PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

[BlueRockape]

I know we're all a bit downbeat, but if we are 'exonerated' then the rest will not matter. I can take being abused by fans of the clubs we hate. In time, people will forget and move on.

We're having a bad season after some bad squad planning, but it won't stop the owners at our club from striving for better. Everything away from first-team affairs and match ticket policies is running well. Get the new Etihad deal done, get Hugo Viana in post and give him the tools he needs to do the job. It feels like we're miles away at the moment but things change very quickly in football.

It may get worse before it gets better, but if there is a season to drop off then it is this one. The four-in-a-row is the greatest feat of all and we got it done. Beware the wounded animal, is what I say. The board won't take this lying down and we'll be back before you know it.

Great post

 

[The Future’s Blue!]

Do you ever say anything positive?
Seriously beginning to see you as a wum mate.

Have you seen their name? Sounds very American to me.

 

[argyle]

I think it won't be as clear cut as some hope.

I think it will be like the APT case. the PL 'win' on some matters and City on others.

Then comes the arguing on who actually 'won'

I get that the club is confident, and the likes of @tolmie's hairdoo tell us in good faith about their confidence behind the scenes, but that doesn't mean much really.

Think it will be quite messy.

 

[abu13]

I am now thinking the only way we will win again is if we get relegated:)

 

[HelloCity]

I think it won't be as clear cut as some hope.

I think it will be like the APT case. the PL 'win' on some matters and City on others.

Then comes the arguing on who actually 'won'

I get that the club is confident, and the likes of @tolmie's hairdoo tell us in good faith about their confidence behind the scenes, but that doesn't mean much really.

Think it will be quite messy.

So you think it will be like the ending of the 1994 Royal Rumble?

 

[halfcenturyup]

I think it won't be as clear cut as some hope.

I think it will be like the APT case. the PL 'win' on some matters and City on others.

Then comes the arguing on who actually 'won'

I get that the club is confident, and the likes of @tolmie's hairdoo tell us in good faith about their confidence behind the scenes, but that doesn't mean much really.

Think it will be quite messy.

Not sure how it can be like the APT case.

The core PL argument is that the club fraudulently manipulated its accounts to such an extent that the auditors were deceived and the club gained a sporting advantage. The detailed allegations depend to a great extent on whether they can prove that. If they can't, most of the 115 fall away.

I think one or other of the parties will be a big "winner". Most likely City, imho.

 

[Scaring Europe to Death]

Do you ever say anything positive?
Seriously beginning to see you as a wum mate.

Only time will tell but I fear that his last paragraph might already be happening.

We prefer to believe that we used the 115 charges as motivation for the treble, but in reality our subsequent transfer windows have been relatively poor.

Our PR should have been far more robust but instead we've allowed the media to encourage this assumption of guilt.
How do we know that this isn't a major reason for players not wanting to join?

 

[halfcenturyup]

@petrusha said: “Nonetheless, the essential dichotomy that I discussed at the outset still remains. City's confidence about having irrefutable evidence and the entirely reasonable assumption that the PL wouldn't have accused the club in this way without being confident of having a strong case are mutually exclusive. Something doesn't add up.”
The only way I can see to square this circle is if the redshirts pushed the PL to a point where the league could no longer resist and this was the only way to get them off their backs. We know, for example that the redshirts kept up a non stop barrage of letters emails and phone calls on this subject (Martin Samuel).
The other explanation doesn’t bear thinking about.

That is a circle that takes some squaring, but I am not that surprised the PL ended their investigation with a list of unanswered allegations (I have done that myself many times: this is as far as we can go, this is the list of unanswered issues and possible breaches, do we proceed?). What surprises me more is that they went to the disciplinary process with all the allegations.

Let me explain.

Their investigation reached the point where they had gone as far as they could with the accounting records and supporting documentation available at the club. They needed external information to conclude on each of the matters but the club refused access, or claimed that the third parties refused access. I have previously given my thoughts on why the club would take that approach.

So the PL had to either drop the case for a lack of evidence or proceed with the allegations in the disciplinary process. This would be a wholly unsatisfactory position for the PL because they knew evidence was provided to CAS that they didn't have access to. Evidence that would have clarified some of the issues. So what could they do? Dropping the case would set a terrible precedent on cooperation. Continuing the case would likely lead to defeat when the counter-evidence was presented. In the end, though, I am not surprised they decided to refer the club to the disciplinary process.

But the question of what gets referred is where pressure from the cartel comes in. The investigation may have had 115 unanswered issues but, basically, there is one, single issue that could have been referred, two including non-cooperation. There was no need to refer to all 115 as separate allegations because almost all are either immaterial or consequential to the main allegation. In whose interest is it to have as much coverage given to all the allegations? And who is too weak to stand up against it?

Anyway, just my thoughts :)

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Not sure how it can be like the APT case.

The core PL argument is that the club fraudulently manipulated its accounts to such an extent that the auditors were deceived and the club gained a sporting advantage. The detailed allegations depend to a great extent on whether they can prove that. If they can't, most of the 115 fall away.

I think one or other of the parties will be a big "winner". Most likely City, imho.

Balance of probabilities isn’t it. Dont have to prove it I don’t think. I may be wrong.

 

[tommy116]

Win or lose we already lost . The damage to our reputation is written and no exoneration will re write it.
We now see on the pitch the reality of what this organised attempt to destroy our club in real time.

Come on, a month ago City were on track to break the unbeaten record and everything was going OK, it's a bad run, every team goes through it. What's different is that off the field City have the right people in charge to fix it and the fans in the stands who understand what has to be done, now demos or boos here, it will come good.