Shebahn Aherne FRUSTRATED by managers "DOWNPLAYING" Manchester City situation in press conferences!
talkSPORT hosts frustrated as Premier League managers downplay Manchester City case
talkSPORT discusses why Premier League managers have largely refused to comment after Manchester City were found guilty by the Premier League. The hosts criticise the cautious, downplayed responses and say managers should speak as bluntly as Ian Holloway, while the guest stresses that owners and executives should be held responsible rather than players and ordinary staff. They also ask whether everyone should apologize and move on if City win their appeal.
- It is no surprise that managers were tame and careful with their words on City — Pre-match press conferences are supposed to be about the game, but this story cannot be avoided, and managers do not want to hang City out to dry publicly.
- City are a disgrace and should have everything taken away and be made to start again, and they still are not owning up — He believes they benefited from cheating that was allowed to happen, damaging football and the country's football culture, and points to corruption among senior UEFA and FIFA figures.
- The blame should not be put on players and ordinary staff for the club hierarchy's actions — He says he did not know a club's finances when he joined and simply trusted the club to do things properly; players, physios and kit staff go along with things rather than make the decisions.
- Most managers are sitting on the fence while City's appeal is unresolved and should speak as clearly as Ian Holloway did — As things stand the Premier League has found City guilty, yet managers avoid the issue for fear of upsetting people, which is self-protection.
- If responsibility is enforced, the owners and executives responsible should go, not the players and ordinary staff — The hierarchy's decisions affected the whole club, while players were following instructions or kept in the dark, so blame belongs with those who made the decisions.
- It is tone-deaf for City's side to avoid the case and project a relaxed, confident image — The club has been found guilty as things stand, and people want at least a hint of guilt and a human reaction rather than only confidence about winning the appeal.
- If City win the appeal, people should apologize and move on, and no one should fear expressing an opinion — It is fine to be wrong, and football press conferences should not be so afraid of backlash that nobody says how they feel.
- Managers and the club are downplaying the Manchester City case and protecting themselves, avoiding the fact that the Premier League has found City guilty — This is one of the most talked-about stories in years and affects many fans, so avoiding it is shying away from the truth.
Shebahn Aherne and Tony Cascarino debate whether Premier League managers could and should be stronger on their opinions when asked about Manchester City being found guilty of financial breaches. Subscribe: https://youtube.com/c/talkSPORT?subconfirmation=1 🏆 Ready to win? Check out the latest prizes at talkSPORTwin.com Enjoyed this YouTube video? 😍 🖥️ talkSPORT's Website: https://talksport.com/ 📲 talkSPORT's X/Twitter: https://x.com/talkSPORT 📷 talkSPORT's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talksport/?hl=en 👤 talkSPORT's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talkSPORT/ 📱 talkSPORT's Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talksport ? 🔴 Download the talkSPORT app HERE! - https://talksport.com/apps/ 🔎 Want to see if you feature on our YouTube channel? Check out our Best talkSPORT callers playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFVMnSsi04LGLa9pS9xDvme-Gjmlu2 talkSPORT PremierLeague
Transcript
Yesterday, the vast majority of Premier League managers conducted their press conferences after the international break and ahead of the weekend's games. They all were fielded questions about the only story in town, Manchester City's guilty verdict. And yet, they all virtually remained tight lipped on the situation. Here, here's a selection of no comments from bosses around the prem. >> I just said I would like to speak about this situation when we're going to win the appeal. Now it's uh is it's no sense to speak about anything because uh I don't have many many many information but again I understand the reason why you know most of you are here because you want to hear something >> I can I can react on this but let's say in general and that's what uh what I'm always saying if if and again please just if somebody cheats he needs to get punished >> certainly I've got my own questions about it you know it's it's affected for me personally over in different ways over over a period of time. So what I will say the sooner it gets sorted I think for everyone's benefit is is is uh is essential. I wasn't here when it was difficult for for Everton. I wasn't here through the when things were bad. But uh now looking looking at it from where I'm sitting just now it looks terrible that we've been docked to points. We've had to pay some fines. We we get docked uh all sorts of things. >> I mean [music] not a lot that managers can see. No. >> Conducting those pre-match pre press press conferences should be game focused. It's never going to be just game focus with this going on. >> Yeah. And you're going to get, you know, some tame answers to a very awkward situation. They also don't want to literally hang city out to dry personally. You know, they're they're looking at they're choosing their words really carefully. >> Somebody who didn't choose their words so carefully and certainly doesn't sit in the fence is Ian Holloway. He skewered city. Listen to this. You're a disgrace. You've tired it so badly. You're not the only pe people to do that. It happened right at the top of it all where some of the people at top of UEFA and FIFA were put in prison and I said they were corrupt because that's what happens. I lost because we weren't quite good enough. We weren't quite good enough cuz the team was allowed to cheat. And if you didn't know they were cheating, I'm sorry. You've turned a blind eye to that. For me, it's all too late now. I would absolutely take everything away from every single one of them and make them start again right now. It happened in Scotland. I would do it now. They are that's a disgrace what and they're still not owning up to it. How dare you ruin what's part of our country, our DNA in this country without a shadow of a doubt. >> Ian Holloway there um a couple of nights ago. >> Yeah. Well, he's um he's obviously talking about the establishment at the top of the club, you know, which is a fair point because there's lots of people at City from the groundsman to the people who work in the the offices to the to the players and many many others who work at football club, the physio, the kitman, they would have no idea what was going on. They would not know cuz someone asked me said to me during the week said to me well when you join certain club I said I don't know the finances of a football club when I join it. I don't say to them have you got the money to pay me this. They put a proposal to you and if it looks really good you go yeah okay you trust that the club are doing things the right way. So you're being asked and putting all these other people in this basket of saying well it's not just the city the players and throwing their their medals in the bins. to them it's like no we're we weren't part the people upstairs who made the decisions we we just went along with because that's what you do at football clubs you don't go in and rock the boat and when I first joined mil spent the first time the most money they ever been spent okay Reg Burr the chairman and Peter me one of the directors they invested in the football club to try and get a team together and spend as much as they'd ever done at a football club to be successful to get to the top flight We achieved that. We didn't they didn't do it by cheating or you know they didn't do all the things that you know we're going to find out exactly what happened that we will know. We know most of it now. >> Yeah. I know. But I just think that the fact that they have been found guilty that you almost and say they don't win an appeal, right? Say they do. Yeah. Brilliant. Congratulations. Everyone can move on. Whereas I think >> I don't think it will be a move on though. Do you? If they if they won >> they win. Well, it has >> Well, they win it. Well, I >> it has they have to move on then at some point. But what my point would be here is all of these managers who are kind of sitting on the fence, you know, almost scared to upset somebody if they are not winning at appeal. >> Yeah. >> Everybody should be feeling the way Ian Hollow is feeling. >> Well, yeah. Yes. I have no problem if you said the owners have to go. That is not a problem. The people that were responsible for all of this that has affected the rest of the club, absolutely they should go. I totally agree with that. see see Moresca arriving yesterday by the way not yesterday the day before um back in Manchester City and he's got like his thumbs up and all that kind of stuff. He's just greeting the photographers but that's been used to make pictures and headlines over confident that we're going to win. And I sometimes feel for it not to be addressed in the press conference >> is is like a bit tonedeaf, >> you know, to to to not to be able to sit there and say, "And look, if we don't want to appeal, you know, I'll be I'll be devastated. I'll be as hurt as a man in football who's been here all of my life >> the same way as you will be hurt. Like even just a little just a little glimmer of a human human being in there who will be affected like everybody else if they do not win at the pee. At the moment they have been found guilty. So at least give me a little bit of guilt. Give me a bit something to work with. >> So if we use the flip side of that and they go they do be found not guilty. >> Yeah. >> Does everybody have to apologize to Manchester City? >> Yeah. Move on. >> Sorry we got it wrong. >> Sorry. Well done. You're right. Good lawyers. Fair play. Move on. >> There's nothing wrong with being wrong, but and also giving your opinion and your feeling of something without the fear of it being held against you. >> It's just this this world we're in now. >> Well, it's very uh >> And actually, you seem worse than ever in football press conferences. Just be sitting there with a puppet. No one's saying how they feel. >> Well, no. No. You know, Moresca can't well say can't. It's not going to go against the football club. If if he if he is he has obviously been told certain things, whether he believes them or not is another question in itself, but if he's been told certain information that he really believes that City could get off of these charges, then he's going to say that and he's got the right to say that cuz at the moment they have been found guilty by the Premier League, which they are challenging and like I said earlier. >> Exactly. But no one said that. No, >> he's not going, we've been found guilty and my god, this is a terrible look, isn't it? >> Yeah, >> this is an absolutely >> No, that's a fair point. >> No one's saying that and that's the you're shying away from the truth thing because this has happened now. >> Yeah. It's going to cause huge debate within football like us on air and people I mean it's been the most talked about thing I can think of for years. People amount of people who ask me who I have no idea of any detail. All I know is from what I read and that as we stay as we stand at the moment the Premier League have found them guilty. Yeah, that's all we know so far >> and it's been really downplayed by managers at the moment. Very and by the club and they might not be comfortable with that and that's fine. >> But everyone's just always protecting themsel, you know, always protecting themselves from saying anything that actually can relate to a lot of people who are supporting your club or have been for many years who might feel affected by this whole thing.