PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

[VOOMER]

Maybe I'm way off on this one but could it be possible that we've been talking with the prem league for a while and we've admitted our guilt. Some sort of settlement has been agreed which would involve a huge fine and points deduction, but the hearing still has to take place anyway.
It's could be another reason as to why we aren't spending this summer.

WTF!

 

[Asa's left peg]

It may be difficult to quantity but it has happened, which is why semi sensible people without a dog in the fight raise "cheats, oil club,115, state owned, more players etc etc" as soon as they know you're a City fan ( happened to me again yesterday by a senior partner in a London accountancy practice).

He was genuinely surprised when I responded with the background and the facts.

It's amazing how so called professional and academically intelligent people get sucked in.

I have a friend who is a solicitor and not a typical rag, tell me 6 months ago that he'd heard from colleagues that city were guilty and what would I think the punishment be.

A solicitor ! willing to suspend the principle of innocent until being proven guilty.

 

[St Helens Blue (Exiled)]

Talksport summed up just now by Jeff Stelling - if City are guilty they must face justice. If innocent then ‘SO BE IT’.

So be it !!! He then went on to say not sure how the football family will react if they are not found guilty.

Complete smear campaign.

Thick as a whale omelette he is mate. Fuck him

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

I have no idea what's true and am generally cynical as to anything stated in the press. On the other hand, Ziegler seems very well informed on this matter, apparently receiving information direct from one of our PL rivals, which in turn is kept in the loop by the PL hierarchy.

I'd merely conjecture that, IMO, the above may not mean that there'll be ten weeks of hearings starting in September. In fact, I'd very much doubt there would be. IMO it could mean there'll a number of days of hearings (perhaps 4 weeks' worth, at a pure guess) within the ten-week period Ziegler refers to.

I do think the mood music arounbd the case has changed a little. I was particularly struck by that recent piece in The Sun which took the form of a Q&A between Martin Lipton and Martin Blackburn. I wasn't surprised that the latter, as someone with close links to MCFC, concluded we'd likely face a fine at worst with a possibility of being done for something such as non-cooperation. However, it was striking that the former basically agreed with him.

That's the first time I recall having seen a senior mainstream football journalist writing for the national press speak in those terms. I know that Lipton is quite well connected with various PL clubs, the London ones especially, so I view that as quite a significant step.

The additional focus on the Mancini and Toure charges strikes me as a possible attempt to switch focus in a reality where the more serious charges don't stick. Non-cooperation doesn't necessarily entail financial wrongdoing, but guilty with regard to either or both of Roberto and Yaya leaves open a PR line of attack that our finances were clearly dodgy but we've covered up the most egregious cases.

Agree 100 per cent. It all smells of prep work for an ongoing comms campaign by the PL. They have to get out of this with as little damage as possible to their brand. I really hope that City refuse to sign any NDAs and do a full all-out PR defence at the end of the hearing spelling out our "irrefutable proof" and defending our reputation. However I think this is unlikely to happen. That said we can't allow what happened after the UEFA case where private briefings told the media that we: "got off because it was just time-barred." The PR battle will be almost as important as the legal one.

 

[chaddblue]

Maybe I'm way off on this one but could it be possible that we've been talking with the prem league for a while and we've admitted our guilt. Some sort of settlement has been agreed which would involve a huge fine and points deduction, but the hearing still has to take place anyway.
It's could be another reason as to why we aren't spending this summer.

So Khaldoon has been lying to Pep and the fans all this time....and as for not spending, we are spending £300m on a huge stadium expansion, whilst at the same time turning down ridiculous money from Saudi for players that are not getting any younger and we could quite easily cash in on

 

[Asa's left peg]

Yes and some of his other colleagues have very good sources at LFC. To be fair I have no problem with any of that. The Times is entitled to cover the story. My issue has always been the people who leak the information in bad faith. The poison starts with some senior people at the PL who are too close to certain Club Directors. Leaking information from an ongoing legal case (civil, criminal quasi judicial) is just corruption in my book.

'Without fear or favour' - what a fecking joke. Check your sources and present the other side too, in a balanced way.

Their political colleagues are the same.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Not sure the tweets were to damage City. Having some successes in the APT case is wholesome praise the way the press has been going.

But yes, the shift of the narrative away from filing accounts that don't show a true and fair view (which absolutely is one of the allegations and is THE most serious) to Mancini (which should be time limited) and Toure (of which half should be time limited) is interesting. I read the actual article (linked for anyone who wants to read it) and the paragraph about the allegations has nine words about accounting and nearly 50 on Mancini and Toure. Almost as if the ground is being prepared for some non-disclosures to the PL and not the more serious stuff. It may mean something if you think Ziegler understands what he is writing about, but that is a stretch, imho.

https://archive.ph/8ReqX

Absolutely nothing new in any of that. It's a cuts job with just a fresh nose about the case being heard.

Uefa didn't publish the Jaber name because City made it clear who and what he was to Etisalat.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Season off to a flyer. We'll done PL - constantly undermining us.

Would go a long way if the club just reiterated our "irrefutable" stance. Just for morale.

 

[dadnlad]

Peps season team talk done

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Just fuckin' relegate us now and be done with it.