- Tottenham player says he’s gettinig psychological help: snigger snigger
- What are the punishments for the past sins of Chelsea and ManC?
By Tony Attwood
Some years ago, we had a phrase about certain football clubs in the top division that they were “too big to go down.” Of late, that notion has gone out of favour, and what we now have is “too big to be penalised.”
This, of course, applies to Manchester City, who decided that a lot of the financial rules didn’t apply to them, and that even if the rules did, they would never have points removed simply because no one had enough money to find them and their owners.
It was, of course, based on a set of rules that everyone could agree with. And then one day, along came Manchester City, who decided to break a lot of the financial rules, and then, when the rest of the league protested, stated quite clearly that if the league threatened the club with retribution for its wholesale rule-breaking, the club would sue the League repeatedly until there was no League left.
The League, valuing its existence, gave in, and now we see the results.
Manchester City have been found guilty of well over 100 offences and absolutely have suffered no penalty for their wholesale lawbreaking, and they march forth to win another league title.
And what does the media say and do? Nothing. What does the Management Committee say and do? Nothing. The implication is quite clear – in terms of the League’s rule book, clubs can do anything they like, providing they have enough finances to threaten to sue the League out of existence if they are ever challenged.
Of course, every ManC title under the current ownership should have an asterisk againsts it, indicating it was achieved by breaking the financial statutes of the League, but I can’t see that happening. It will be recorded as if Manc beat the rest of the league fair and square, which quite obviously they have not.
So what happens now? Probably they will go on and do it against next year and the year after. The only option for the clubs that object to being turned into a laughing stock is to resign from the League and start a new League.
Indeed, I think it would be rather good if they did that, but I can’t see it happening. And that is simply because ManC would probably find some technicality upon which they could sue the rest of the League. And there will always be a lot of petty-minded clubs who will be willing to join a new ManC-sponsored league just for the delight of attempting to come second.
Back in 2023, the Oxford Blue website predicted that the Saudi initiatives in football would collapse and so would its league. If you want an update on that you might care to take a look at “The Saudi Pro League Corruption Scandal is Hilarious” or any of the many other commentaries on what is going on in Saudi Arabian football.
The fact is that no one is really interested in Saudi football, and why should they be when the real fun is to be had in wrecking the entire competitiveness of the most famous league in the world: The Premier League.
The fact is that when a country’s money takes over a club, the competitiveness of the League eventually vanishes – and if you would like a spot of proof have a look at who has won the French League in recent years.
This, of course, is where the Premier League is going, and indeed there has already been a trial run by ManC from 2017/18 onwards. Now they are getting into their stride, and their mindset is clear – why on earth would anyone enter for a competition they are not certain of winning?
If the rest of the league had the guts, it would either (and preferably) finish its legal case against Manchester City and kick them out of the league, or if they really are afraid of being sued into the ground, they can walk away and form a new league that has properly written financial controls that exclude the oil-financed clubs.
Although I think it is quite right that the league has gone after Chelsea, and made a real attempt to bring it down to earth, for reasons that I don’t understand, they won’t touch ManC either by treating them like Chelsea, or simply by resigning en masse and setting up a new league without ManC in it.
What I fear, however, is that the clubs will decline to take on the oil might of ManC and will carry on as now running a league in which the financing of ManC is legitimised.
I have spent my childhood, my teenage years and my adult life supporting Arsenal, and obviously, most seasons we have not won anything, but I continued to support Arsenal, simply because I felt an affection for the club. They are part of my heritage. I was brought up near the ground, my father and grandfather supported the club, and so have I. I’ve watched everything from youth matches to Cup Finals.
Of course, Arsenal will play next season, and I will support them, but I won’t be pretending that this is competitive football of the type we know across the years. It isn’t – at least not unless the League finally gets its act together and deals with the ManC financial situation.
PS In case you think it is just Untold going on and on and on about the ManC scandal you might care to dip into “Will Man City have titles stripped as experts have say” from Football London published just four days ago. It seems one or two other commentators are realising that their long-term silence on the issue is doing their reputation as publishers no good in the eyes of the majority who feel something needs to be done, and done very, very soon.
