Manchester United owners ‘are the real villians’, not Man City’s who were ‘punished for ambition’

2026-09-30 · Football365

Can the Premier League survive this? Is there any point watching until it’s sorted? And sod Man City’s owners – INEOS should be ashamed.

Cheaters never prosper

As per the Oxford Learners Dictionary:

- Cheating (noun): the act of behaving dishonestly to get what you want, especially by breaking rules in games, tests, or relationships.

An independent panel have found Manchester City guilty of breaking the rules of the competition(s) they were in, a way that seems to match the above definition.

On top of this, at least 34 of the charges of which they were guilty relate to obstructing or failing to assist the Premier League’s investigation. So not cheating, but covering up the cheating and making it very difficult to prove that in fact, yes, City have been cheating. We’ll need to see what the wording is in the final judgement but City are not going to come out of this with their reputation intact. Extra marks for dishonesty.

I understand Joe Hart’s reaction, he must be living with some serious cognitive dissonance right now and we are talking about sustained financial doping not on field cheating. But City won that first title on goal difference, are we saying that cooking the books had no effect on this whatsoever?

And as for City fighting the so called “Red Cartel” (plus Chelsea and Spurs one assumes), that’s fine but don’t pretend City are Robin Hood in this scenario. City’s owners came in with a sportswashing agenda and boy did they nearly achieve it with some of that Pep era stuff. The very fact that people are now questioning whether the Premier League will water down sanctions due to government pressure shows you exactly how serious and ridiculous this has gotten for what is essentially 22 overgrown boys chasing a ball around a field.

As for City spending their own money well they haven’t have they? They’ve spent their money of a nation state. Everything you have earned since they took over has been a product of financial skulduggery. I see comparisons to United being allowed to operate £1B in debt, but that is equally the owners debt. Without the respective owners both teams probably follow opposite trajectories. I’m more than happy for us to go down that path from now, as would almost all other United fans.

We’ll probably never be able to properly quantify the effect City’s cheating has actually had but it doesn’t matter because the level of this deception is so mind bogglingly huge (and you suspect there are further revelations to come) that Pandora’s box is well and truly open.

Forget the titles or whether we should even count what happened over the last decade or so, I’m really struggling to see how the Premier League – i.e. all the other clubs who have not even been accused of cheating on this scale – actually survives this. What exactly is the point in watching at all until this is completely resolved? And what will be left at the end of it?

Maybe some light shaming is in order after all, eh? Ashmundo

Posh bstards and young heroes

Dear Ed,

Follow up in what to do about City. Just strip them of titles in that period, reallocate the trophies and correct the record. Then draw a line under the issue. If clubs wish to sue City in court for lost revenue, then we all win. Man City can slowly fade away and pay teams they sank.

Pep’s old mention of legends like Gerrard or Kane highlights a deep cultural wound. The two represented the archetype of the loyal, working-class domestic hero—players who carried the weight of their local communities and traditional fanbases on their shoulders. When City players mocked the infamous 2014 slip during their title celebrations, it wasn’t just a dig at a rival; to many, it felt like a global corporate machine actively mocking the tragic heartbreak of a traditional, organic football institution like Liverpool or Arsenal or Manchester United. It highlighted a shift where the romanticism of the local hero was replaced by the cold, ruthless efficiency of a manufactured consent.

If the independent commission uses a modern-day points deduction to blow up the club, the ultimate irony is complete. The elite executives who let the system get out of hand will walk away with their consulting fees and bonuses intact. The billionaire owners will simply pivot their global portfolios. Meanwhile, the young Domestic Players—English lads from local academies—who grew up dreaming of nothing but playing top-flight football—will be the ones forced to play through the mud of a penalized season or forced relegation, holding the bag for an elite-level boardroom game they never invited.

It is a bleak, uncompromising reality of modern football: the rules are written by the elite, the wealth is extracted by the elite, and when the system breaks, the local working-class talent is left to clean up the mess. Dan McG LFC

Looking forward to the fire sale

Dear Editor,

So punishments for Man City could be enormous. Assuming the independent body dont go too overboard to the point Man City can appeal it as being too harsh and disproportionate… I am looking forward to the next steps and am hoping there will be a fire sale of high-earning players.

I saw Gabby Agbonlahor suggest Liverpool should be sniffing around Semenyo and O’Reilly which are two good shouts if they are at all interested. Instead I think we should be looking at Josko Gvardiol – a great talent from the Red Bull system which has already provided Liverpool with Szobo, Konate and er Naby Keita. He’s comfortable as a CB or LB so effectively a left footed Araujo and doesnt turn 25 until January so there’s a few good years ahead of him too.

It also came to light he was a Reds fan as a child which always helps but he also had that unquantifiable commodity of “he knows the league”. If City become in need to shift a few players I do think its Josko Liverpool should be looking at!

Also, quick mention for the AFC Wimbledon fans at Cambridge on Saturday – their “we’re coming for you, we’re coming for you, Manchester City, we’re coming for you” was very good. YNWA, Adam (Perhaps there’s a feature for player reallocation or have I missed it?)

Opinions

If I’ve learned anything over the last 10 years (and I try not to) it’s that the internet loves a bad guy. The maelstrom of having a Bonafide-definitely-is-a-bad-guy, bad guy grows bigger by the day. Add in the most popular sport in the world with one of the most successful clubs in the world and 99% of the world are clambering over each other to add the next escalated punishment for the bad guy. We’re no more than 3 mailboxes away from someone demanding we send in the SAS. Where and why? Hardly matters.

The 1% will counter this Golgothan of virtual lynching with an extreme contrarian opinion.

And so in the last few days I heard someone on the radio claiming that City pushing back against the protectionist rules of the red cartel was analogous to the suffragette movement, a fella in the comments suggesting that players who signed for City after the charges should be banned as collaborators and then Ernie in the mailbox suggesting all fans should be compensated because the entire sport is tainted.

Personally, I’m sticking with my prediction that the punishment will exactly enough for City and it’s fans to claim “harsh” and for the rest of the world to claim “not enough”. The perfect solution for all involved is that everyone ends up unhappy.

Some other random thoughts on the topic.

I think it’s probably true that City would’ve got where they are eventually without the cheating. It’s also true that watching Pep operate with wrong full backs and a comedy ‘keeper for a bit longer would’ve been fun. I suspect a little bit of the anger from fans of other big clubs is not just because City spent all the money, but that they spent it well.

Anyhoo – probably enough opinions on City for one week. Although I know that won’t stop them coming.

I’ll leave you with the opinion of one of the older Man City fans.

> “I just want to have a laugh with my mates on a Saturday afternoon – I don’t care which league we’re in.” Jeremy Aves

Fan the flames

If there’s one thing all sides can agree upon, it’s that this whole debacle has taken way too long. Much of that is on City, as they’ve dragged their heels and held up proceedings as much as possible. The noises coming out of them suggest that approach isn’t going to change anytime soon.

Here’s where the fans of the other 19 clubs can step up. Leave the stadium empty for the first five minutes so the cameras show empty stands at kick off. Unveil banners and tifos calling them out as cheats. Chant relentlessly for 90 minutes. Do everything possible so that the broadcasters absolutely cannot ignore what they’ve done. Do it hard enough and for long enough and we reach the point that their position in the league becomes untenable. Maybe even to the point that even their owners realise the jig is up.

Fortunately, their first game is at Anfield, and if there’s one set of supporters that specialise in some self righteous grandstanding from atop their moral high horses, it’s them. Lewis, Busby Way

Pass the tinfoil hat

Watching all the chaos around the Manchester City news unfold, and taking in oh so many japes saying that Everton should be docked 10 points as a result, it’s got me thinking….

It was February 2023 when the charges were first brought forward and left football fans wondering for over two and half years if we would ever get to hear a verdict or if it would be our grandkids who would hear it. Meanwhile Everton, Forest and Leicester were instantly charged for failure to comply with financial rules whilst Chelsea were handed the most pitiful of fines (by their standards) because they ‘fessed up to being cheats. Andy Burnham – himself a staunch Everton fan and advocate of drinking alcohol in the stands (a terrible idea, without question) – has had his feet under the table at number 10 for all of 5 minutes and now suddenly, we have an answer to the investigation.

Given all the talk and rumours of how this would affect relations between Saudi Arabia and the UK as a possible cause for the delays, you don’t think Andy had enough of his beloved club being mocked and pulled a few strings to get the verdict announced….do you?!?

Naaaah, highly doubt it. Bit of a coincidence though, innit? Jeff G, West Brom Villan (Tongue planted firmly in cheek whilst I sit back and wait another 4-5 years for the punishment to be unveiled, appealed against and ultimately turned into something disappointing)

FFP and Man City are as bad as each other

I’ve got to start with (low bar to clear) saying Tuesday morning’s Mailbox was slightly less deranged on City than it has been, a little more nuanced. We’ve taken the step from ‘we can debate whether the rules are fair…they cheated’ to ‘the rules probably aren’t fair but they cheated and the alternative is an unlimited free for all’.

I’m sick of it. It’s not the alternative. I’m a Newcastle fan so not impartial, (nobody are impartial though are they) and don’t want to win the way City did. I mean look what has happened to us, we clearly aren’t. But I also don’t want a system where nobody can ever consistently challenge the Red Cartel / maybe Chelsea, City. Boring as hell. It’s why I also smile when someone tells me they support Leicester, not for where they are now but what they did.

What people don’t realise is if one system is a City/Newcastle dominated boring 2 horse-race, the current system that allows you to grow only through revenue (largely on field success) but you can’t gain continued success is as rigged as the first option. There should be a spending cap as I’ve stated again and again. THAT is the middle ground and the alternative. Your Coventry’s & others still won’t be able to fully compete, but at least at the top of the table suddenly there’s genuinely 6-8 teams who could compete. Genuine intrigue beyond a max 2-3 horse race, teams building teams around iconic players (Bruno G, Rodgers,etc) and investing well can reach the mountaintop. Hell maybe in time even your Brighton’s etc could be in the mix! Not you Spurs. Crucially under these rules, which would cover salaries too, these clubs could stay there…

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