Simon Jordan REACTS to Luis Enrique CALLING FOR Man City to AVOID SANCTIONS over financial breaches!

talkSPORT

talkSPORT discusses Luis Enrique hoping Manchester City avoid sanctions, City's financial breach case and David Kogan's report on football finances

The show uses Manchester City against PSG in the Champions League as a starting point, focusing on Luis Enrique's wish for City to avoid sanctions and Simon Jordan's criticism of that view. It then moves to City's appeal timeline, the independent commission process and the independent regulator's report, with Simon Jordan arguing City are delaying and questioning David Kogan's report and football finance regulation.

Jim White, Simon Jordan and Danny Murphy look ahead to Man City vs PSG in the Champions League tonight, and react to Luis Enrique admitting that he wants City to avoid losing titles for their financial breaches, if they lose their appeal against the guilty verdict. Jim, Simon and Danny also discuss the football regulator's involvement in the Man City case, as they claim they could make the club's owners sell up! Subscribe: https://youtube.com/c/talkSPORT?subconfirmation=1 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

One of the games in the Champions League program tonight is at the Etihad Manchester City against Paris Sanjaman and it's live on talk sport. Jim Proudfoot and Andy Gray as you heard from uh uh the bulletin there. Andy Gray in action tonight alongside Jim Proudfoot at the Etihad. Two nation stateowned clubs but in very different situations. Simon, it's fair to say. Paris Sanja, a club that we know and we know the the the man at the top of it, Nasser Alcalafi dominating European football. Uh Alcalafi of course also on the UEFA executive committee. >> Mhm. >> Uh as well as that, Manchester City, Abu Dhabi owned but in a very different state that that they find themselves in right now. found guilty of course of multiple financial breaches and set to face a serious punishment we think by the Premier League. So right now, how do you is it is it would it be right to view these two as PSG top of the establishment? Manchester City very much the paras. >> Well, I mean they've not had it's not been that challenge for NASA in France. >> Yeah, there's been resistance and resentment towards the ownership of PSG both cultural and financial. Um, obviously there's a a suggestion. I think I've made the suggestion that in part the reasons why NASA and Qatar bought PSG was to do with Arab Springs and their inability to be able to broke out of certain challenges and owning a a western football club created a different visibility for them. >> They've gone through their challenges. They don't have the same financial governance uh in France that we have in this country in terms of the league's responsibilities. um they've had their challenges and querying them about the level of of a of returns that they've gotten. Obviously, they've now built this magnificent PSG sporting brand which has turned into a leisureware brand which actually eclipses the turnover of the football club. So, the PSG shops and their leisureware brand has almost eclipsed the turnover of the football club. In fact, I think it has done. >> Quite cool stuff as well and >> it's very good stuff. So with all that in mind and and obviously he's gone through the challenges of being in a pos position of influence, they're culturally very different. I think I think Abu Dhabi has a different approach to life and business and society than Qatar does. Yeah. As there's a difference in Saudi. Um and so where you are at this moment in time is you've got the two dominant forces um uh within their leagues for a period of time and not city for the last couple of years but certainly during the period of time when PSG were dominating French football PS near now dominating European football. >> Um but if you you've met NASA you know NASA his style isn't adversarial. No when I talked to him in Qatar about financial fair play and their ability to be able to circumvent it and the manner in which they had done he said if they don't like it they should change the rules. It wasn't adversarial. It wasn't combative in the same way that uh that the Abu Dhabi guys have basically laid down the gauntlet saying anyone that dare takes us on and dare challenge us we will get an army of lawyers and we will make them go to the ends of the earth to show so where they are now because of the nature of the geography there's a comparison between the two football clubs they're different they they're run differently they have a different outlook you you know there's been a an insertion from NASA into the corridors of power within the confines and structure of football he was he was alongside Sephin, wasn't he? >> Yes. To >> some extent. Yeah. In supporting the ideal of the European Super League being a a horrible canker that should never have been there. Whilst City were one of the signed up clubs, I think they were I know they were to go with the European Super League. So, there's a different way of approaching it because culturally they're different, but also the requirements of them inside their leagues have been different. >> And on the football front, Danny, is this a game that wets the whistle tonight in spite of everything that's going on with City? And I'll get back to that in a second. Manchester City, PSG at any time. Yeah. Yeah. More than decent. >> Yeah. If you love football and you love watching highquality players go against each other, then of course you're going to turn it on and see how it plays out. The only the only difference really at this stage of the competition is that >> there's no real big consequences for either team losing at this stage because they've got so many games to make up for it. But I suppose you could argue on the flip side of that that the freedom that comes with that should create a better um a better spectacle. Well, the one thing with PSG is that it yes, they've got great finances and able to buy good players, but ultimately their collective strength is because of the manager and the coach and what he demands from them. It's great to see a team all on the same wavelength playing. >> I mean, they have been for two years now, the outstanding team and you're they're a pleasure to watch. Well, you've taken me there perfectly to it, Danny, because we're talking about Luis Enrique, the man in charge of Paris Sanjaman, the man who of course ex Barcelona and Real Madrid himself, and he knows Pep Guardiola inside out and Pep's going to be at the tonight. Very few people have offered up their opinions of where City are at at this time as we wait with baited breath for the result of the appeal. But Enriquei did speak about it going into this game and told us about his hopes for Manchester City in terms of what may or may not happen. The trophies that you win on the pitch remains on the pitch and they deserve to win in that and I hope they can avoid that sanction. That's what I feel. But uh anyway, we have to wait. Um the things that I am speaking with Pep, I'll do it in private uh conversation. >> Have a private conversation with >> Well, it's not a very informed response, is it? Because if they have cheated the rules as as as bad as the rules, I think they are in the first place. The rules are the rules. If they've cheated the rules, then he shouldn't hope that they don't get sanctioned. That's a football ccentric observation rather than a specific I I wonder if he was adversely affected by Manchester City. >> Yeah. Beating him in a final >> if he was being if he would be so generous in his thinking about what he's entitled. It's probably because Pep Guardiola's >> City never beat Barcelona his Barcelona team during that time period. >> Well, so there's no adverse effect to him. If he was sitting in a league where he'd been disadvantaged by the breach of rules that Man City have been able to forced upon the system, then he would have perhaps a different attitude. So I think it's relatively redundant what he thinks. >> Yeah, I think I think to be honest as well giving it context sat in a press conference he wants to probably be talking about the game. He's tried to keep it football-based. Yeah, I agree with Simon. He shouldn't really be going down and saying if they've cheated, they shouldn't get, you know, >> I suppose the alternative is if he says they've cheated, then the media will spin it up. The cheats against the good guys and he put he put some extra seasoning onto the um the game itself and he doesn't and he doesn't want it. He wants to play the game without any background distraction any more than there will be there. >> I mean, he he's essentially saying from a player point of view, Danny, what was one on the pitch should stay one on the pitch on that particular occasion. In other words, you don't want to get into a situation whereby players are given back medals and trophies are being returned etc etc which has been spoken about the wider >> well I I spoke about this and I I in a different context but I think the players who were involved at that point will always have those memories and I'll I stay steadfast on that opinion. It's you irrelevant of the medal that that you've got in the safe or in your mom's house or around your neck. It's it's not really a big deal whether they take even if they take the titles away. I don't I don't I don't think it's >> it's about what goes forward. I think >> it's what goes forward. >> You know, it's interesting that city then now the media are doing the bit about the lawyers that city have now brought in. >> Yeah. >> That are planning for a contingency uh if the appeal process doesn't go their way. >> This is not good. This is not great. You know, because it clearly indicates if that if you read between the lines that even if they exhaust the industry process and they're found guilty again, they're not going to have it. They're going to drag it outside of football. But that's when they'll have to have it. >> Well, hopefully football will have the and I'm sure they will um and stick it down their throats and sanction them and then and it'll be then football will be dragged into disrepute because then they will be trying to rectify that by an external mechanism. >> Yeah. >> The the idea I mean the independent regulator spoke to it very very succinctly. It is a very clear process. This appeal process is very clear. It has to be heard within 12 weeks of the dates of the judgment. It's a five-day hearing and it gets reduced 30 days later. So, everyone can hear that loud and clear, right? That means that Man City should either be cleared or cemented by the end of January. Work out why that won't happen because when Man City start do their little tap dancing around process and start suggesting that the appeal process that when the original sanction sorry the original charge was brought brought against him was a different appeal process. It's been changed during a period of time that it's taken to get to this judgment. By the way, there's time that's been taken to this judgment because of Man City's behavior. That is not the tap dancing of people that are trying to produce irrefutable evidence that are trying to be operate with integrity that are trying to preserve the status quo of football and its well-being at the same time as exonerate themselves. That is not the actions of a club and an entity that is looking at exoneration or justifiable outrage at the imposition of being accused of something they categorically didn't do. >> Well, more immediately, this club is looking to beat PSG tonight in the Champions League and it's live on Talk Sport. Let's talk about I'm afraid we are going to the independent football regulator and the report on the state of the game. Um this report found that 94% of professional clubs are found to be operating at a loss and 97% of clubs have operating costs that exceed their turnover. Amongst other things, it uncovered too that more than 60% of EFL and National League clubs are technically insolvent with their liabilities exceeding the book value of their assets. It found that more than a quarter of all clubs would be unable to survive for more than one month if owner funding was withdrawn. So, it's a a pretty bleak picture. And I want to get Simon's stake in this because the regulator himself, one David Kogan, pitched up on Times Radio this morning. And let's hear him on why football in his view is broken. >> Football's always been ridden by debt. >> It's particularly ridden by debt. Now, debt's climbing to about 5 billion across the five leagues that we we uh regulate. But the real problem here is not just debt. It's about cash flow. 32 clubs are trading with less than 30 days cash cover. Which means if the owner, they're entirely dependent on their owners giving them money at the end of the month. If those owners don't do so, if the owners stop paying, if the owners get hit by a bus, that club is in serious trouble immediately. And that is a remarkable piece of financial exposure. It's a remarkable piece of risk. >> So should we sit up and listen to this man Kogan, Simon? Because that is why in his view football is broken. Well, it depends if he's got real world solutions. I mean, I had the misfortune of trying to wade my way through that bloated 245page report of nothingness, probably paid for by the clubs that gives you no real insight to them. >> Was that before or after the New Housewives documentary you've been watching? >> Yeah, during actually. Um, >> come on. This is serious. No, it is it is it is a state of the nation about why an independent regulator exists to some extent. Yeah. And what is required from them. >> Um I was able to not bother with the last part of the report because that is fine. If he wants to dance to the fan le review and and play to the gallery of what fans require then that's fine. I got no issue with that. >> Um the big issue is cash flow. >> How do you resolve the situations? Well, owners put working capital into businesses and the ownership models of football clubs are very different from any other business. So, trying to regulate a football club like any other business. Doesn't doesn't work because it's not really a business. Football clubs are now vehicles for a variety of different things. The cook, the candlestick maker, the baker are no longer owning football clubs. It is people that are using it for a variety of different reasons. Some of it for credibility, some of it for recognizability, higher up the pyramid for influence and changing people's position and and ultimately for making money out of the capital value of a football club. So if you're Chelsea and you are spending lots of money, it's because you want to sell the football club 15 billion quid in 10 years time. If you're further down the pyramid, the big argument is about how do we fix the problem? And we talk about all the problems that most people inside the game know. You know, the banks don't lend money to football clubs outside the Premier League. So how you going to fix that particular problem? You want to redistribute. So you want to redistribute from the Premier League. to acknowledge the fact in the report that there's a big threat coming which is potentially the value of broadcasting deals. So you want the Premier League to redistribute more money knowing that potentially there's a threat to the broadcast deals whilst telling the Premier League that no more investment can be put in football clubs because of PSR and governance around that that and you want to do that at a time when you're introducing more governance. Well, good luck with that. At the same time as asking the football clubs to pay for an independent regulator because they're not going to do it on the 10 million pounds that they've currently got. they're going to have to have far more investment, inward investment into what they're doing. So, I read the report and went, "Yeah, and what?" Go ahead. I'm happy for you to introduce a whole raft of initiatives that you think are going to resolve the problems. When you talk about football clubs, I read some statistic or heard the statistics being trotted out on various news stations about 17 football clubs could couldn't even run if they paid their players nothing. I mean, which football clubs are we talking about there? Also, I also read the report where we're talking about very snapshots of football clubs, very snapshot basis for information, and a lot of it didn't make a lot of sense to me. But I do understand that in the in the world of an independent regulator, you're looking at a sport which by their own acknowledgements has very few casualties. No sport, no business is immune >> in terms of clubs going under. >> Correct. There's been some difficulties and you site Bry and you site bad processes inside the governance of the football league, i.e. allowing an owner like Steve Dell to take over without any proof of obligation. You start putting requirements on clubs to have enormous amounts of money put on side because you don't think they've got enough cash on call. If you've got an overdraft, when we talk about owner funding, if you put if you put an overdraft in in the beginning of the season and secure that overdraft by whatever methodology you do, your owner funding is in place. And the idea and the idea of with all due respect that they that the the talent pool that exists inside the independent regulator that hadn't even when I sat with him done an evaluation of all the other regulators around Europe that are embedded in the actual structure of the leagues rather than this regulator which is arms length away from the sport. Hadn't even done a proper review and you've got best-in-class that are going to write business plans for football clubs that on the whole are run by people that have been quite successful in life that are quite entrepreneurial. beggars belief, but I've got no aversion to them suggesting the pathway. If you're going to tell me that one of the main methodologies because it's it was a document full of statistics, it was a great big nothing burger of information that most people will already know inside the industry and the industry in of itself. It creates a culture which the fans will look at and go, "How's it got to this stage?" Well, we know how it's got to this stage. Players are paid too much money. Agents are not being regulated. What are you going to do about this? Banks won't lend money to football clubs outside of the Premier League. The Premier League doesn't want to give any money. The Premier League broke away from the football league in 1992 and the football league had an ample opportunity to do something about that. They didn't do anything about it. So, here you are now. How you going to squeeze the toothpaste back? So, what you're going to do is are you going to say that we're going to regulate and control how you pay and how you take the costs out of the industry? Because if you take the costs out of the industry, i.e. the player salaries and transfer fees, then yes, of course, you can create a more sustainable uh platform. But when we talk about sustainability, what does it really look like? Because they banned around these terminologies like sustainability. There's nothing more sustainable than the PIF fund, but they're not allowed to spend money at Newcastle because football has decided that inward investment is no longer required. >> But very briefly, Simon, is it not better for football that Kogan is now on the scene as opposed to before that when he wasn't? >> Um, I don't know. I mean, I've met him. I think he's a capable man. Um, I think he's grandstander. I think he thinks he's the panacea like most people that come into football that are suddenly being revered as potential solutions to problems that football thinks it has and the industry now wants it to be shown on certain aspects of the industry certainly the EFL because the EFL what the EFL want is as much grist to their elbow >> to get as much leverage to the Premier League to get some more redistribution but again I make the point the if you are accepting that people like Comcast that own Sky may not pay the same amount of money for broadcast rights and there's real threats coming in that way and you know that's Yeah. >> How are you going to ask the Premier League to redistribute money? >> At the same time as saying to them, you know, the broadcast deals are going to get smaller. At the same time as saying to them, you can't have any more inward investment because we don't like it because football clubs can't have too much inward investment. At the same time as asking for more governance to be put on top of them. At the same time as asking them to pay for the regulator. It's going to do all that. >> All right. Well, next time wait and see. >> We'll we'll persuade Mr. Cook come into this studio. >> He's an interesting character. >> In the meantime, he sounds like it. In the meantime, I was asked when I left this building yesterday. I was asked when I came into it this morning, Man Ci