I have gone back to and altered this so many times over the last week or so because, and I’m being genuine here, I’m very conflicted by the whole situation and it’s been so fluid.
Like most people in my near 60-year existence on this planet I’ve grown, changed, developed based on my upbringing, life experiences and exposure to so many different facets of life. Where I sit presently in life is where I suspect most people are: quite mainstream, hardworking, loving I’m now in the nearly retired grandparent zone without the speed and chaos of my earlier life.
I’m very conservative now in nature, follow the rules mainly, don’t cut too many corners, and I’m a straight up dependable type of lad. But every so often the young man rears his head to say “stuff that” and wants to tear things up a bit and this is where I stand on the Manchester City 115 circus. Everything tells me that it’s wrong, rules are rules (as a former CEO used to say of me, more as a dig than a complement). They’ve been caught and deserve a substantial and long reaching set of sanctions to teach them and others that it’s just not cricket to cheat.
Now the young anarchist and rebel in me is really coming to the fore. I try to keep him tucked away, hidden, but he’s very strong over this subject and here’s why.
Manchester City are us, Newcastle United with a 20 year head start, aren’t they? They are light years ahead of us in every facet as football club, but I’m naturally inclined to be taking their side.
They are from the north, sneered at by the elites and hated because they are state owned by a Middle Eastern country very similar to ourselves. I look at them and wish we could emulate them in the future. However now we learn that they only really achieved it by cooking the books, well, finding a way to swerve the Premier League’s attempts to keep the likes of City, NUFC, Villa, Leeds or Forest down.
The owners of City aren’t taking this lying down, though, they’ll tear the house down before they fall on their swords over this. As a country, the UAE has huge influence in the UK, as do the Saudis. They know they have huge leverage over this situation and the shiny new PM is up to his eyeballs in it. Simply because he used vast sums of their oil money to invest in Manchester which has been revamped, especially the eastern side where City now reside. Those of us who remember Maine Road and the Moss Side area it was situated in will know not just by how run down the area was but by how tough the locals were.
So when I sat down to watch the Liverpool vs City game, I was genuinely rooting for City. Liverpool along with Man Utd, Arsenal and to a degree Chelsea represent exactly what I’m instinctively programmed to rail against. The influence and advantage they have in a sporting sense is just too much for me to stomach. The old socialist in me, yes socialist I said, just can’t look up at them without really wanting to tear their houses down.
Add in the fact that one of our own, Elliot Anderson, bossed the whole game in the colours of City. He never wanted to leave NUFC, a lifelong fan, who was sacrificed to satisfy the very rules that the aforementioned clubs had helped create to keep the rest in their lane. Anderson has in the last two seasons developed into probably the best midfielder in the country and more than likely in the top 5 in the world.
Now I’m not stupid enough to omit the obvious. At NUFC under Eddie Howe, he wouldn’t be where he is now as a player. Eddie just didn’t trust him enough to step in ahead of Bruno, Tonali or Joelinton, and let’s be honest, he has turned out to be better than all three in my opinion. For that reason only, I hate the rules and believe they need to be removed and I think City may well have just found a way to do that.
I will continue to hope they feel the love from those fans that think a bit like me. The cartel clubs and their entitled fans have been out en masse on social media and in their podcasts and it’s very satisfying to see them crying their crocodile tears. One day we might be there with our sharp elbows teaching them how it feels to be on the outside looking in.
When I hear any of them talking about us being state owned, oil money supported, I know longer feel so torn over it because they have their own owners who have things to explain and I no longer feel bad about being lectured over this. By all means change the rules but change them for every single club and then I’ll maybe back them.
There are more than enough legs in it to keep us very interested for months to come I think.
Les Cash