PL charge City for alleged breaches of financial rules

[eastmanc]

It amazes me how many people start these posts with “I’m not normally a Conspiracy Theorist”.

Imho if you’re not a conspiracy theorist, you’re not paying attention. The term conspiracy theorist was introduced by the CIA to describe anybody who challenged the official version on the Kennedy assassination. Now if you still believe Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy as a lone assassin and was then conveniently shot himself shortly after, given the welter of info out there, I’d like to treat your drive for Covid. £2k, mates rates.

Don’t vilify the conspiracy theorists. They keep things right. Even if they’re wrong.

I’m not one, obviously. Freaks.

I thought Jack Ruby shot him.

 

[Blue_eyes]

Clearly the 115 narrative was a PR stunt, but references to 'charges' or 'prosecution' or whatever are simply a convenient shorthand for referring to what's happening here. That involves a body instituting disciplinary proceedings against a member as a result of the latter's alleged large-scale breaches of the body's rules. It's asking a tribunal to confirm the fact of the breaches and impose a suitable punishment where the breaches are upheld.

The PL leadership are interested in causing as much damage to City as they possibly can, including ideally (from their point of view) by achieving an outcome that finishes the club once and for all as a major player in the English game. Egged on by the most powerful member clubs, who hold a disproportionate sway in these matters, they've conducted a fishing expedition of an investigation and seem to have approached the 'charging' aspect in the spirit of throwing as much shit as possible, which will not only damage the club's reputation but might also - you never know - see some of it stick and justify strict sanctions.

Based on what's in the public domain, we may not think they have an especially strong prospect of success. However, people with much greater knowledge than I say there's never a completely sure thing in litigation. And the pedigree (and cost) of the legal representation they've engaged and the length of the hearing both suggest that they're giving it as good a go as they can. I think the PL's conduct is invidious, but there you go.

A fantastic and straight forward summation, and the way that I see this whole fiasco too(if a little conspiratorial).

They must be trying very hard to destroy us when considering the costs, would be interesting to know for sure who is paying their legal bills, and whether any of our fellow member clubs have a financial input or some other form of collusion in the background.

I am confident though, in our ownership, and trust that we have knowledge enough to successfully defend our position and do some revealing of "shady dealings" after we are cleared of all but a non cooperation charge.

Sadly, their efforts have had some success because even before the outcome is known, the whole affair has sullied our club in the eyes of all but those who can be bothered to do their own research.

Still, "judgement day" is gonna be epic if we are cleared of all the financial wrongdoing charges......bring it on.

 

[burning blue soul]

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Interesting...

 

[Micky Blue]

I think the guy is pretty reliable - well someone's now posted his name in the public domain! - but I think it could be a wires crossed scenario where it might be what the PL are pushing for and he's taken that quite literally as being the punishment

Ahh ok, appreciate you coming back.
Think I know who it is now.

Let’s just hope he’s wrong.

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

It amazes me how many people start these posts with “I’m not normally a Conspiracy Theorist”.

Imho if you’re not a conspiracy theorist, you’re not paying attention. The term conspiracy theorist was introduced by the CIA to describe anybody who challenged the official version on the Kennedy assassination. Now if you still believe Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy as a lone assassin and was then conveniently shot himself shortly after, given the welter of info out there, I’d like to treat your drive for Covid. £2k, mates rates.

I do, absolutely

 

[silva_is_gold]

I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, it's true. I just see a lot of factors at play here that point in such a direction.

I recall that it was widely reported that Masters was interviewed by Manchester United and Liverpool before taking his current job.

Martin Samuel, among others, has reported that those clubs have been two of the most virulent of the several that have been pressuring the PL over many years to investigate and then take action against City.

Executives from rival clubs certainly aren't shy of giving anonymous briefings to select favoured journalists about the swingeing, extravagant and unprecedented punishments they'd like to see applied in this case. Many of those thus mooted would be catastrophic for City in terms of maintaining a place among the English game's leading clubs.

Having conducted an investigation into City over a period of several years with wide powers to demand documents and information from the club, the PL will definitely have far more evidence at its disposal than did UEFA during its disciplinary case against MCFC,

Masters and the rest of the PL leadership are fighting for their professional lives, as perceived failure in this case would almost certainly see them lose office. They have nothing to lose by fighting this case as hard as they possibly can.

All those factors suggest only one thing to me, which is that these proceedings involve the PL trying to hammer City and the club is fighting if not for survival then at least to avoid consequences that could be disastrous.

The feeling within the game is overwhelmingly hostile to City, though we perhaps have more allies than we once did. IMO the general sentiment is that we must have cheated somehow to have made the progress we've shown under Mansour.

The traditional top clubs hate us for coming along and hoovering trophies that they think should be theirs by rights. They'd love to see a really draconian punishment, obviously.

However, they also seem to have persuaded other clubs that we're cheats, so any such penalty would be deserved while it's also just for us to be regarded as a pariah.

This is despite the fact that the PL has dredged back years to find matters to accuse us of. FFS, the formal accusations came in 2023 and some relate to a circumstances in place in a season that began not in the previous decade but the one before that.

No one seems interested in the fact that the most serious accusation reported relates to a sponsorship contract under which the club has been proven to have supplied the services in question, the services were paid for and UEFA's experts deemed the arrangement to be at a fair value.

IF ADUG funnelled cash into MCFC by disguised equity contributions by paying the sponsorship fees under the above contract, that deprived the club of the right to obtain revenue by seeking a different shirt sponsor as well as other naming rights partners for the stadium and training ground, meaning we were barely up on the deal if at all.

No one will tell you this. No, all you'll read about is how City vastly inflated sponsorship deals to help money flow into the club. UEFA, acting in the utmost bad faith and having decided that the scenario had occurred, regarded it as meriting a two-season ban from their competitions.

The PL, meanwhile, having introduced APT rules that clearly have a potential to affect City adversely, has also shown malice and perfidy at every turn, deliberately delaying its responses to City's application for consent and withholding the rationale for its decision.

Both UEFA and the PL have leaked like the proverbial sieves, channelling information detrimental to MCFC to client journalists who've relished the opportunity to act as opinion leaders with regard to the club.

I could go on as there's more to say, but I still have work to do and it's already getting late where I am. But a conspiracy? Yes, absolutely.

The football authorities have acted both venally and amateurishly with regard to MCFC matters, incited by rival clubs acting in accordance with their own naked self-interest and backed by vacuous cheerleading from most in the media. All of them have been in it together (and I despise them for it).

If we could get to the other side of this 115 case with no serious sanction or stain on our reputation in the eyes of erudite and discerning observers, it'd be epic.

Some say our club will remain tarnished in the eyes of others even with a positive outcome. I beg to differ. Many people may take such a view but none will whose opinion deserves our respect.

We'd have a fantastic story to tell: they came for us and tried to destroy us, but we were too smart for them and they weren't half as clever as they thought. I do hope that those at the top of the club would be up for that PR battle.

Top post mate!

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

I can't believe @M18CTID hasn't deleted that post yet.

 

[Matt Diablo]

Fukin he'll it doin me ed in ;)

Haha you know it. This shit has got to stop one day enough shit to deal with life as it is!

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

It amazes me how many people start these posts with “I’m not normally a Conspiracy Theorist”.

Imho if you’re not a conspiracy theorist, you’re not paying attention. The term conspiracy theorist was introduced by the CIA to describe anybody who challenged the official version on the Kennedy assassination. Now if you still believe Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy as a lone assassin and was then conveniently shot himself shortly after, given the welter of info out there, I’d like to treat your drive for Covid. £2k, mates rates.

Don’t vilify the conspiracy theorists. They keep things right. Even if they’re wrong.

I’m not one, obviously. Freaks.

Me and Mrs Mars were watching some shite Netflix thing about aliens the other night and there was a bit in it about a secret underwater alien base off the coast of Mexico. Proper wacky X-Files Halloween special type stuff but good light entertainment.

I actually said to her, remember when conspiracy theories used to be fun and harmless? Aliens, Area 51, the Bermuda Triangle, Elvis being alive, even the Illuminati and JFK and shit. The stuff of fantasy but for the most part a bit of fun.

Now they're all really nasty and damaging - whack job nutters banging on about vaccines and "15 minute cities" and Hillary Clinton drinking kids blood in a pizza parlour etc.

With social media we've lost the innocence of a good old fashioned conspiracy theory.

 

[paulchapo]

It's over, we're guilty, relegated! I'm just trying to decide which shirt do I wear now? Liverpool, Chelsea, the Rags, Arsenal or Newcastle? Mmmmm decisions.....