I was told by a source that football journalists at both The Guardian and The Telegraph got memos telling them what position to take on Project Restart. It's not therefore beyond the bounds of possibility that Conn took one line then was told to do a volte face.
The Guardian is the first UK national paper that I can find anything by McGeehan and Conn was the first one to quote McGeehan linking the UAE, human rights and us. Here's some interesting stuff on McGeehan, that questions just how even-handed he is when it comes to his views on the UAE and Qatar, both of which he was supposed to be monitoring for Human Rights Watch.
https://blinkeredcrackpots.wordpress.com/2020/05/17/the-man-behind-the-men-behind-manchester-city/