Manchester City offer the other 19 clubs just two ways out of the current mess

 

 

• Why is it that so many newspaper stories about Arsenal turn out to be untrue
• The Premier League is now teetering on the edge, but there is still a way out

By Tony Attwood

Here are the comments and ratings from the Guardian on the two Arsenal players, playing for England against Greece.

“Declan Rice Forced to deal with too many runners because of England playing playing too many attacking players. Overwhelmed on a confusing night. 4/10

Bukayo Saka Unable to get into the game and run at Dimitris Giannoulis. Arsenal fans will be fretting about their winger limping off. 5/10

And really, not for the first time one begins to wonder why players play these games.  For the glory?  For the money?   Both seem unlikely.   But they do it, and run the risk of not only getting bad reviews like those above, but also of picking up an injury and wrecking Arsenal’s chances of winning a trophy this season.

Yet of course the media don’t go into that.  They cover international matches without any mention of the notion that internationals might be damaging to clubs and players.

It’s a similar situation with the ManC case.  It would see the Guardian is trying to dig under the surface with its article, “Is Manchester City’s rage against the machine more a posture than a plan?” which suggests (I think for the first time) that ManC don’t actually have a well-thought out plan for the overthrow of English football and the rebuilding it in the image of ManC, but actually are just posturing.

As for why ManC might be behaving as they do, without having an underlying plan, that is explained in the sub-headling, “Club’s relentless railing against organisations that challenge them helps rally fans but do they really have an alternative?”

ManC has stated, “There remain significant unresolved matters raised by Manchester City FC as part of what the Club has found to be a wholly unsatisfactory, curtailed and hostile process.”    And yes I suppose in their eyes they are unresolved, largely because they refrain from remembering that the case in which they took on Uefa, was only won because Uefa was judged by the Court for Arbitration in Sport to have left it too late to bring their case.

What was never asked by the media at the time (or any time since) was how on earth could Uefa be so stupid as to allow themselves to run out of time?   The only answers possible seem to be a) ManC refused to release vital evidence in the case, knowing that if Uefa didn’t present the case in time, Uefa would lose, b) Uefa had, for some reason we can imagine but can’t say in print, no interest in actually beating ManC, or c) Uefa were grossly incompetent.  Choose as many of those as you wish.

The media of course refused to investigate those options, and so ManC was found … well neither guilty nor not guilty, since the case was out of time. 

But now to be back in the dock again seems at least to be a case of carelessness by Manc, carelessness which comes perhaps from a total belief in the righteousness of one’s case.  And it raises the question, where do you go after that?

Now of course, we know.  The club goes on the attack against any authorities that get in its way, and appeals to the rest of the League to support its “just cause”..

So what we have now, according to the Guardian report is ManC writing to all the other clubs in the Premier League telling them “not to trust the organisation’s word”.   The “organisation” being the Premier League – of which the other 19 clubs are all members!  And they should not be trusted because their summary of the case against ManC was “misleading and contained several inaccuracies”.

Following this, the view is formed that the new direction the League is taking is “unwise” and is likely to lead to further legal proceedings [presumably initiated by ManC] and more legal costs [which it is implied the clubs might feel to be an unreasonable drain on their finances.]

And this would be because…. well because ManC seem to be saying that any more action by anyone against ManC will lead to court, and the club will go on and on and on complaining and appealing until the rest of the clubs and the League runs out of money, and there is only ManC left.

It is also reported that ManC’s chief lawyer, Simon Cliff, has suggested that “it is critical for member clubs to feel that they can have trust in their regulator.”

That is obviously true, but it is not going to happen under the current circumstances.  For if the Regulator is one ManC likes, then it is unlikely the rest of the League will feel happy.  And of course vice-versa.

The only way out of this is for ManC to leave the League and set up its own League which it can win regularly, or for the rest of the League to leave and set up their own new League without ManC, rather as the clubs did when they left the Football League to form the Premier League.   They did it then and can do it again now.

Either way ManC can be left happy for they can be in a league they will always win.