1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Man City - Are they cheating?

By redmaster on May 18, 2012 - Twitter:@manutdtalk

So the Premier league season is over, congratulations to Manchester City for buying..... Sorry, I meant winning the Premier League! After 44 years all their hard work finally paid off. From the grass roots they built their success on with their youth system nurturing players through to the first team stars they are today. They made shrewd player purchases using money they generated through their own success... what a fantastic achievement.... Oh wait, turns out that’s not the case!

Seriously though, winning the Premier League is not an easy thing (beginning of the season odds and opinions at many different bookies show that sports leagues are a closely competitive and open field, with obvious favourites, like Manchester Utd!) and there is no doubt Manchester City has got a great squad of players. It’s not the fact they have won the league that annoys many people, it is the way they have done it.

Since the arrival of Shiekh Mansour Manchester City have spent around £480 million on transfers in little over four year on various players. Not to mention the ones that have since be discarded like Craig Bellamy, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz, Jo and Wayne Bridge! Players who came for sizable fees but were ultimately considered surplus to requirements, what were they thinking?.

But hold on a moment haven’t United been doing this for years some people say? What about Rio, Rooney, Veron, Berbatov, van nistelrooy etc? Which again is valid point, but with one massive difference: United have spent money earned from gate receipts and sponsors and success built up through years and years of history and being successful. City, like Chelsea before them, has used a billionaire to take them from nothing to champions.

So the question is, could this be classed as cheating?!

Attached Files:

  • city.jpg
    city.jpg
    File size:
    106.5 KB
    Views:
    9,135
Sporting4Ever and hdcantona like this.
  1. Mr Spock
    Once again, the FFP rules are now in play and they are in breach of those rules IF YOU BREAK THE RULES YOURE CHEATING so yes its cheating.

    IF UEFA bottle applying rules that they place so much store in then that doesnt stop breaking those rules being cheating
  2. 68LUHG9908
    we call man city the bitters, not the other way around.
    hdcantona likes this.
  3. Baz83
    No, its not cheating. You could call it unfair or immoral. And investing close to £1 Billion and going from nowhere to Champions does take the sheen off the victory a little. But I doubt Citeh fans care.
    It will be interesting to see how the FFP rules are enforced, but I reckon UEFA will bottle it.
  4. Dodor
    Children of rich parents have a better chance to succeed in life, than children of poor parents.
    That's the way it is everywhere. Money makes the world go round. There is no fair, or unfair...
  5. Mr Spock
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/23/premier-league-losses-2010-11-profits
  6. Mr Spock
    Sorry Mikkelsen but it is cheating because its against the FFP rules which have now kicked in read my earlier post.
    If they get away with it that doesnt make what they are doing legal just as the guys who smashed down my front door and burgled my house and got away with it didnt become legal because the Police were more interested in persecuting drivers than catching crooks . The same applies to Barca and Real, that they got away with for so long doesnt make it right and doesnt make it legal now (except Im betting that unlike Chiteh they will be careful to stick within the rules now rather than trying to fiddle them and almost challenging UEFA to take them on.
    In the end it wont matter because UEFA wont have the balls
  7. tkmikkelsen
    I don't think it is cheating that is just the way the game is. Real Madrid and Barcelona have been doing this for years, they have not had a rich owner, but they have been able to borrow the money from the banks in Spain, because they where Barcelona and Real Madrid. The difference is almost the same.
    As for numbers it is interesting to notice that over the last 5 years Manchester United has only has the 8th highest net transfer spending of the clubs in Premier League. Number one is Manchester City with a wide margin to Chelsea. Number 3 is Liverpool, who has been spending a fortune on a couple of Carling Cups. Arsenal has in the same period made the highest net profit, while still being competitive that is impressive. Other clubs with net profits from transfers are Blackburn, Portsmouth and Newcastle.
    I think it will surprise many to find Sunderland as the 4th most spending club and Aston Villa as number 5. The whole list can be viewed here, http://www.transferleague.co.uk/league-tables/2006-2011.html
  8. MikeyM
    The trophy tells you who the Champions are, it doesn't tell you how much money (unearned) was pumped in to the club that won it. It is what it is, and we have to find the best way to defend against it. Lest the Premier League wind up like the SPL.
  9. Mr Spock
    The excuse used by supporters of teams that do this kind of thing is always Uniteds spending, This is a dishonest argument. I'm saying dishonest because even those who use this myth know its not right. United are neither anywhere near the highest spenders in the last year the last 5 years the last 10 years or the last 20 years, their wage bill has always been a lower percentage of income than most others and the successful United teams under SAF have always been built around players who have come up through the ranks, the high cost big name signings have always been the icing on the cake. So No United have not bought success, they have built it.
    As for cheating, the FFP rules have already come in, this is what it says in the UEFA website "Financial fair play measures will be implemented over a three-year period, with the break-even assessment covering the financial years ending 2012 and 2013 assessed during 2013/14, and starting with the assessment by the Club Financial Control Panel of all transfer and employee payables in the summer of 2011". So Chiteh are cheating because if those rules are enforced they are in clear breach already. The only way they are going to balance the books between now and then is if they have a massive surplus on player sales over player purchases this summer and reduce their wage bill from 200% of turnover to 50% or less at the same time. The real question is will FIFA actually enforce the rules or will they bottle it and allow a fudge. If FFP isnt seriously clamped down on, that doesnt mean they are therefore not cheats, just that a blind eye is being turned
    redmaster likes this.
  10. Alex Ryan
    I wouldn't say it's cheating unless Financial Fair-Play is seriously clamped down on. I think it is just totally unfair and immoral.