Man City Are In Trouble. And So Is Football.

Hell Hath No Fury Like a City Scorned

A friend of mine who supports Manchester City said to me this week “Well, we shouldn’t get punished because everyone is breaking the rules.” That’s the equivalent of “Listen, honey, Paul cheats on his wife all the time so I thought I would, too.”

Now we’ve successfully opened a can of worms, let’s get into it.

Now, yes, the Premier League's myriad of laws and rules at the moment are a mess. I don’t profess to be an expert, but when I do hear folk way smarter than me chat about them I’m left baffled.

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Manchester City found guilty on virtually all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations. #MCFC expected to appeal against verdict issued by independent commission. Sanctions undecided, process ongoing @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/Muxqp4beK9

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) September 25, 2026

It does feel restrictive and like the status quo will forever remain unchanged till the end of time. I can even understand, logically, why City did what they are accused of. You wanted to compete with the fabled top 6 so, allegedly, increased your own profits in order to spend more money and bring in the best coaches and managers from around the world. It worked. They’ve been a resounding success for a decade.

None of this takes away from the fact they cheated. That word has become evil today because of the emotion attached to it, so let’s go back to our old friend - the dictionary.

It means “acting in a dishonest, deceitful, or unfair way to gain an advantage or break established rules”. Yeah, that. That is what Man City did to kickstart and maintain their run of dominance. The Premier League had its official list. City, on the quiet, tried to get around it.

This is the main reason there has to be a punishment suitable of the supposed crime. It’s all about the future and, oddly, that’s when we head to Southampton. They work as a solid piece of evidence.

For when Tonda Eckert decided he would send sneaky spies to see what Middlesbrough were up to, in no world could he have been ready for the storm that was going to follow. I’m sure he assumed a fine, or maybe some sort of mini ban. Nope! The EFL kicked them out the playoffs, and further implications may lie just around the corner for the German.

I’ll be the first to admit it - that felt harsh to me. However, it ensures that for the rest of time no club will ever try that again. Unless you’re Luton. They’re all over the place right now. It’s probably worth the risk. I don’t know why I’m making Luton jokes (sorry, Dad).

You would be mad, though, to even suggest a do-over when you know the ultimate punishment is waiting. Therefore if Man City get off with a slap on the wrist, man… Newcastle and Aston Villa should go crazy.

They’ve got reams of cash they can’t spend because they are following the rules. If they learn the worst is to send some money over and lose a couple of transfer windows, well, they may think the juice is worth the squeeze.

A Dangerous Precident Could Be Set by Man City Troubles

As an Arsenal fan, it of course makes you think of the latter-day Wenger Years™, too, because the narrative was always the same. ‘We can only aim for a top 4 finish as the new stadium wrecked our finances’.

I love the Emirates, so I won’t speak ill of it, and the rules have changed a lot since 2012, but it was still a team looking at the official book and deciding “Okay, we can’t do this so we won’t.”

Can someone explain to me why Man City sanctions won't happen until after the appeal, yet Everton got points deducted straight away and then had to appeal it, why is this different?

— Julie B (@juejuebee1974) September 25, 2026

I’d imagine whoever is reading this can tell a similar story about their own club, and this is where the pit opens. It’s teams such as this. It’s the players that may have missed out on bonuses. Managers that may’ve gotten fired due to a loss against Man City. It's the £500m+ they could owe the rest of the league in prize money payments over the years breached.

Even if the tie-in is loose at best, you’re trying to tell me there won’t be some bitter, and angry, individuals out there wanting retribution? There absolutely will be and they’ll want to bring balance to the force. If the Premier League doesn’t give them that… hell will be headed to football.

And so, it’s a disaster if we’re honest. A horrible nightmare that takes away from what the sport is meant to be. Anger and a poor mental state because we invest too much of ourselves into a situation we really have no control over.

Maybe we’re all idiots…