UEFA FFP investigation - CAS decision to be announced Monday, 13th July 9.30am BST

[petrusha]

Have to say, I think there's a lot of very high-quality stuff on The Athletic that you wouldn't get elsewhere and I'm happy to keep going with my subscription. I think Sam Lee isn't bad as a City reporter, but you can tell he doesn't have the passion for the club he's covering that many of their club correspondents have who are fans of their dedicated teams. This piece, however, is a bit disappointing, even if thme news it purports to break is welcome if true.

I'd single out this line:

According to Der Spiegel, City had lied about the true source of millions of pounds’ worth of sponsorship income and hidden various costs that should have been factored into their FFP calculation.​

The whole point is that Der Spiegel strongly pursued the line that the above was the truth but the evidence presented in support of that proposition was ambiguous and fell a long way short of meeting any standard of proof based on which meaningful sanctions could be applied to City. That doesn't necessarily mean that evidence meeting the required standrad of proof doesn't exist, but one would presume that Der Spiegel would have printed it if they had any.

So if UEFA have been relying on the Der Spiegel materials alone, they were always going to find it difficult to make a hard punishment stick. If, in covering this issue, The Athletic were to produce reporting that lives up to their own billing of their outlet, that would have been made clear in the article. That it hasn't been is shoddy.

 

[richards30]

Looks like we’ll fine out for certain today what the outcome is:

how does this guy always get news first?

 

[Magicpole]

Good question!
I suspect that it has absolutely nothing to do with the respective colours, religions, or knowledge of how to do the ‘proper’ handshake, of the owners.

The daily record/ranger up here yesterday were peddling a bullshit story that HMRC had made a mistake and that caused them to die.

HMRC in an unusual step made a statement saying no we did not.

I have heard a rumour that UEFA are looking at their continuing losses which seem to contradict their FFP stance. I can't understand why they are allowed to continue to spend money out with what they generate. If anybody could shed light on that I would be grateful.

 

[Rochdale Blue]

Have to say, I think there's a lot of very high-quality stuff on The Athletic that you wouldn't get elsewhere and I'm happy to keep going with my subscription. I think Sam Lee isn't bad as a City reporter, but you can tell he doesn't have the passion for the club he's covering that many of their club correspondents have who are fans of their dedicated teams. This piece, however, is a bit disappointing, even if thme news it purports to break is welcome if true.

I'd single out this line:

According to Der Spiegel, City had lied about the true source of millions of pounds’ worth of sponsorship income and hidden various costs that should have been factored into their FFP calculation.​

The whole point is that Der Spiegel strongly pursued the line that the above was the truth but the evidence presented in support of that proposition was ambiguous and fell a long way short of meeting any standard of proof based on which meaningful sanctions could be applied to City. That doesn't necessarily mean that evidence meeting the required standrad of proof doesn't exist, but one would presume that Der Spiegel would have printed it if they had any.

So if UEFA have been relying on the Der Spiegel materials alone, they were always going to find it difficult to make a hard punishment stick. If, in covering this issue, The Athletic were to produce reporting that lives up to their own billing of their outlet, that would have been made clear in the article. That it hasn't been is shoddy.

Someone called Matt Slater is jointly responsible for the article and was replying to the invading scouse hordes last night. Have you any idea who he writes for or supports?

 

[M18CTID]

how does this guy always get news first?

Makes you wonder doesn't it? To be fair, on this occasion Sam Lee seems to have broken the story first but put a much longer timeline on when an announcement would be made

I know Tariq Panja has come in for a lot of stick from our fans but all I've really seen from him is him breaking stories that have been leaked to him which is what any journalist would do. Unless I'm mistaken, I've not seen him go down the route of Castles/McKenna/Delaney/Harris x 2/Syed, etc, and announce to the world that the club is guilty

 

[MillionMilesAway]

Someone called Matt Slater is jointly responsible for the article and was replying to the invading scouse hordes last night. Have you any idea who he writes for or supports?

That's @mjshrimper? I'd guess Southend - his facebook page has a picture of their ground.

Was quite senior at the Press Association, and I've seen his stuff in various places.

 

[Ric]

how does this guy always get news first?

Dunno, but the fact he’s not gleefully predicting a bad outcome for us has to be a positive sign.

 

[Rochdale Blue]

That's @mjshrimper? I'd guess Southend - his facebook page has a picture of their ground.

Was quite senior at the Press Association, and I've seen his stuff in various places.

Thanks.

 

[MillionMilesAway]

Makes you wonder doesn't it? To be fair, on this occasion Sam Lee seems to have broken the story first but put a much longer timeline on when an announcement would be made

I know Tariq Panja has come in for a lot of stick from our fans but all I've really seen from him is him breaking stories that have been leaked to him which is what any journalist would do. Unless I'm mistaken, I've not seen him go down the route of Castles/McKenna/Delaney/Harris x 2/Syed, etc, and announce to the world that the club is guilty

Yeah, being first may just mean that he's quite good at his job.

 

[dickie davies]

how does this guy always get news first?

Same one who tweeted that we were definitely getting a ban

 

[M18CTID]

Yeah, being first may just mean that he's quite good at his job.

Just remembered that he did make a dick of himself when leaking the story months ago - something about criticising City for not being contactable then backtracking and saying they referred him to a previous club statement, or something along those lines, but apart from that he's not made the same accusations against our club that the rest of the **** Avengers have!

 

[petrusha]

That's @mjshrimper? I'd guess Southend - his facebook page has a picture of their ground.

Was quite senior at the Press Association, and I've seen his stuff in various places.

Yes, he joined The Athletic from PA and was at the BBC before that. Evidently a Southend fan. I have to say, I haven't really noticed - for good or for bad - his coverage of us before.

 

[MillionMilesAway]

Just remembered that he did make a dick of himself when leaking the story months ago - something about criticising City for not being contactable then backtracking and saying they referred him to a previous club statement, or something along those lines, but apart from that he's not made the same accusations against our club that the rest of the **** Avengers have!

Everyone makes mistakes, but if they correct them, then one shouldn't be held against them. I don't recall him going OTT either.

He can only report what he finds out/is told, and if it's clear that the words are from the source, not his, then he's just being a journalist. A bit like Sam Lee's comments yesterday, and Ziegler several times.

 

[MillionMilesAway]

Yes, he joined The Athletic from PA and was at the BBC before that. Evidently a Southend fan. I have to say, I haven't really noticed - for good or for bad - his coverage of us before.

He writes about lots of sports - been in the i semi-regularly, often about cycling/drugs from memory, but mostly as commentary/analysis rather than coal-face news reporting.

I don't recall much about City from him either.

 

[dickie davies]

Makes you wonder doesn't it? To be fair, on this occasion Sam Lee seems to have broken the story first but put a much longer timeline on when an announcement would be made

I know Tariq Panja has come in for a lot of stick from our fans but all I've really seen from him is him breaking stories that have been leaked to him which is what any journalist would do. Unless I'm mistaken, I've not seen him go down the route of Castles/McKenna/Delaney/Harris x 2/Syed, etc, and announce to the world that the club is guilty

 

[petrusha]

See this Twitter thread from a few hours ago by the estimable @City_rabin before making a judgement about Tariq Panja - who, IIRC, once worked for the MEN and has close ties to David Gill (think @tolmie's hairdoo has posted on this before.

Anyway, the start of Rabin's thread:

 

[MillionMilesAway]

I don't see a problem with that headline, assuming it's Panja's own.

It's entirely possible that investigators DID want to boot City. It isn't necessarily his opinion being put forward. If he's said that he thinks it should be done, it would come down to how it was worded.

 

[M18CTID]

He was reporting UEFA's stance at the time mate, not his own opinion. Big difference. Of course, he himself might want us banned too but he's steered clear of airing his own opinion in the public domain unlike some of the other fuckwits.

 

[M18CTID]

See this Twitter thread from a few hours ago by the estimable @City_rabin before making a judgement about Tariq Panja - who, IIRC, once worked for the MEN and has close ties to David Gill (think @tolmie's hairdoo has posted on this before.

Anyway, the start of Rabin's thread:

I take back all I've just said - TPIAC!

 

[MillionMilesAway]

See this Twitter thread from a few hours ago by the estimable @City_rabin before making a judgement about Tariq Panja - who, IIRC, once worked for the MEN and has close ties to David Gill (think @tolmie's hairdoo has posted on this before.

Anyway, the start of Rabin's thread:

Blimey, some of those just seem like re-tweet anything and everything (retweeting Ogden is a clear sign of a diseased mind).

I take some of my comments on him back!