Poll | Our involvement in proposed Super League (TSL)

[bluemoon32]

I don't believe all the sabotage and we played them all line.
I think we'll play along with that idea but without coming out and saying anything.
It suits us if that idea is looked on as true, even if in my opinion it's not.

 

[Coatigan]

There's enough circumstantial evidence to make the argument we knew what we were doing all along.
Still seems a stretch to me but a couple of days ago I laughed at the thought of this being a masterclass, today I'm not so sure.

Exactly. Now the peices have landed, they show parts of a picture that just wasnt at all there before.

And if they don't, doesn't matter, take them, and build them skywards!

 

[Levyblue]

I went for cock up on the ill-judged front

 

[mrbelfry]

It seems like the decision was kept to a very limited number of people. I'd be interested to know who at City heard the proposal and accepted.

I think the ESL massively over played their hand and we were suckered in. When Perez opened his mouth and substance failed to materialise along with the protests we quickly saw it as a balls up then by Monday morning we were working to be out.

It seems clear there was a bit of rebellion in the club ie the social media posts so looks like everyone on staff thought we were invested but i wouldn't expect Soriono is calling a whole staff meeting Monday morning saying we are trying to get out. He is busy getting us out and squaring uefa. this fog of war could explain the mixed messages ie players told to unlike posts on our own social media.

So in summary we were reluctantly in, the golden egg was revealed to be chocolate inside, we got out sharp and kept uefa in the loop.

 

[supercity88]

I've read through the arguments that suggest we were always looking to duck out and it's been a masterstroke... it's an interesting thought. I think the fallout was obvious. Any new proposal that removes competition was going to go down like a lead balloon. So City will have known that us fans, and those of rivals would be against it. Did they meet and strategise? Perhaps... The only people truly offended or with any long-lasting bitterness to the club are those that have no real control over the key decisions which impact the business on a day to day basis. But, if by leaving so early, and clearly being a reluctant player, we've enhanced our reputation with UEFA then that's not a bad thing. And the real plus is that the others have harmed their positions.

The only issue I see in all of this, is what was the point in us being involved? Did we really have to? Bayern/PSG come off more glowingly because they didn't sign up to it. Have we won more brownie points by "bringing it down" than we would have by announcing that we're unwilling to sign up to it ahead of the event, to prevent it getting off the ground?

The only reason we'd sign up to it is surely because we wanted to be part of it, should it be successful, in my opinion. I reckon the club said "if this goes sour, let's get out first" and made sure that we were always seen to be against it/not fully onboard. But I think we'd have been more than happy for it to become something and for us to have a seat and access to all of that added revenue being mentioned.

Finally, even if we might have a better relationship with UEFA now, to think the history boys are screwed is illogical. They still hold all the power. Perez running his mouth off about this new competition is not going to see Real Madrid kicked out. They're the most successful side in its history and they're untouchable. All Real will do is negotiate so that the super league only dies if UEFA ensure teams get more of the TV revenue based on the number of titles they've won or some such detail to protect them.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

There's no master stroke LOL. Its ended up with Qataris in charge of the ECA, City name being tarnished, and no way that ANY owner imagined the backlash we've seen from the fans causing the collapse

given the facts it seems we have thrown our lot into it reluctantly because we dont want to miss out, then we've realised (Like many fans did here before the ESL collapse) that if we withdraw asap we will come out unscathed to a degree.

Our owners have played a very tricky situation very well

 

[cucumberman]

So while you sit back and wonder why
I got this fuckin' thorn in my side
Oh my god, it's a mirage
I'm telling y'all, it's sabotage

Big Beastie Boys fans can't help to derail a bit, but this is my favourite cover of Sabotage



These guys would have been the better choice for the Beastie Boys hall of fame induction

back to the thread..

 

[cucumberman]

The only issue I see in all of this, is what was the point in us being involved? Did we really have to? Bayern/PSG come off more glowingly because they didn't sign up to it. Have we won more brownie points by "bringing it down" than we would have by announcing that we're unwilling to sign up to it ahead of the event, to prevent it getting off the ground?

Assuming we were going for the masterstroke. My far fetched theory, based on what has been pointed out here that 15 PL members are needed to vote clubs off the league, we would have to be that 6th team. The invite gave us that opportunity to decimate the plan, because if we didn't take the offer, somebody else from the 14 left will. That would mean the ESL will still take place, we will be out of the cartel, and fans might rue the chance of us not taking the offer in hindsight.

So we took the invite, reluctantly, so that we can prevent the above. Also taking the pinch of us supporters throwing a strop, hoping that we will mellow in time to what we now lead to believe the worst decision the club has ever made. And they are ok with that, because its the best interest of the club to have a voice in the ESL, which is to shut it down.

Makes a great plot.

 

[M18CTID]

The Joel Glazer quote in our announcement supports this theory, and the more I think about it the more I think it was an opportunity taken to damage our enemies whilst taking minimal collateral damage. The attitude of Ceferin and Perez support this, as do the lack of any overt support from our board even on our own announcement of our intention to join. The biggest losers in this are Madrid, Barca, Juve, United and Liverpool. PSG and Bayern are the clear winners with ourselves and Chelsea coming out ok. UEFA was never our real enemy, it was the clubs pulling their strings. Those strings are now broken largely thanks to us, and Ceferin is delighted.

I'd like to believe this - as would all City fans of course - and a hell of a lot of what you've posted makes sense. I guess we'll never find out if this was the case as it would leave us open to legal action from those we're perceived to have damaged (although I suppose it could come out years down the line). And of course, if Ceferin is in on it then that goes for him and UEFA too. His gushing praise of City which I don't think he has repeated about any of the other clubs definitely has a whiff about it. If UEFA are serious about handing some sort of punishment out then City will need to be one of those sanctioned to keep up the facade that it wasn't a City/Ceferin plot but they could justify giving us a lighter punishment than the others as we were the first to officially pull out.

It's one thing Perez saying we scuppered it and for now I've gone for "ill-judged cock-up" as I'd like to see more evidence, but I think if others like Liverpool and United start crying to the press that we've effectively stitched them up then we'll know that that was probably the plan after all!

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

When we have a place on the board and can put the rags , dippers and all the other cunts who have conspired against us up against the wall of a firing squad , it will all be a wothwhile tense few days.

Mr Gill, would you kindly step up please ?

Mr Gill would you kindly step down, would be more appropriate.