City are doing an amazing job bringing in young guys into their system. Haaland, Foden, Alvarez, etc. I reckon they'll continue to buy the young prized horse whenever they become available to help with the aging guys. KDB will be a big loss but I think they'll be fine.

They may certainly have some down years and not always be PL champs, but it's not going to be easy for any team to overthrow them. They're too good and too rich with good young players.

 

 

Have to applaud City for not paying stupid money for that clown from Brighton. They also got good money for Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko.

Pep is world class.. Why not get him after he finishes City? 

That'd be like having sex with a po*n star after she's shot all of her films!

10 hours ago, Mod said:

That'd be like having sex with a po*n star after she's shot all of her films!

You still would though !

It’s interesting to see the assumed permanence about City. Not that long ago that it was a nothing club. Their time will come 

They already cemented themselves as one of the best PL squads in history so that achievement will be very hard to top.

But once KDB gets old they will get affected by it, he alone made them reach the top 3% many times. It's simply not going to be the same, it wasn't the same for us when we lost Lampard either.

On 22/04/2023 at 09:50, Gol15 said:

They already cemented themselves as one of the best PL squads in history so that achievement will be very hard to top.

But once KDB gets old they will get affected by it, he alone made them reach the top 3% many times. It's simply not going to be the same, it wasn't the same for us when we lost Lampard either.

They won the league on the bounce the 2019 season when KDB was out for at least 75% of it. 

They are a finely tuned operation that have cooked their books for the past decade. Like I said in the first page, they are simply too far gone at this point in time for anyone to catch them. Things do happen in cycles but for every league title City miss out on they will go and win 2-3 on the bounce the following seasons.

Either Pep leaves or the Premier League sanctions them. Which ever comes first. 

6 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

They won the league on the bounce the 2019 season when KDB was out for at least 75% of it. 

They are a finely tuned operation that have cooked their books for the past decade. Like I said in the first page, they are simply too far gone at this point in time for anyone to catch them. Things do happen in cycles but for every league title City miss out on they will go and win 2-3 on the bounce the following seasons.

Either Pep leaves or the Premier League sanctions them. Which ever comes first. 

I said above something about assumed permanence of City. It seems a lot more fragile to me. I’ve found that in many walks of life - politics, markets -big turning points are preceded by a sense that [whatever the thing is that ends up breaking] is unstoppable. It’s how city looks to me now and the premier league. There’s this combination of complacency and too many things that seem unsustainable/don’t add up. I can’t help feeling something’s going to break. Don’t know when and how - whether it’s sanctions (as you suggest) or something else…politics a possibility 

5 hours ago, Dean said:

I said above something about assumed permanence of City. It seems a lot more fragile to me. I’ve found that in many walks of life - politics, markets -big turning points are preceded by a sense that [whatever the thing is that ends up breaking] is unstoppable. It’s how city looks to me now and the premier league. There’s this combination of complacency and too many things that seem unsustainable/don’t add up. I can’t help feeling something’s going to break. Don’t know when and how - whether it’s sanctions (as you suggest) or something else…politics a possibility 

Politics not a possibility unfortunately, politics ‘within’ maybe, such as change of approach in regards to choice of marketing vehicles but the UK/the west cannot afford to lose an ally in the UAE, considering Russia we can’t afford to rock the boat with more important trade/investment allies, especially of that scale. 

As for FFP/faud case, no faith whatsoever in the Premier League, UEFA would be more likely but they’ve already failed to take significant action. Brown paper bags/dodgy dealings can only explain why the European governing body didn’t bother to appeal the CAS decision, despite being strongly advised to do so by their legal team, there are figures within UEFA still puzzled by this.

1 hour ago, Term_X said:

As for FFP/faud case, no faith whatsoever in the Premier League, UEFA would be more likely but they’ve already failed to take significant action. Brown paper bags/dodgy dealings can only explain why the European governing body didn’t bother to appeal the CAS decision, despite being strongly advised to do so by their legal team, there are figures within UEFA still puzzled by this.

Huh, what is the evidence for this?

UEFA took action but were time-barred, that is a common legal procedural issue and a lucky loophole for Man City. Here is a summary of the CAS judgment. 

Besides, Man City were the ones lodging the appeal, not UEFA.

4 hours ago, Term_X said:

Politics not a possibility unfortunately, politics ‘within’ maybe, such as change of approach in regards to choice of marketing vehicles but the UK/the west cannot afford to lose an ally in the UAE, considering Russia we can’t afford to rock the boat with more important trade/investment allies, especially of that scale. 

As for FFP/faud case, no faith whatsoever in the Premier League, UEFA would be more likely but they’ve already failed to take significant action. Brown paper bags/dodgy dealings can only explain why the European governing body didn’t bother to appeal the CAS decision, despite being strongly advised to do so by their legal team, there are figures within UEFA still puzzled by this.

Fair enough. Re “west not being to able to afford losing allies” I think you may be exaggerating the clout of these nations. They need the west much more than the other way round. US now a net exporter of oil, and world’s number 1 producer. Look at how UK oil imports break down too. Also, stopping authoritarian states from owning football clubs based on objective rules that align them with democratic nations that don’t have the same “privilege” would hardly be a declaration of war. what are they gonna do exactly?

17 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

They won the league on the bounce the 2019 season when KDB was out for at least 75% of it. 

They are a finely tuned operation that have cooked their books for the past decade. Like I said in the first page, they are simply too far gone at this point in time for anyone to catch them. Things do happen in cycles but for every league title City miss out on they will go and win 2-3 on the bounce the following seasons.

Either Pep leaves or the Premier League sanctions them. Which ever comes first. 

Despite that, I still believe that KDB alone made them a much harder team to beat, most of the time when he's there they are basically on the next level.

Well since we won it with Conte only Liverpool and City have won it so I would say they can be caught because Liverpool have done it and last season City only won by a point. 

The sad thing for us is we have not really been in contention since 2016-2017.

11 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Huh, what is the evidence for this?

UEFA took action but were time-barred, that is a common legal procedural issue and a lucky loophole for Man City. Here is a summary of the CAS judgment. 

Besides, Man City were the ones lodging the appeal, not UEFA.

In reference to this:

Quote

 

That finding was complicated two weeks after the CAS verdict, when Der Spiegel published new “leaked” emails which set out that City director Simon Pearce – also a senior executive in the Abu Dhabi government – was “forwarding” Etihad £91m of £99m that the airline owed the club for its sponsorship, with Etihad providing only £8m.

City did not comment on the substance of the emails at the time, only re-iterating their persistent view since November 2018 that the emails published by Der Spiegel were “criminally obtained”. The source, Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto, denies this.

Some figures within Uefa remain furious that the European governing body did not appeal the CAS decision, especially when they were strongly advised to do so by one of the lawyers representing them.

The independent commission will now have access to those, while the Etisalat example will not be time-barred.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/28/uefa-claim-against-manchester-city-over-sponsor-money-time-barred-cas-rules

 

8 hours ago, Dean said:

Fair enough. Re “west not being to able to afford losing allies” I think you may be exaggerating the clout of these nations. They need the west much more than the other way round. US now a net exporter of oil, and world’s number 1 producer. Look at how UK oil imports break down too. Also, stopping authoritarian states from owning football clubs based on objective rules that align them with democratic nations that don’t have the same “privilege” would hardly be a declaration of war. what are they gonna do exactly?

I just can’t fathom a scenario similar to Russia where we pull the plug on them, or even to a lesser degree that affects relations, the US & EU are certainly keeping an eye on them in regards to sanction-evading recently but nonetheless.

On 28/04/2023 at 16:43, Term_X said:

I just can’t fathom a scenario similar to Russia where we pull the plug on them, or even to a lesser degree that affects relations, the US & EU are certainly keeping an eye on them in regards to sanction-evading recently but nonetheless.

I think you are right since Brexit much more likely to take the money and sweep all else under the carpet.

 

Worth revisiting this thread again.

About to win the Premier League again barring a major catastrophe against West Ham this Sunday and they should dominate the FA Cup final against Manchester United.

Maybe a team of really top draw lawyers...

I think they are more beatable than ever because they have clearly put a brake on their spending. 

But of course they are still extemely good led by a brilliant manager so If you want to compete with them you need to absolutely squeeze everything football wise, $$$ wise and you need to be lucky. 

Football wise, obviously you need to have a  good squad with no raw player, you need a good manager who can squeeze result and you need to claw/cheat for result (tactical foul, dive, foul opp gk, etc). You also need to be lucky injury wise and hopefully you run hot. 

$$$ is the hard part. Transfer fee is not a problem, salary is the big problem. As your team get better and you start signing ready made player, your salary will balloon. Can your team sustain this? (having some player from Cobham will help and of course having Russian oligarch help big time 😁😁) 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 20242 yr by Bob stark

Football honours throughout the ages have been cyclical. Some dominate for large periods,Liverpool in the late 70s and 80s , Man U under Fergie, others have shorter periods, though can also be classed as great teams. City are in the ascendancy now, give it a few years and it’ll be all change again. Unfortunately a lack of honours also becomes cyclical, both Man U and Liverpool went over 30years after a period of domination waiting for their next league trophy. We’ve enjoyed a very successful 20 year period after an era of dross. Lesson is enjoy the game for what it is and if your team happens to become a great one, savour it.

11 minutes ago, charierre said:

Football honours throughout the ages have been cyclical. Some dominate for large periods,Liverpool in the late 70s and 80s , Man U under Fergie, others have shorter periods, though can also be classed as great teams. City are in the ascendancy now, give it a few years and it’ll be all change again. Unfortunately a lack of honours also becomes cyclical, both Man U and Liverpool went over 30years after a period of domination waiting for their next league trophy. We’ve enjoyed a very successful 20 year period after an era of dross. Lesson is enjoy the game for what it is and if your team happens to become a great one, savour it.

Man city is a different beast to united domination. You have to clock 90+ point to have a chance to compete against them. 

Just now, Bob stark said:

Man city is a different beast to united domination. You have to clock 90+ point to have a chance to compete against them. 

Not really, the main difference is that the league was a fairer beast, money wise. City are in domination at present, it may last a few more years but it won’t last forever. Btw,and I hate to admit it, but Liverpools domination of the 80s was stronger than Fergies.

 

1 hour ago, Bob stark said:

Man city is a different beast to united domination. You have to clock 90+ point to have a chance to compete against them. 

Exactly the same when we won back to back titles under Jose.  I recall people saying then we would dominate the league for years snd years. 

 

10 minutes ago, loz said:

Exactly the same when we won back to back titles under Jose.  I recall people saying then we would dominate the league for years snd years. 

 

We should have won more in that era. I did a quick google to check what happen in that 3rd season. We signed Sheva. 

Edited May 15, 20242 yr by Bob stark