Right…so…this is an Arsenal blog, yeah? And I talk about The Arsenal on here and try to avoid going in too deep on other teams. But after the news emerged yesterday from David Ornstein that Manchester City have been found guilty of 114 of 115 charges, with an appeal set to take place (inevitably), I suspect a lot of us feel it will drag out a little longer than we’d like, but it’s out there now: The verdict is that Manchester City are cheaters. They have been found guilty of it. We can say it. That’s a fact.

Now, City will apparently appeal on the basis that the panel that made the decision is not impartial and therefore this was a bit of a kangaroo court, but even those who have backed Man City, who have been unofficial spokespeople for them (like that Stefan Borson fella, who is an ex-advisor to City), are now saying that this is unlikely, and yesterday I listened to a few YouTube shows and videos in which suddenly these vociferous City fan voices are now saying things like “they can never take away our memories” and the like.

That is all very true. And yes, they have those memories. But there is no more ‘banter’ from idiots like that ‘Chompy’ guy who goes on Sky Sports. Or from that ‘Big Steve’ lad. Sorry, you can have your memories, but you can’t have the ‘we’ve won it all’ high ground here, because every retort from any fan who you come up against from now is “yeah, ill-gotten gains though, innit” or “yeah, with a big asterisk next to those trophies, mate”. You can have your memories, but you have no jurisdiction to banter any fans anymore, I’m afraid. And you can thank your football club for that.

As you can tell, I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for the club. I do perhaps have sympathy for Man City fans who are old enough to remember pre-2008, when Mansour took over. For you guys, I do feel for you. Yes, you’ve had the time of your lives; yes, you’ve gone on to see amazing things; and yes, I have no issue with any of you. But for those people who supported City because of their success and success alone, well, now we’ll see how much of a fan you truly are. And I hope all of them remain fans and loyal to City. I want to see those people back their club if they get relegated, if they have to spend the next two to three years building themselves back up. That’s what I want to see. And to those that are left after that, fair play; hopefully you take your licks and punishment, then come back. I’m sure City will; they’ll have the money to see this as a couple of years of moderate wilderness before coming back and building up – like everyone else has had to do. No more inflated deals, no more selling sponsorship to sister entities for inflated prices; do it in the same way that everyone else has to do it and build yourselves back up to compete.

Of course, the ‘banter’ discourse on social media went supernova; and my particular favourite was xG Philosophy on X and his “Man City generated 114 charges from 115(xG)” – quite like that.

Light-hearted humour to one side, now we see what happens with the punishment, and how swift it will be. You would imagine it is this season, although I wonder if Man City will try to drag the appeal out until the end of the season. They’ve won five from five; they are looking alright, so having them win the Premier League this season will be their ultimate final middle finger to the Premier League before any sanction is imposed. Unless the Premier League doesn’t want to compromise ‘sporting integrity’ and impose any sanctions until next season, then you’d think they’d want it wrapped up in 2026/27. I can’t see the latter situation, though; why would you allow a team who have been found guilty to benefit from an additional season in the Premier League and additional wealth and revenues from it? In addition, if you’re the Premier League, why do you want to see a team who have been found to be guilty lift a Premier League trophy after all the smoke will have hopefully cleared? I just can’t see it.

From an Arsenal lens, if there is a points deduction, then clearly it makes our position stronger. But it also kind of taints it – if only a little – because we know that we could have benefitted from off-the-field actions. I am therefore torn. Actually I’m not – I want us to win it, and I don’t care how, but if there were points deductions given to City, for example, I might still keep track of their tally, just to see if we would have beaten them anyway.

Of course, I’m talking as if it is just us or City, when nothing can be further from the truth. Liverpool, Chelsea and maybe even United will still be up there, I think. But that’s debate and discussion for another day, because today’s focus needs to be on what unfolded yesterday, which will be one of the most historic rulings in the history of football. But if/when sanctions are imposed, what should they be? I’ve seen lots of people speculate or suggest their own views, so I might as well give mine to round us off today, given that it is my blog platform.

Firstly, I think you need to give them a points deduction that sees them all but relegated. I don’t think you can just instantly chuck them into another league, because a different entity runs it, so a points deduction for this season seems like the only logical approach. If you made it a 60 – 70 point deduction, then that would probably do it. The days of 100-point seasons from City or any team appear to be over, so even a 60-point one will probably be enough. Then, I think you have to transfer-ban them for a few rounds. They got into this position by buying players at overly inflated prices, so you need to reflect that; I’d give them a four-round ban. Then the titles that exist that were ‘purchased’ need to go. It’s a small and relatively inconsequential move, because it is just something on paper, but those titles won during the period of guilt need to be asterisked and removed. And I’m not talking about the recent ones; I think you only remove titles for the period in which the offences have occurred. It would mean no 2022/23 title for us, but I also think you don’t give titles to the teams that ‘nearly’ won it. Because you just can’t tell what would have ‘definitely’ happened. So I think you strip the titles, but you don’t just award them to the nearest club in all instances, like in the FA Cup, etc. It just feels like a bit of a redundant exercise.

This will rumble on, of that I’m sure we’re in no doubt, but for me I’ve said my piece on it, so I’ll go back to all things Arsenal tomorrow. Catch you all then.