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By Tony Attwood
Below is the full league table, and it is a result that will give Arsenal ever more belief that given the way things are going, Arsenal are going to continue their fine form.
Although there is of course, one caveat I have to include, and that is the ** which reminds us that the table is subject to appropriate punishment from the authorities for 115 breaches of the rules,
And if I might add, you might care to look at the bottom of the table and consider the actual position that the Mancs might be in after an appropriate punishment will be given.
|
Club
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
19
|
7
|
12
|
21
|
|
|
7
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
11
|
5
|
6
|
18
|
|
|
7
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
23
|
5
|
18
|
16
|
|
|
7
|
4
|
1
|
2
|
17
|
13
|
4
|
13
|
|
|
7
|
3
|
3
|
1
|
9
|
8
|
1
|
12
|
|
|
7
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
13
|
8
|
5
|
10
|
|
|
7
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
9
|
6
|
3
|
10
|
|
|
7
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
8
|
7
|
1
|
10
|
|
|
7
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
8
|
7
|
1
|
9
|
|
|
7
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
11
|
15
|
-4
|
9
|
|
|
7
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
10
|
14
|
-4
|
8
|
|
|
7
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
7
|
11
|
-4
|
8
|
|
|
7
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
10
|
10
|
0
|
7
|
|
|
7
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
9
|
17
|
-8
|
7
|
|
|
7
|
1
|
3
|
3
|
9
|
13
|
-4
|
6
|
|
|
6
|
2
|
0
|
4
|
5
|
11
|
-6
|
6
|
|
|
7
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
7
|
10
|
-3
|
5
|
|
|
7
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
5
|
9
|
-4
|
5
|
|
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
6
|
14
|
-8
|
4
|
|
|
6
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
9
|
-6
|
3
|
So what we have is the Tiny Tots bottom of the league, although, to be fair, as we always must, they have a game in hand. But it is against the mighty Coventry so Tottenham could lose that, even though the match is at home. But a victory for the Totts could take them out of the relegation zone. We shall see in due course.
Meanwhile, back with Arsenal, of course everything is in the hands of the officials who decide the fate of the cheaters at the top of the league. They could give in, and just give the club a warning. They could give them a relegation to the Championship,k or they could kick them out of the league totally. It all depends on their sense of fair play and justice.
But equally, we have to consider the possible reaction of the Mancy club. They might look at the punishment they are given and then decide to appeal againsts it, or they might simply resign from the league and set up a new league on their own, quite possibly with clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, who themselves are faced with a similar situation.
Indeed, it is difficult to remember any time when there has been such uncertainty in the issues surrounding the league. The one thing those of us on the side of not cheating have in our favour is that the overwhelming majority of clubs wish the Mancs to be called out and severely punished for what they have done.
And this raises quite an issue. Because if the League Management Committee or indeed any of the legal authorities that the Mancs and their allies in other leagues call in, to fight their case were to win in a court, there is nothing (in the case of the Premier League) to stop the rest of the clubs in the League from resigning from the league and setting up a new league without ManC in it.
That would leave Manc leagueless, and they would then have to form their own league, presumably with the other clubs that have been sponsored by the same bunch of people who have been sponsoring Manc – and clubs of a similar nature. So ManC, PSG and similar clubs owned by or financed by the same people could have a league in which they play each other, and all the matches are fixed, while they leave the rest of football to get on with football financed and run in the proper way.
Personally, this is what I would like to see happen – the clubs that are reliant on money from nations with insane levels of wealth due to the accident of having oil beneath their land, all in one league, and those clubs that are willing to abide by the normal rules of competition and finance, in a separate league or set of leagues.
Then we will know exactly where we are and what we are doing. And I know which league I will be very happy to follow, and indeed write about. A league in which the clubs are financed by the crowds they get and their advertisers and sponsors. Now that would bring a bit of sense back to football.
It might take a little while for this to shake out, but I think it could be possible. A new Premier League with clubs financed in the way most clubs are now financed, not financed as the likes of ManC and PSG currently are..
