the specified rules in any of the specified years. There are no indicators as to potential sanctions in the PL's rules but, at the very, very worst, there's the possibility we could be expelled from the PL. But that would involve quite an egregious breach of those rules and I don't see that scenario as a likely outcome. Even in (in my view) the unlikely event that we are found to have committed a minor breach, the punishment should be proportionate".
That’s a very good point.“No one cares about City” : )
To quote in finest BM traditionEven my wife likes me today.
How many people would have clicked on the video had it not had the negative headline, I expect it would be a lot lessThat’s a very good point.
It’s smashed the TS record for video/audio re-watches iirc.
Surely the tipping point of coverage has been reached, and any media organisation that doesn’t go ‘I think we need to change our target metrics’ is just going to be onto an ever dwindling audience if they continue the negative/no reporting bias.
I've thought about this quite a bit. The utter disregard for the mental health of some supporters caused by a relentless public display of slander and hatred in the media towards an entity that they genuinely love and have so much emotion invested in. It's like having a family member being slagged in the media all day every day with no actual event having been settled or proven. It's preposterous that they can get away with this unceasing policy of slander and IMO it's not a stretch to say that it's causing personal damage to some and that those doing this should be held accountable...Working on the assumption that City will be cleared and that the charges brought against City by the PL were based on suppositions rather than facts I wonder how many City fans will have suffered from mental health issues e.g. anxiety/depression, caused by the 115 charges. If the facts suggest that this was purely a witch hunt and an attempt to derail City, perhaps the PL will have a legal fight of a different nature from City's fans in the form of a class action.
Anyone that appeared on talk sport yesterday would have been asked the same question. What’s the worst that could happen to City? The answer was always going to be the headline.I'm going to listen to it shortly. Stefan is more than savvy enough to provide the context to his remarks but I also know from personal experience that the media will twist anything you say, regardless of how much context you've given, if they can make a sensational headline out of it.
I thoughtvI was being clever when, talking to Peter Spencer, I sued the phrase "I refuse to confirm or deny...". The next day's headline was "Supporter spokesperson refuses to deny...".
Stefan and me are both firmly of the opinion that there is little mileage in these charges. So I know where he stands.
What happens with legal costs Stefan if we are cleared will the premier league have to stump up.I suspect nothing at all.