Manchester United Banter 2

04 Oct 2026 07:39:02
{Ed's Note - EHL2020 has posted a new article entitled, Can Rangers Replace Morelos's Tactical Impact?

03 Oct 2026 15:22:44
This whole City thing will drag on and on and on. The water is getting muddier by the day.

Systemic cheating designed to circumvent the rules to gain an unfair sporting advantage.

The punishment needs to fit the crime, and seeing as this is a historic case in it's magnitude and timescale then the punishment has to be equal to that.

For at least a decade Man City have been cheating, with more likely to come out as the current charges only account for things done up to 2018. And let's be honest, no one believes that in 2018 after nearly a decade of cheating and getting away with it they suddenly decided to stop of their own accord.

Which actually makes punishing them trickier now, as it will set a precedent. If (as expected) they are found to have continued breaking the same rules to the same extent between 2018-2026 then they will have to face the same level of punishment.

Of course they will continue to fight this, they are owners who are not used to losing, ever. To them the answer is always how much to make it go away. Yet the cleanest solution, is also an unsavoury one. A deal needs to be agreed with the Man City owners to accept their guilt, to stop fighting it, and to cooperate with further investigations fully. Yet they will not do that without getting something in return.

Of course the alternative is for the EPL to continue to go to war with them and drag this whole thing out longer and longer, to continue to drag footballs reputation through the mud, until someone runs out of money to keep fighting it.

There is no clean and clear way to end this without City's cooperation.

While personally I'd like to see them relegated back to non-league football and made to take the long way back. The reality is that there is no way City will accept that, they will keep fighting it and dragging it out. And ultimately who wins? I know who loses. The fans lose, the people employed by the club lose, football loses.

The non-negotiable should be that City get all of their titles during that period stripped. I don't think they should be redistributed, as it's too messy. Just no winners during those seasons. You cannot allow a club to cheat to win and then retain the spoils of their cheating.

Beyond that, relegation, point deductions, director bans, transfer bans, and the timeframe for any/all of these will probably need to be negotiated.

Some sort of a deal that includes City accepting responsibility, fronting up about any additional cheating beyond 2018 and a total punishment being agreed for all of it is what needs to happen.

Unfortunately, I doubt that will happen as it appears that there are too many egos involved who aren't prepared to give an inch to gain a mile.

03 Oct 2026 18:15:44
My head is just hurting thinking about it now. im actually angry, not because of the cheating but because I've paid £1000s over the years to see a fraud of a league. But its the cup games that's got me, semis of fa and league cup, lost to players that shouldn't have been on pitch. I think i'm more angry now after a week (after laughing i must admit) because the game i love watching has to me been ruined by it all.

If and its a huge if, city get off I feel that i'm done with it all. My heart sack when Burham came out with that, now its all political and its just feeling s@@t. In fact i'm not angry i'm sad at the state of affairs.

03 Oct 2026 19:54:30
Nick, I feel much the same way. It's the idea that the sporting merit has been taken away. For some young fans it's wiped out all their memories of the game, the first 10 years of their life watching football means nothing as pretty much none of the results count for anything.

This is the thing that the EPL have to understand, the decisions they make now will have lasting long term impacts on the game. Do they turn. A generation of football fans away from the game by being weak, or do they start to rebuild footballs reputation (which is in the gutter right now) by being strong.

At the same time, the only way we get to move past this is anytime soon is either by City accepting a form of punishment and choosing not to drag it on, or for the EPL (and wider football) to be so hard on City that they wipe them out of existence to bring this to an end (which isn't something I'd want to see, while they might be rivals, the fans shouldn't suffer due to the mismanagement of the owners).

If not then this will drag on and on and on and continue to drag football through the mud until it turns all fans away.

03 Oct 2026 21:48:40
As you can suspend a person from their job whilst under investigation, can't they do that whilst it drags on?
It's odd they're allowed to keep playing until a punishment or appeal is decided.


As without the initial cheating and success it brought, they'd not have the squad etc they have today.
Games they don't play, automatic 3 points to the other team. End up relegated by not getting any points.

03 Oct 2026 22:21:23
Owners removed
Point deduction now. -90
Relegated to League 2 or below
Titles stripped and reassigned
Transfer Ban
Huge Fine enough to distributed proportionally to compensate all affected.

Open top bus tour with Sir Alex and Jose.

03 Oct 2026 22:55:24
Key, the problem is that suspending them until the outcome of any appeal etc would be what happens if they are successful in that appeal?

It's not like a normal job where you get suspended and someone else picks up your slack until the outcome.

If City win the appeal and have missed half a season how does the league recompense that? What do you do about the clubs who have already played City this season? Do you take away any points they might have picked up against them? And even if you did they still had to play that game, how can it be fair to have some teams in the league play one more game than the rest.

Then you have to think about all the people employed by City, not just the players and the coaching staff, but grounds keepers, the cleaners, the catering staff, the stewards, the shop staff. Those that rely on their wages who'll effectively be made redundant in time for Christmas.

03 Oct 2026 23:04:43
Utd Road, that would be the dream, although I wouldn't want the titles and cups reassigned. They are tainted and carry little to no sporting merit. Whose to say how those seasons would have panned out without the cheating from City. It's far to reductive to just give them to the team that finished second or lost the cup final.

City probably need there to be a clean end to this as much as the rest of football. Maybe by agreeing to a deal where they accept a punishment a part of that would include an agreement from the other English clubs and players not to take up private damages claims against them.

Maybe something more like stripped of all titles won during that period, a massive fine that goes into a pot and is redistributed to the impacted clubs and players. Then a points reduction of say 40 points per season for 9 years (the period of time they cheated), effectively barring them from being able to challenge for major titles during that time, but not forcing the club into a position where they will surely go out of business and all those innocent people lose their livelihoods.

04 Oct 2026 06:04:00
Really how does anyone in this day and age think when billions and billions is involved in anything, there is not some degree of it being tainted, it's very naive and your not in the real world if that's how you think, it's just a matter of what level it goes to

All the games of so called Fergie time, was that all official or was it an over zealous ref or a looked after ref, Barca now, Real Madrid have handed over dossier on it .

If you really think that city is the one and only case, your in king of the north 1970 world.

04 Oct 2026 07:48:48
Just for the record, during Fergies period as manager, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton all scored more 90+ minute winners than United.

04 Oct 2026 08:36:30
It's funny the idea from Shappy that City should have to agree with a punishment. A city fan was on the radio when my wife and I were driving and said City would have to agree to any punishment. She doesn't have any interest in football but said that is such utter rubbish and started laughing, then a few days later brought it up and laughed again. It's like someone being found guilty in court and sentenced to years in prison and the judge saying would you agree, the lag says, no your honour 2 hours community service and the judge says ok.

Shappy, I don't think City will agree to anything.

There has to be a punishment decided by the league and that's it. City are not the governing body. I don't think the owners are used to not having control and it is greatly angering them, but making aggressive sweeping statements about the PL is not going to help them. We have to see justice and actually agree it should be multi season points deduction but the first season must be enough to relegate them and all the titles taken away, a dash in the records. I don't want a second hand title particularly but no club should have a recorded achievement won through cheating.

If justice is not seen to be done then I don't think the Premier League will have the same attraction ever again. I don't want to watch a tainted product.

04 Oct 2026 09:33:18
Allowing City to cooperate means compromise.

Nope. No compromise. Otherwise it leaves the door open.

04 Oct 2026 14:14:54
Red Man, I'm not saying City have to agree to the punishment for it to be handed out, what I'm saying is that with the money and power that City's owners have that the only way to have a clean end to this is a punishment they agree to.

Otherwise they will drag this on and on and on and we will still have no clear end to this in 10 years time. They will appeal, they will sue, they will continue to drag football through the mud until they get l an outcome they are happy with. The longer that takes the less give they will likely have.

This whole debacle has taken what, 7years to get to this point, do you really think City won't keep fighting for another decade or more if they feel they should.

How many more tainted seasons do we want? How much longer do you want to watch football unclear whether it has any real sporting merit before you turn away from it?

It is in everyone's best interest to come to a quick and fair solution to this. That only happens if it is something City won't appeal anymore.

04 Oct 2026 14:17:49
I don't like the physiology to reject a title earned and deserved.

I don't see why Citeh need to agree to anything.

Anyone with a brain and confidence to speak said and knew they'd cheated. Same about sports washing of a religious Nation of Oil miners and human rights abusers.

The same people who looked the other way not wanting to to rock the boat and the same people bottling it when it comes repercussions.

This mafia level corruption - Government leaders, local councils, football.

We need a backbone and appetite for maximum blood letting.

Keep digging, check QPR players finances and I'm sure you'll see that result was a fix.

04 Oct 2026 22:02:56
So essentially you want City to choose their punishment? Sorry Shappy, i personally think that just farcical. It is not a clean end, it is sweeping the problem under the carpet.

Essentially setting a precedent that it is okay to cheat because whenever you get caught you can choose your punishment based on your monetary power.

Nope. MAXIMUM impact now to show some balls or the game is gone.

04 Oct 2026 22:56:32
You can't change what's happened (teams that have played so far this season) same as the work someone has done where you say others pick up the slack.
The club would still operate but not play in the PL.
And as crappy as it is for staff etc if a company closes outside of football (for whatever reason) the staff get made redundant etc. No one wants that for them but it's what happens.
Just because you want to be able to get on with football doesn't mean they should get off easily or it should be done in a way to get them back competing.


Need to be made an example of and plenty of other teams that have missed out on things because of it and deserve their space.
So the quick and fair solution would be to remove them during the process.
If (likely) guilty anything negative (being relegated by not playing) is time served already.
If not guilty they start playing again.

05 Oct 2026 06:48:47
"that with the money and power that City's owners have that the only way to have a clean end to this is a punishment they agree to."

No, no, no.

Who are the governing body? City's owners or the Premier League.

If the PL give in to "money and power" the league is done. As an example Everton could say they were not treated equally when deducted points because they didn't have money and power. It's just not acceptable and would destroy the fabric of the league.

05 Oct 2026 18:13:30
Keefy, I'm not saying they choose their punishment, I'm saying that if they want the quickest and cleanest end to this then everyone needs to sit down and negotiate that.

Otherwise City will keep fighting this and it will never end.

Do you want to see City still competing for the title over the next decade as we get appeal after appeal, after appeal?

Or do you want a line drawn under it, a fair punishment handed out, and for football to be able to move on and just enjoy the sport?

05 Oct 2026 19:42:54
By negotiate they get what they want as a punishment. They will drag it out anyway until they get that so

NO NO NO!

I, and I suspect most people, want the EPL to show some balls and make the decision that stops this ever happening again. Not one that leaves a chink of light for anyone to pull the same stunt moving forward.

Whether we get that is of course an entirely different discussion.

03 Oct 2026 00:33:51
A brilliant visual analysis of Man City cheating. It's an A+ for detail

tiktok.com/ZN8h48kKr/

03 Oct 2026 14:57:35
Nothing there.

04 Oct 2026 02:25:14
Sorry Fizz don't know how that happened but I did copy the link again and it's changed.

If the new link is invalid look for sports ball on tik tok it hits every point perfectly.

04 Oct 2026 08:23:39
Which 'new' link?

04 Oct 2026 10:52:08

I have not seen a better explanation of Manchester City's case. https://t.co/1HhZCU7T9B

— Ten (@Tenbaldi) October 2, 2026

04 Oct 2026 12:12:44
Thanks Peter that's it.

03 Oct 2026 12:03:17
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new player profile about, Jahnoah Markelo

02 Oct 2026 22:17:33
On a lighter note. Anyone been watching Stick to United.
I think Rooney comes across well. Though Mark Goldbridge (if that's even his real name ;) ) really doesn't offer much.

02 Oct 2026 22:54:53
Definitely not his real name, haven't watched it but don't mind Rooney tbh, def not the worst out there.

03 Oct 2026 03:44:34
It's been very good.

03 Oct 2026 12:15:47
His real name is Brent Di Cesare.
He adopted the pseudonym "Mark Goldbridge" when he started his online career because his previous job as a police financial fraud detective did not allow him to use his real name.

03 Oct 2026 21:51:59
I knew that was his name and he was in the police but thought he'd chosen something more 'relatable' as a 'fan'.

Brent Di Cesare sounds a more flamboyant signing from Serie A.

02 Oct 2026 11:14:12
Below from Bloomberg, kind of explains Andy Burnham's submissive comments about the UAE earlier this week.

"UAE officials have warned the UK government that the severity of Man City's punishment could undermine their appetite for future grand-scale commitments in Britain, according to people familiar with the matter

They consider the Premier League's actions to have an influence on the bilateral state relationship, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing undisclosed information

The extraordinary pressure comes after Andy Burnham faced criticism, including from within government, for saying Man City's Abu Dhabi owners should not be disqualified specifically because of the investment they bring to Britain".



As have said previously, I can't see the punishment for City being too severe because of the geopolitics involved here. Happy to be proven wrong though.

02 Oct 2026 12:01:52
If the Premier League do not deal with it then I suspect the European league could raise its head again and I doubt they would include City.
If it has now come down to threats then it is effectively bullying and no governing body should make a decision on that basis.

If this country subsided to threats then we would all be speaking German now.

02 Oct 2026 13:12:26
This is really the major part of the story where the consequences are potentially most significant. Yes, of course nobody outside the club wants Citeh to get away with such a severe case of cheating, but we're dealing with autocratic owners who do not live by the same rules as us. The law does not apply to them. That's how they see the world. And, they have enormous power.

The cats out of the bag. If the appeal succeeds we will all think it's a whitewash. They're guilty in the public eye. Citeh are going to be greeted by extremely hostile crowds wherever they go. Enormous damage has already been done.

Burnham has been criticized for his remarks so far, but let's be fair, whether we like it or not, this is a matter that transcends football. It's got major financial and international relations implications, and is rightly a matter that's of major importance to a prime minister seeking to balance our laws with our need for investment and good international relationships. The EPL has been a major success for Britain. This could be a watershed moment when the downturn starts, and if does how does that affect other clubs, especially those like ours that are already weighed down by debt and losses.

We made a faustian bargain when we started to let states own football clubs through pseudo independent bodies.

Who was it that said football is the most important of all trivial things? Well, coming on top of the Infantino mess, football maybe trivial but its tentacles are not.

02 Oct 2026 14:51:56
There is no way a breakaway league would not include city imo. I think there is every cuddle now that they will be the drivers of such a league and perhaps the 1st english club to join the likes of madrid barca psg bayern ajax galatasaray with possible saudi and asian teams too.
I don't think city will be expelled from the epl for that very reason. If city we're expelled i think there would be a breakaway league formalised within 12 months.


The epl in that situation will become a lot less relevant and powerful.
City need to be punished but not extinguished.
Strip them of their titles a heavy fine heavy compensation to other clubs a transfer ban / limits and a points deduction re-ocurring for several seasons. Something of that order imo would be appropriate.
Possible director bans would also be in order but they'll just work from home🤣.

02 Oct 2026 16:35:49
Points deduction every season will result in same, if we're saying they will look at breakaway league.

It's pointless in my view trying to go back to strip titles etc and all the problems that would open up, in clubs complaining about champs leagues, relegations and players losing medals and sue them, it opens up huge can of worms etc etc

All they can do is huge fine which will like water of a ducks back plus big points deduction in this season which will result in relegation plus a 3 year ban of returning to epl. and move on. this stripping titles or reassigning is ridicolous because can of worms it opens.

I wonder if Andy got squeaky bum did he turn a blind eye to anything planning etc, or donations? I wonder, he certainly back tracking big time now, this all happened on his watch of his beloved city Manchester where he wants to take praise for everything! Squeaky squeaky bum time I would say.

02 Oct 2026 18:22:51
Stripping of titles is a must imo they can't claim titles they have been proven to have cheated in. I would not hand them to roberts up just lane a void in record books no champions only runners up.
Im not sure what they did in lance armstrong case.

Did they hand them to runners up?
If they have broken no legal laws then litigation for compensation will be very difficult for other clubs i think there is a lot of hyperbole around that.

02 Oct 2026 18:39:33
I thought the European League was an attempt to get around financial regulations and shared tv revenues?

Doubt that they'd shun a club for spending too much money.

02 Oct 2026 19:53:59
How can anyone say they would have or would not have won those certain games though, Aguero scored the winner in that famous goal, how do we know he would not have been bought and paid for under normal circumstances how does anyone know some kid might have scored in the same game, it's all guess work, hence I say just leave the past records as past records, move on EPL are to blame too for taking so long to get to this stage.

Huge fine that's get put back into grass roots football, point reduction that relegates them this season and 3 or 5 year Epl ban. That in itself will take care of transfers in and out. then up to FIFA or UEFA to do their bans.

I am not for this stripping titles or appointing other winners in years gone by. Stop trying to play with history, we have enough of that in U.K. now by the woke brigade.

Plenty more may come out yet and bring others down too, gloves are off now with City, bet there be some more high profile names dragged in yet!

03 Oct 2026 07:40:35
I am generally agreeing with Tumble

You cannot say they cheated and at the same time leave them with titles they won from that cheating. I also think you shouldn't hand them to second place, just a blank. It actually then reminds everyone for eternity of what happened. I do not ever want to hear a comparison between Pep and SAF ever again. I also don't think throwing them out of the league will happen. It needs, however, a points deduction of enormous level say 75 to ensure relegation and 30 points a season for the next 5 seasons they come into the Premier League, take the titles away.

Compensation is an interesting one, there will be claims going in anyway but can they go into administration to avoid it? After all if they are going to be deducted points a few more won't make any difference.

The Euro league is something I am not sure City would be invited to. The big European clubs would want the Prem clubs and I am not sure our big clubs will want to play with City, not for some time anyway.

03 Oct 2026 09:40:23
City's appeal already has a huge contradiction in it based on 2015 evidence produced for other evidence regarding government and Etihad money. They are going out guns blazing and this is not looking good for Burnham if people dig a little deeper imo. It maybe that City's money feathered his nest whilst he was Mayor.

03 Oct 2026 15:06:09
Like I said I don't agree with stripping titles or handing over titles it's too difficult to say who would have been there or not been there at the time they won, how would anyone know if a player would have scored or not it would all be based on guesswork, 11 players were out on the pitch and managed and they won, it was still 11 v 11 would it have been the same 11 if not untold cash, we have no way of being 100% about that it's gone it's done, no point in harping on about the past, it's from this point forward that counts and trying to stop the EPL from being tarnished anymore.


The king of the North harps on about yesteryear! That's enough.

02 Oct 2026 10:12:15
With all the stories coming out of football at the moment, City and Barcelona accusations, someone has mentioned to me that Rui Pinto lad has apparently suggested he's going to make another announcement tonight at 6pm. If that's true, it feels like football needs a massive reboot IMO.

With that in mind, if you could make one change to football, completely separate from all the financial rule-breaking stuff, what would it be?

Personally, I'd like to see the transfer window open the day after the FA Cup final and close the day before the Premier League season starts. Once the season begins, that's your squad for the year.

If you need to strengthen during the season, that's where your academy should come in. It would also put much more emphasis on clubs developing their own players rather than constantly looking to the transfer market.

02 Oct 2026 10:53:42
Picking 1 thing i'd like to change is too limiting ports.
1. Offside rule i'd change to 'if any part of you is onside then your are deemed onside. Ie there must be clear daylight between attacker and degender to be deemed offside.
2. i'd limit all clubs to a definitive amount of player ourchases PA. So you can only make a maximum of 4 or 5 signings per season.


3. 20 min sin bin for non dangerours cynical deliberate fouls that stop breakaway attacks or a penalty awarded in those circumstances even if the foul takes place on halfway line. (A bit like penalty try in rugby) its one of the worst cheating offences and the punishment of a yellow or free kick does not fit the crime imo.
They are my top 3 ports.

02 Oct 2026 10:58:05
Yeah agree Ken, just 1 is a tough ask, we could discuss for days. I also considered and like the idea of limiting the amount of transfers you can make in the window.

03 Oct 2026 15:09:02
Wage cap
Better quality of referees
Scrap VAR
If your on the pitch your active for offsides.
1 month summer transfer window, no winter window

Proper manager at United with some decent coaches and players!

01 Oct 2026 20:05:16
City's smoking gun is that the funds came from the Abu Dhabi government not the owner. they are one and the same no doubt but would that be enough of a technicality to get them off? because if that part of the case falls then the rest goes with it.

01 Oct 2026 20:35:22
How does that change the fact that 3rd party transactions were sham, with revenue actually coming from somewhere other than claimed in the club's submissions? If it were a definitive rebuttal of the EPL's case, why was it not raised by Citeh's legal team during the hearing?

It's going to be a mess. If the guilty verdict is upheld, the penalty is going to have to be quite severe. Everton were docked 10, reduced to 6 points, for a PSR breach, then a further 2 points and had to pay Burnley £39m in damages and interest because the latter got relegated. Citeh's behaviour is of a different order of magnitude over 9 years, compounded by deliberate deception and obfuscation.

The consequences go far beyond football into international relations. It's a serious loss of face, and wealth, for the owners and there will be repercussions.

01 Oct 2026 22:46:55
No idea but that's what's being reported in various outlets.

02 Oct 2026 00:43:06
It's a fascinating subject. I just watched an Athletic podcast hosted by Kate Mason with Adam Crafton, Matt Slater and Rob Green. They touched on this matter.

02 Oct 2026 10:05:48
Newnameoldideas, I agree. I'm quite invested in this now and genuinely interested to see what the outcome will be. It's not just because it's City, but because the whole process, and the tactics being used by both sides, are fascinating to watch.

The other day I was convinced they were done for, then literally the next day I was thinking they were going to get away with it. It seems to change every few hours!

The stories and revelations coming out around football in general at the moment are both fascinating and quite sad at the same time.

My son showed me a tweet from a United fan that made me laugh. It was something along the lines of: "We've won 3 Premier League titles and 2 European Cups inside a week. You'll never sing that!".

03 Oct 2026 09:45:36
Manchester City's key defence in their appeal against the Premier League guilty verdict is undermined by statements made by their title sponsor Etihad Airways to the US government in 2015 This will get worse for them based on the big error in their appeal.

There is no way around this unless the Labour government & Burnham somehow intervene to give a softer punishment.
This all should go into a criminal investigation the more it unravels.

03 Oct 2026 15:10:17
I think the king of the North may have his own squeaky bum to be concerned about.

01 Oct 2026 15:55:02
There's a rumour doing the rounds that some City players never really wanted to leave because they weren't just being looked after through their official wages but allegedly through additional money and benefits kept off the books.

The more outrageous version of the story claims that some of those benefits extended to the players' wives and families, expensive gifts and other arrangements that were supposedly kept very quiet, because the owners' wives might not have been too happy discovering their husbands were 'blessing' footballers' wives. 😂

To be clear, the wives / gifts part is just a rumour and I've seen no reliable evidence proving it.

What is now documented is that a Premier League independent commission found Manchester City had used arrangements involving third parties and owner-funded remuneration, with payments of £8.866m, £7.4m and £0.5m identified.

So while the wildest part of the story remains unproven, the idea that there were financial arrangements beyond the straightforward official wage bill is no longer simply internet folklore.

It Makes you wonder where some of these old rumours actually came from 👀 and I'm sure their is substance to some of it.

01 Oct 2026 00:37:00
It's a sad fact that so often money trumps morality and decency. Football long ago sold it's soul to money.

Now the City wagons are drawing tighter together with Pep and Etihad Airways joining the counter offensive. That's to be expected. If City lose Guardiolas achievements count for little. Etihads owners will naturally support their "brother owners" especially as where they come from corruption and bribery is not unknown.

What's more disturbing is our Prime Minister being interviewed and appearing to be more worried about City being convicted than the truth being revealed.

I understand that City have been a force for good in regenerating deprived parts of Manchester but if they did this with "dirty" money by cheating and breaking rules it undermines so much of what they did.

More importantly I detest any Prime Minister who is prepared to back a cheat. Our leaders are supposed to set the rest of the country a good example and punish miscreants not cow tow to them no matter how rich they are or how much they donate to this country.

I appreciate the economic fallout from this could have big economic consequences for this country but some things are worth more than money.

01 Oct 2026 03:48:12
From the bit of the interview I heard he didn't go quite so far as to back a cheat. He did say that the investments by the club in Manchester had been of great value to the city and it would be a shame to lose that. That's not unfair. What have our owners done? Run the club into the ground.

He's apparently an Everton supporter and campaigned for the club against their punishment, which did ultimately see the penalty reduced after errors were adjudged to have been made. He said he didn't want to take sides but you could maybe tell he was soured by the PL's treatment of Everton. I think any fan would be.

The apparent scale of the subterfuge compared to the Everton case and the effect on all the other EPL teams over a long period of time is of a so much greater order that it's hard to imagine what a fair penalty would be. The judgment covers a period from 2009-2018 but even if the club doesn't cheat any more, the reality is that today's success and the clubs ability to pay top $ for everything is based on the sustained prior period of cheating for the years in question. It's not unlike a criminal; getting rich and then reverting to legitimate businesses once a lot of money has been made.

01 Oct 2026 08:44:35
He should have kept out of this. His express mention of the investment made in Manchester the City immediately raises red flags. Yes there has been huge investment but first and foremost this is a football matter.

He should have said "this is something that the football authorities must deal with and I won't comment further until they have".
, instead his comments make me suspicious that his former role as Mayor and current position as PM will be used because of the huge amount of money previously invested and potentially might be invested by thy City owners in this country. It's an understandable thing but not the right one for him to get involved.

This is about the whole integrity of our national game and something that he should have really emphasised giving his own personal background this is about how we the fans have been sold a lie and dreams realised by some now crushed.

01 Oct 2026 09:47:53
This is exactly what sports washing is, making people look the other way by throwing money at it whilst you're doing all of your dodgy things. The fact they are still denying all of this really worries me and if they get away with it I think that will be me done with football.

I'll never go and watch United against City whilst they still have these owners, what's the point, the game would mean nothing, we know what they are.

01 Oct 2026 09:53:57
The PM shouldn't be making comments about Man City and should be focusing on running the Country instead.

01 Oct 2026 11:12:14

It has absolutely f*** all to do with Andy Burnham and he should keep his nose out of it.

01 Oct 2026 14:12:43
You guys are being way too harsh.

I watched his speech at the Labour conference. He is clearly highly focused on running the country.

Having been mayor of Manchester for 9 years he's also going to be highly attuned to what's good for the city, and I don't see how this matter enhances its, or indeed the country's economic wellbeing. From Brexit onwards, the UK has made itself a far less attractive place to invest in anything as it is.

Also, because of his connection to the city, he's obviously going to be asked about it, whether he likes it or not.

We all suspect that the findings are true, despite Citeh's protestations. Nevertheless, rushing to judgment works both ways.

The negative reaction is completely over the top.

01 Oct 2026 14:28:22
Yh this is the elephant in the room, the UK is tied to the UAE and other gulf states for investment like the investment that's taken place in Manchester or Canary Wharf as examples.

I honestly can't see to severe a punishment for City as to put future investment into jeopardy. Andy Burnham has just said the quite part out loud that no one wants to really acknowledge as they are too busy enjoying Citys negative press coverage.

01 Oct 2026 18:03:12
DSG, you are probably right, but isn't this the ultimate point. that someone or body of authority with a backbone stands up and says "No. you can stuff your money. we are not for sale. Some things are worth more than money".

At the moment it looks like GB Plc is on sale to the highest bidder no matter how reputable they are.

01 Oct 2026 20:16:42
Newname,

If he was clearly focussed on running the country his comments would be more about growth, economics & how to deal with a bond market in meltdown. Yet he made no comment about that, then came out with an inappropriate comment about the City situation, then when realising how bad it was, oops, issued another statement about whether wrongdoing was established, almost forgetting a guilty verdict had been announced, hence compounding the initial error, making it worse, that's amateur.


This isn't just about rivalry, this is something that politics and politicians should go nowhere near, not least because it sounds like favouring a club over the main governing body but also because it is interfering with a set process and that opens a whole set of further questions. It can make everyone feel like there is a political reason, so he can say well we tried, please don't stop investing in Manchester. What about the rest of the country?

My concern is that if the Premier League are thwarted after the position they have taken, that City are then in control of the rules, we won't have a league that means anything.

01 Oct 2026 22:22:58
Interesting that the PM has today distanced himself from the case. Obviously aware now of how his statement yesterday was inappropriate.

02 Oct 2026 00:10:23
Burnham was asked about the city situation, he'd also spoke about it before the verdict. I prefer him trying to answer, and it not being perfect than give some non committal stock answer.
The gulf states, invest in many countries, they basically keep the US afloat.

Those investments carry a lot f influence.
I'd expect Burnham to be hesitant, as on balance if you like it or not, he is acting in the countries interest to keep gulf states and the petro dollars flowing towards the UK.

02 Oct 2026 14:55:50
Leaders always need to prioritise.

03 Oct 2026 15:14:39
lol that's the best joke of the year from his speech you could see he is highly focused on running the country, you clear misspelled Running its should be Ruining the Country with his down the pub 1970s crap trap. let's have a beer at the football tosh. that's about his level.