I literally said their punishment needs to be felt on and off the pitch and impact multiple seasons. I’m not quite sure how that comes across as in any way being an apologist for them.
If we want to talk about unbecoming then wishing to see a football club essentially removed from existence is probably where we should start that particular conversation.
Beyond all the partisan football stuff there are still hundreds of every day folk who are now shitting themselves about their future livelihood. I know people at Leicester City which is why I mentioned their struggles balancing premier league infrastructure on a L1 budget. Some have already lost work and income, others are struggling to cope with reduced head counts and budgets being slashed. Maybe that gives me an ounce more sympathy than others on here. If that’s unbecoming of me then perhaps this isn’t the place for me.
I mentioned this before. That can be no argument for allowing cheats to get away. And from the sounds of it there may well be criminal charges in the horizon. We are talking about defrauding individuals and other football clubs.
You have to also remember. We had to push ourselves so hard to match the cheats that after each high performing season, there was a dip the next and It’s clear to see why. You can’t keep fighting against two top class starting 11’s consistently. Put together by defrauding mostly us but also the entire league. Some of our lads probably had their time at top flight curtailed because they burned the candle from both ends.
But it also doesn’t mean we can’t show some compassion for those people who’ll be hardest hit by these punishments. None of them will have been involved. None of them will have the financial safety nets that the owners, execs, players and the likes of Pep and Mancini will have. Believe me, I know some people in situations like this at a club that’s only gone down two divisions in two years. It’s genuinely frightening to see how little the club cares about them when shit gets dicey.
Wiping a club out of existence is a huge deal. Doesn’t matter if it’s City, Leicester, Bury or Boavista. I’m surprised by the level of desire to see that happen and the glee it would bring people if that’s the way it went.
I think it’s definitely appropriate to consider the knock on effects of an appropriate level of punishment, but the Leicester story surely says that the local economic impacts are likely to happen even with punishments well short of a death penalty. Ultimately as terrible as it is for anyone caught up in that, saving jobs cannot factor in too highly. If we’re concerned about it, put some of the funds from whatever financial penalty is levied into an employee transition fund. They are much more deserving of that money than the league is.
Im the opposite. I feel they need to be hurt in a way that makes it unlikely they can challenge for anything any time soon. I think it was Adam Crafton who described it reciprocal deceleration (matching the speed and extent their cheating accelerated them).
If they keep their titles and are never in contention to win another one that is effectively an asterisk.
The likes of ourselves, arsenal, utd, Chelsea and spurs all came 2nd to city over the past 17 yrs. All seen as relatively big clubs(jokes aside), but look where Leicester are now. While it didn’t happen, how would people feel if that title had been robbed from them by city cheating with the likelihood that they’ll never get to win that again.
Personally, it would not bring me glee or joy, but for the level of cheating they have conducted for nearly 20 years, the least punishment is to burn the club to the fucking ground. And remember, those people losing their jobs were involved, and can be prosecuted if they actively participate in, direct or or consent to the crime.
I bet almost everyone at club knew that there was dodgy shit going on, yet not 1 of them came forward, so they are at a minimum guilty of consenting to the cheating.
There is nothing to suggest that hitting City in the hardest way by banishing them to the Ntional League would then cause the club to collapse. This is a massively wealthy club with a global fanbase that can provide revenue for it’s financial health no matter the circumstances. They have a huge stadium that there fans can attend during the big games against Dag & Red too. There are no transfer or loan limits in that league either, although transfer bans can be imposed…for financial impropriety!
You are being a bit of a wuss to let you heart bleed for City staff who might, or might not, lose their incomes. That’s part of business and football as I’m sure slimy Sir Jim told the canteen ladies at Ye Olde Trafforde. When corrupt banks collapsed in 2008 and bankers were laid off did we agonise over their demise. Like fuck we did. It was tough shit and that’s how City should be viewed.
I’m more focused on how WE were shafted by this and the revenue lost by our club, managers and players. Like Koptician says, let the trillionaire owners of City establish a fund to help any laid-off staff but thousands of immigrant construction workers in UAE will be thinking, don’t hold your breath.
No I don’t reminding. People need to stop telling others how to feel.
I’m fully aware of what this meant for us. I felt the heartache of being so close and missing out. But will them being punished out of existence give me the joy I experienced when we did win the league? No, it won’t.
You call it misplaced compassion. That means you think the media team who’d lose jobs deserve to be unemployed. The match day staff who’ll lose their livelihood deserve to wonder how they’ll pay their bills. The catering supplier who’d get pennies on every pound they’re owed deserve to be out of pocket.
But again, that doesn’t mean I think City should get away with it. They need to be punished and suitably so that hurts them on and off the field. But labelling someone an apologist for not being on board with them being scrubbed from existence? Nah, you can do one if that’s where you want to draw the line.
People lose their jobs every single day for one reason or another. And as @Limiescouse mentioned, the PL needs to set aside funds to help out the staff who will be affected. After all, they are the ones who rubber-stamped Abu Dhabi’s purchase.
