Asterisk FC

This one is going to run and run, I'd have thought. And there's so much that has been said - on the radio, on television, in podcasts and in the written media - over the past week since I last posted. This is such a monumental story, and I thought I'd add some of my own new thoughts (there are so many strands; so it may end up reading like random streams of consciousness, I'm afraid...). All this based on the perfectly reasonable assumption that the club are guilty as charged.

I'll then quickly turn my attention to the actual football - which returns, as it rightly should, at the home of the Champions on Saturday lunchtime.

As I say; so many threads to pick up on. Let's go:

Firstly, let's get the supposed 'irrefutable evidence' that Manchester City claim to have to fight the 114 guilty verdicts. All I can say is this; if the evidence is irrefutable, why didn't they present it during the actual investigation? The fact that they're continuing to double down on their 'innocence' is difficult to understand, frankly.

City also claim that they have proof that the extra money that was fed through to the club did not come from its owner, but from the Government of Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mansour is the Crown Prince - the King's brother - so make of that what you will... 

Additionally, this 'evidence' flies directly in the face of the defence they used against the UEFA charges from a few years ago, when they proclaimed: "All sponsorship liabilities were met by the sponsors in question". Huh? Which one is it, then?

These are of course people who are not used to being told 'No'. They're at the very top of an Absolute Monarchy; answerable to nobody but themselves. They are used to setting their own Laws, so it probably barely computes with them that they may have to follow other people's.

The owners have - for reasons that don't need a lot of spelling out - firmly insinuated themselves into the UK. They have bought plenty of property; in London and beyond. They have invested billions into various institutions - both financial and other - in this country. And, most importantly in this instance, they have sought to make themselves invaluable to the city of Manchester. 

There is no doubt that their money has made a massive difference to the wealth of the city; to the way it looks, and to the quality of housing and municipal facilities available. They have completely renovated the run-down areas around the old City of Manchester stadium (which was donated to the club after the Commonwealth Games of 2023, and due to a sponsorship deal is now what we all know as The Etihad). Their money also helped build the impressive Co-op Live - the largest entertainment arena in the UK - which sits on the edge of the Etihad Campus. But...

A lot of evidence points to them having obtained the land in 'sweetheart' deals; in other words at knockdown prices. Perhaps fair enough if no other developer was interested, to be fair. But in the light of what we know now about the way the club has been run, we should perhaps be asking how much Manchester City Council - and its Mayor at the time; one Andy Burnham - were in bed with them and quite how those deals were struck. I'd also imagine that the rents they are charging won't get fed back into the UK economy.

They have done an amazing job, on the face of it. But isn't this exactly what sports washing is? Putting up a facade behind which one can kind all sorts of iniquities; such as financially doping a football club or - and this is of course far worse - causing people and even Governments to look favourably on them and therefore turn a blind eye to their policies both at home and abroad. Certainly, those Manchester City fans who are still to come to terms with the mess that the club is in continue to point at all the wonderful things they have done - and turn that blind eye to the bigger picture and all the less than wonderful things done in the name of that country.

Threats on all sorts of diplomatic levels, and about pulling out their money from the UK, have started, as they try to put pressure on the UK Government to put in turn put pressure on the Premier League. Certainly, Mr Burnham's initial statement - almost defending the club's owners - showed a complete failure to understand the severity of the situation and to 'read the room'. Football is this country's national sport. Nobody rides roughshod over it and gets away with it; remember the uproar over the Super League a few years ago?

And I'll add this. All the talk in certain quarters about how much the Premier League would miss Manchester City is nonsense. In the grand scheme of things, only three clubs are essential to the success of the Premier League; Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. The rest are bit-part players in comparison, and those who one might regard as next in line - trying to knock on the door of those three giant, historical clubs and make up a Big 6 - would be Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City. But as for those three clubs... well, Tottenham have become a laughing stock, and the other two are where they are solely because they flouted the rules. The key to a successful Premier League is the so-called Red Cartel.

On the other side of things, I wonder how much pressure is being put on the owners from within their own country. After all, this matter is clearly bringing shame on Abu Dhabi - and Sheikh Mansour's brother won't like that!  Hopefully the pressure to extricate themselves from this mess will encourage them to slip away quietly- like that iconic meme of Homer Simpson disappearing into a hedge... 

Before I get on to my opinion on what punishment ought to be meted out, I just wanted to cover a few other strands to get you thinking. For example, if you've financially doped a club in order to illegally build the greatest squad of players that ever existed, and become more brazen each year that you've got away with it, what's to stop you seeking every other advantage that you can? For example, what about putting referees in your pocket? Raiding other clubs' academies? Paying journalists to write favourable articles? Artificially inflating transfer fees and wages to put other clubs outside of their own comfort zones? There's plenty of evidence pointing to all these things having taken place.

And now to Pep... Do you remember his comments when this all blew up all those years ago: "If you lie to me, the day after I am not here. I will be out, and I will not be your friend any more. I put my faith in you because I believe you and I defend the club because of that". Pretty unequivocal.

But last week's statement tells a different story: "I want every single Man City fan to know I am here; more than ever. I am, always have been, always will be, behind my club, my owner, my Chairman, Ferran, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters. Let me be clear; we will get through this together, I love you all." Not their friend any more, then...

You know, if Pep's legacy wasn't already tarnished by being associated with Manchester City for all these years, statements like that one only make matters worse. Here's a guy with some skeletons in his closet - charged twice for steroid misuse whilst playing for Brescia, with questions hanging over whatever role he may had had regarding the brewing refereeing scandal involving Barcelona, and all the stories about the methods used by his pet medical teams over the years. I'm not knocking the undoubted genius of the playing systems he devised, but you have to ask yourself f if you believe that there's something of a dark side to Pep Guardiola.

And so to possible punishment. And we've all got our own opinion as to how large it ought to be. After some thought, I've come up with this:

• Expulsion from the Premier League (wherever the club may land is frankly not the Premier League's problem)
• A £1bn fine, to be redistributed proportionally throughout the football pyramid. Plus payment of the Premier League's legal costs
• A transfer ban of three seasons (6 windows); to be applied if/when ever they return to the Premier League
• A lifetime ban on their owners, Board members and senior officers from involvement in the running of any professional football club in England
• Stripping them of their titles. But perhaps don't award them to the runners up - as that's difficult. Asterisk FC 

If you think that's draconian, just think about the effect of their systematic and long-term cheating on their rivals, on those clubs who missed out on trophies and Champions League or European qualification, on those clubs who suffered relegation, and on the employees of other clubs who had their livelihoods affected as a result. On the legacies and reputations of players and managers of other clubs. On the finances of every single club from the Premier League down, as their wanton use of unlimited funds served to hyper-inflate the transfer and wage markets. Whatever form it takes, the punishment needs not only to hit the club hard, but also act as a deterrent to anybody else going forward from attempting to defraud the rest of the league. They deserve everything that I'd hope they've got coming to them. 

Sure, I feel sorry for the innocents. The employees who will lose their jobs. The supporters who are going to suffer as a result. I don't know what to call them apart from 'collateral damage'. And if I think about all this, I wish that it would have happened to Chelsea too; because they started all this. For all that people say about how Manchester United dominated the Premier League in so many of the preceding years - not losing sight of the amazing battles with Arsenal around the turn of the century- at least that club's growth (like Arsenal's) was achieved organically.

One tricky question for the Premier League, however, is when to announce the punishments. The timeline would indicate that the full process should be over by the middle of January; and foottball has of course to go on regardless despite everything that's going on. With Manchester City currently sitting top of the Premier League... with the team still in three cup competitions, if they realise that they've no chance of staying up will they simply rest their key players for the Champions League, for example; or just roll out a full strength side against the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool? What if they win a trophy this season? I have suggested on WhatsApp groups that once due process has been completed and - on the assumption that they don't win the appeal - that they are immediately expelled from all competitions and the Premier League becomes a 19-team competition for this season - with all of their results expunged. 

There are other legal matters, of course. The only question may be where to start. In a Criminal Court - take questions from HMRC, for example. Or in Civil Court - with other clubs suing Manchester City for all sorts of things. Then there's the question of whether the current City players can be held to their contracts; bearing in mind the Duty of Care that an employer has to its employees. Cans of worms everywhere!

And on top of all this... don't think for a single moment that the cheating stopped in 2018. There'll be so much more for the club to answer to for the following seasons.

Right - let's stick all that on the back burner for now. Because there's actual football to talk about. And with a series of injuries as a result of the international break with which to contend, Mikel Arteta has a number of decisions to make. Will we see Jurrien Timber? Who will replace Tzolis on the left wing? Will it be Big Vik or Mikel Merino up top in place of Kai? I'm not going to speculate; your guess is as good as mine. What I do expect, however, is three points from the game.

Of almost equal interest is going to be the reception that Manchester City get at Anfield on Sunday. I'm looking forward to that almost as much as I am the Arsenal game.

COYG!