PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

[malg]

I'm lost in all of this now. No fucking idea what's going on. The only people in work who even mention it are two of the arrogant Rag types - the ones who don't go to games and supported them through Uni when they were successful. You could genuinely describe them as bitters. However, they're the ones who are very, very, very easy to wind up, so I quite enjoy it when they decide to interact about footie.

 

[halfcenturyup]

Does he actually mention anywhere in his piece the (very high) possibility that we will be cleared … and what will happen then

No. Nor does he set out on what basis the whole football family has decided City are guilty, so it means fuck all.

He does, however, mention that the feeling is that compensation claims won't work. Again, unsourced, though.

And he raises an important point about how the APT case can set the scene for the 115 case. But, again, as you can imagine, unsourced.

 

[eastmanc]

I’ve seen Ornstein try and provide balance a few times. He could go further but always says City claim they have irrefutable evidence.

I think it’s becoming clear to most of the media even Goldbridge was saying all City fans are calm about it.

Ornstein is as big a **** as the rest if them.

 

[manimanc]

Fearing the worst. Hoping for the best.

Why?
Don't you see the bigger picture? This is exactly what the press and the media want, us being fearful and outraged at the alleged charges.

Have you heard of fraud? Do you know what happens when companies or businesses commit fraud? They get raided. Their chairmen and associates get arrested. Items get seized. Premises get shut down. It's headline news.

Have you seen any of that? Nope, me neither. Now in order for us to commit these crimes and keep quiet we've had to tell all of our sponsors to be in on it, we're asking them to jeopardise their name and their reputation. That's one big ask.
Absolutely nothing will come of this except that tosser masters and the usual anti city media wankers looking like prize plums come the end of it.

 

[oldius]

I am fascinated that Masters still feels the authority to comment when the matter is with the independent panel. By this stage, IMO, he should be keeping his mouth firmly closed so as not to prejudice either the details of the case, nor the speed of the process.

As for what is happening, we will know soon enough.
Good luck for the season ahead. Safe travels to all supporters.

 

[cheekybids]

Ornstein is as big a **** as the rest if them.

No doubt

 

[RACHACE]

If & i still think it's a big if, we are exonerated, the abuse will get even worse.
The gnashing of teeth & pure venom will be a sight to behold, we aint seen nothing yet

I'm looking forward to it. All the rag petals I know claim that we're not relevant and are easily ignored.

Yet, when the smear campaign goes up in gears, its pretty obvious that they think of City all the time. Rent free.

 

[bigA]

If the PL were confident of getting a conviction with the evidence they purportedly have to hand then surely they would have swiftly held their investigation and punished the club years ago. Instead it looks like their evidence is built like a flimsy house of cards and they are praying the whole thing doesn't collapse before their very eyes. They have to prove beyond reasonable doubt any or all of the charges they have proffered to the commission. All we have to do it show any evidence that casts doubt on any or all of the charges and I'm quietly confident we can do so.

However, with them bringing the case forward to September they have either found (or god forbid fabricated or manipulated) some more evidence or, as is more than likely, pandered to the red top cartel and their tagnut, sycophant clubs to allow them to sue the club before the statue of limitations prevents them doing so. They are now hoping not only for the club to be ruined on the field but financially ruined as well. A massive gamble on their part which, if it backfires and we are exonerated, will no doubt result in unprecedented and irrepairable financial and reputational damage to the PL and those clubs who tried to sue us. I still think the PL are looking to broker a deal to save face but we have had mire than enough of all their whining, insinuations and allegations that we are determined to clear our name.

 

[homerdog]

What annoys me most about the media with regard to this, is that they have projected their own sense of rage at our success onto us fans.

It's as though somehow we deserve to have insults and allegations thrown at us simply for supporting our club and believing that we are innocent until proven otherwise.

The only conclusion I can reach, is that they are so bitter and twisted that any journalistic integrity has gone out of the window, such is the desire to justify their own clubs' lack of success, when compared to us.

 

[Rory Bluelow]

Absolute fucking hatchet job thinly disguised as journalism on The Athletic tonight!

Manchester City, the Premier League and the season everything might change

A few excerpts:

There are some (executives) who are so worn down by the decade-long pursuit of City that they fear Manchester City’s case may result in a financial settlement rather than a sporting penalty. Then there are rival executives who consider this outcome to be impossible, utterly outrageous, and say it would cast the death knell for financial sustainability not only within the English game but across European football.

…

As one Premier League club executive says: “The collective view I’ve heard is that an appropriate sanction would have to be a points deduction so substantial — we are talking here between 70 and 80 points — that it guarantees City a season in the Championship.”

Another of the sport’s leading figures suggests the punishment ought to be more creative, that a number of points could be deducted from City in each of the next three seasons, meaning the club’s chance of Champions League qualification would be severely restricted. Another compares the City case to that of the English rugby union side Saracens who, when Premiership champions in 2019, were deducted 35 points, hit with a £5.36million ($6.9m at current rates) fine and relegated to the second division owing to non-compliance with the league’s salary-cap rules.

…

A coach who came up against City has simply made his mind up about their guilt and argues they have not achieved their success with the same level of discipline as their rivals, but suspects it is too late now to truly remedy the matter. At the same time, there are fears that a failure to convict and punish City poses major questions about the Premier League’s ability to run itself, particularly with the prospect of an independent regulator still looming next year. Numerous club executives say their incentives to follow the rules would be greatly diminished if the Premier League proves toothless on City.

…

In English football, nobody is prepared to put their name to quotes about the City case. That is not the same for La Liga president Javier Tebas, who has been a longstanding critic of the impact of clubs linked to nation-states. City always insist they are not owned by the state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the deputy prime minister of the UAE and the minister of presidential affairs. He is the majority shareholder in City via Newton Investment and Development, a company he wholly owns and which is registered in Abu Dhabi.

Tebas tells The Athletic: “It is difficult for me to say what is proportionate in England because I don’t know so well the English rules and law. But I can refer to what happened at UEFA… then what happened at CAS — in a resolution I would describe as a joke — is they took the sanction away. It was a very controversial decision to take away that sanction. Now, let’s see, I won’t dare to predict, but I am aware that there is a lot of concern among many clubs in the Premier League about what happens with City. What happens with Man City is a before and after moment for the Premier League itself.”

…

And so on…

Anyone would think the Euros are over, the Olympics are over, and City are about to embark on the chance to win a FIFTH STRAIGHT TITLE!!!

UFB…Oh wait, no, it’s entirely predictable!

If you thought the whole of English football was praying for an Arsenal title win last season, one can only imagine the narrative we face this season.

Let the games begin!

So the Athletic have some unattributed vitriol from an ‘executive’ from a less successful rival club (note not a Chairman or CEO) a “leading figure” (pundit no doubt) an ex-PL coach (who came up against City) and fucking Tebas.

Desperate stuff.