Today's Football

[Trader Pat]

If its FFP I don't think the Premier League will get involved?

[Kai]

They might have to reach out to Hide The Pain Harold again! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=745R9J_RQBU

Did Liverpool just win the league next season as well?

The sheer timing of this news is crazy, there will be so many cancelled dinner reservations tonight.

[greenmark]

Crikey. Is it just me or is this massive?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51510284

How many City players will stay? Pep surely won't.

[Trader Pat]

They might have to reach out to Hide The Pain Harold again! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=745R9J_RQBU

Did Liverpool just win the league next season as well?

The sheer timing of this news is crazy, there will be so many cancelled dinner reservations tonight.

That could be what City home games look like if this is upheld, Joey Barton as manager?

[Kai]

That could be what City home games look like if this is upheld, Joey Barton as manager?

That clip was actually taken directly from a home game

Good shout about Barton, I also think Roy Hodgson deserves another crack at a top club.

The haters and The Unbearables are going to have a field day with this, let the bants begin.

If I was a City fan I'd just go ahead and uninstall internet right away.

[Euler]

If I was a City fan I'd just go ahead and uninstall internet right away.

It's going to be a torrent of trolling you would imagine.

[Euler]

I wonder how this affects this year's ECL? Will they really go for it knowing this is the last chance or will players' minds be elsewhere. Pep's gone for sure after this season.

[Kai]

I honestly thought Pep's comments yesterday were a bit weird, saying that he can easily be sacked, but now they make a lot more sense.

Pep : "I accept it. I want to win the Champions League, I dream and will enjoy the games against Real Madrid, to see what I can do. And this process, the two weeks before, will be the happiest moments of my profession, to imagine what we can do to beat them. If we don't beat them, then the chairman will come, or the sporting director, and say 'It's not good enough, we want the Champions League, I'm going to sack you'."

[Trader Pat]

I wonder how this affects this year's ECL? Will they really go for it knowing this is the last chance or will players' minds be elsewhere. Pep's gone for sure after this season.

Also really interesting scrap for 5th now, Sheff Utd, Wolves and Everton would have a genuine chance of Champions League football. And ironies of ironies Man Utd could be thrown a lifeline! The kicks in the nuts could keep coming for City fans!

[Kai]

I wonder how this affects this year's ECL? Will they really go for it knowing this is the last chance or will players' minds be elsewhere. Pep's gone for sure after this season.

Also really interesting scrap for 5th now, Sheff Utd, Wolves and Everton would have a genuine chance of Champions League football. And ironies of ironies Man Utd could be thrown a lifeline! The kicks in the nuts could keep coming for City fans!

Massive opportunity for other teams to claim a spot, new battles to be fought just when you thought the league got too boring.

Very ballsy move by UEFA, didn't think they had it in them, genuinely thought City could easily avoid any and all punishment by greasing the right wheels if need be. Turns out that spending 300mil on fullbacks does have consequences.

[Kafkaesque]

Well, well. What do you know, UEFA aren't a eunuch organization after all, and do have something resembling balls. Who knew

I'd be amazed if it stands. The fact its a 2 season ban though might mean its reduced to 1 season on appeal, still huge though.

That was my immidiate thought as well. The more I think about it though, the more I feel that this is such a monumental decision that I cannot see UEFA putting themselves out there against such a (finansially) massive club, unless they've got their evidence and ducks nicely in a row. If they mean FFP seriously, then the test case will - or should - be one where they're confident; also with CAS.

As for the 2 reduced to 1 season, I'm guessing that you're looking to the transfer bans, where they keep getting reduced. No expert on the technicalities, but it would seem to me, that there's a LOT more grey area of exactly what clubs did on purpose with regards to youth players. This is much more proveable. Either they broke the rules, and more tried to forego the rules, or they didn't.

If it does stand there'll be plenty of other clubs watching on nervously

True, but it does depend how much of it is based on City doing underhanded sponsorship stuff to avoid FFP. A fair few might be falling foul of FFP requirements, but they'll likely see a smaller punishment, since very few others are trying to cheat the system.

They might have to reach out to Hide The Pain Harold again! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=745R9J_RQBU

Did Liverpool just win the league next season as well?

The sheer timing of this news is crazy, there will be so many cancelled dinner reservations tonight.

You do realise that there's more than two teams in the PL, right?

I know where you're coming from though. Not a given that it'll hurt City that much in PL. Who knows who they'll retain and what level all those youth players are. They can lose a few stars and still - maybe - have a very, very good team. Especially when they will be playing 10-12 matches less than the other top teams.

Crikey. Is it just me or is this massive?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51510284

How many City players will stay? Pep surely won't.

Agree on Pep. He'd have to be up for something like a 4 year plan from here, with 2 of those years having little challenge.

I guess we'll find out which City players are truly mercinaries now, won't we An interesting unknown would be how many have non-CL release clauses. Also you'd expect a fair chunk of their pay would be performance-dependant, in no small part specifically performance in the CL. So it's not just the prestige, but a financial tussle with their pampered stars.

That could be what City home games look like if this is upheld, Joey Barton as manager?

That clip was actually taken directly from a home game

Good shout about Barton, I also think Roy Hodgson deserves another crack at a top club.

The haters and The Unbearables are going to have a field day with this, let the bants begin.

If I was a City fan I'd just go ahead and uninstall internet right away.

I realise, I have an issue bordering needing a 12-step-programme with my Poch fixation. That said, whereas I don't think, he was the profile, they were looking for before (if Pep left this summer), but now he's an absolute shoe-in. Kompany gone, Fernandinho on his last legs, Silva going, and this likely meaning they'll hasten moving Aguero on and going with Jesus, then their whole spine is gone. It's a 2-3 year rebuild with a strong emphasis on youth to prepare for a future assault on the CL. Poch or Nagelsmann, if they can lure him, are the two I cannot look beyond.

[Kafkaesque]

Not relevant on whether they're guilty or not, but haven't seen the piece of the story before:

"In 2014, the IC determined that City had a deficit of €180m over that two-year period, vastly in excess of the €45m permitted, and in May that year agreed a settlement which some at Uefa believed was too lenient. A day before that, the former chair of the IC, Jean-Luc Dehaene, a distinguished former prime minister of Belgium and senior EU politician, died aged 73, survived by his wife of 49 years and their four children. Spiegel quoted Cliff’s reaction to this news in an internal email, referring to the membership of the IC: “1 down, 6 to go.”

Since its exposure, no one from City has apologised for that email, apparently due to the stance that the emails were hacked, so the contents, however unfortunate, are not to be acknowledged."


Ban couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch

[Kai]

They legit got caught cooking the books, flat out cheated which practically taints every trophy they've managed to win, they (the owners) have been arrogant about the whole thing from the very start of FFP, acting like they own the whole world, I think that arrogance and carelessness will probably be their downfall. I think everything started with that Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto that leaked stuff to Der Spiegel, guy trying to save his own skin by throwing everyone under the bus but don't think it will save him from jail.

There could be an Ole shitstorm in the upcoming weeks/months as well, that should help seal his fate just before summer. Surprised the English press didn't stomp all over him by now, about him protecting a serial rapist former player and helping him escape prosecution.

[firlandsfarm]

Also really interesting scrap for 5th now, Sheff Utd, Wolves and Everton would have a genuine chance of Champions League football. And ironies of ironies Man Utd could be thrown a lifeline! The kicks in the nuts could keep coming for City fans!

It may not be that straightforward Pat … have a look at this article from The Sun about last year's situation. I'm not going to profess to understand it and could not find anything in the various "rules of qualification" to be found on the Internet. It's the last paragraph that could be the sting, I have heard before that a missing slot can be handed to another country. I guess it could depend upon the difference on interpretations … "England should have 4 teams in the CL therefore someone replaces MCity" or … "England have 4 teams that qualified but one is banned so they cannot play therefore we, UEFA, have a spare slot which we will pass on to the next deserving country". If anyone can explain The Sun article please bring it on!

[jamesg46]

I wonder how this may affect Citys game as a whole, the turmoil within the club is going to be huge after this news & also I have to wonder if they were already expecting it, or were listening to rumours of such news from agents etc. Their season may already be a reflection of this. Different players will be considering their futures or the futures of their team mates, manager, coaches etc. The pressure of this news doesn't just hit the club, I would imagine & I've heard it said also, that the players salary will be made up of performance related bonuses & 2 years with no prestige of Champions League football is financially painful but also when it comes to a players career, which players have 2 years to commit to a club with no CL.