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Relegation claim, Premier League next step, missing the point - Man City 115 charges verdict

A view from the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City are facing up to 100-plus charges from the Premier League.

Whichever way the axe falls next year, Manchester City will find themselves front and centre as their mammoth Financial Fair Play (FFP) charges verdict is revealed.

Throughout the process, City have maintained their innocence and stressed that they hold "irrefutable evidence which clears their name". Whether or not that is enough will be discovered imminently.

What is a clear source of comfort for the Blues and their supporters, though, is the confidence exuding from the Etihad Stadium. There has been no assumption that things might go wrong, when the three-person independent panel eventually speaks.

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Pep Guardiola has always spoken with supreme confidence about what he has heard from those above him. The main fear among City supporters is that it will not be enough, though, considering the Premier League's clear axe to grind and the fact they have been doing battle with each other for some time.

Here, our writers - and Guardiola - put forward their thoughts on the impending 115 charges case verdict.

Pep Guardiola

I read something about how we need to be relegated immediately; 75 per cent of the clubs want it, because I know what they do behind the scenes and this sort of stuff.

I prefer not to be in that position but once it's there I love it - because you believe in your club and the people there. I believe what they say to me [about the alleged breaches] and the reasons why.

We're awaiting the sentence in February or March. What happens if we are relegated? I will be here.

I don't know the position they are going to bring us. The Conference?

But we will come up and come up and come back to the Premier League. I feel it.

Simon Bajkowski

Whenever anything crops up around these Premier League charges, the answer to what it means is almost always 'We don't know yet'. Everyone works to find out of course, but private arbitration between private businesses does a pretty good job of not making any of the evidence public so almost all of it is guesswork as to what has and hasn't been relevant in the case.

On top of that, the nature of the accusations are unprecedented for the competition. Similar cases involving the Premier League or the particular area of law have been used to put a benchmark on when to expect things but nothing is certain; there has been no official timeline announced as to when a verdict will be reached or how long any appeals may take.

The day that one side can start strongly disputing the result is coming and eagerly anticipated (well, maybe not although nobody likes not getting a proper answer) but with both sides sticking to the private nature of the case we still don't know yet when that day will be.

Jack Flintham

As Simon alludes to, nothing is known about which way this case is currently leaning and that adds to the worry among the City fanbase. If I was to make my best guess at what is going to happen if City are found guilty, then I would be reasonably confident that the nuclear option of automatic relegation or demotion would not occur.

This is simply because it would be too damaging for the Premier League to push that particular button. Demoting City would lead to legal challenges from a whole host of clubs, who might feel they had wrongfully missed out on the title in years gone by.

It would get even messier - and quickly - and the Premier League, although feel they have grounds to punish City, quite simply do not want that. A more likely option in my eyes is that a transfer embargo is introduced as well as a points deduction - enough to appease those baying for blood but not enough to relegate the Blues.

This feels like the only route which avoids further complications down the line.

Liam Wood

First and foremost, it has to be said that City are innocent until proven guilty. The club themselves have stood firm in refuting all charges put forward against them - and Guardiola has publicly fronted that angle.

The fact City have been so, so successful over the last decade or so has prompted supporters from their rivals, and perhaps the Premier League as a whole, to throw the book at them before unpacking everything the hearing and a three-person panel have had to do themselves while legally bound.

It might not have been quite so heavy-handed had these charges been put forward against a mid-table side.

Any talk of point deductions, transfer bans or the dreaded 'R' word is very much jumping the gun. City, on the basis they back up what they have been saying all along, could make a lot of people look foolish if they win this case and effectively clear their name, even though an appeal and outside outcry are still possible.

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