the cheats
When he goes on and on about a level playing field and how City aren’t playing fair,Henrik Sedin Jersey, what Michel Platini really means is that he’s losing control. Soccer 365’s Howard Johnson asks if that’s really such a bad thing?
Of course this inexorable Blue march to glory was the subject of a conversation the like of which I’m now totally used to hearing over the weekend. In the week when City announced record losses of 194.5 million pounds, I was forced to endure more talk of the club’s massive financial muscle not only being a bad thing for football, but somehow a moral abomination to boot.
What I suspect UEFA fears more than anything is that the top clubs one day get sick and tired of their petty-minded interfering and decide to form their own breakaway league. Because then UEFA would be revealed for what it is; a self-serving autocracy that wants to dictate the future shape of the game so that it always retains its power base, a power base that it long ago stopped deserving.
And besides, if we’re coming from a much more personal place, well I’ve seen enough of City being beaten 1-0 at Reading in a terrible Second Division match on a cold Tuesday night in February to last me a lifetime. So frankly Mr,Von Miller Youth Jersey. Platini, on your bike! Allez Les Bleus. And I mean Manchester City, of course!
When you look at things that way, who the hell is Platini to come and tell the club that they’re naughty boys for being given all this cash? And what is the guy anyway but a glorified administrator, who I suspect fears the loss of power and influence for his organisation way more than he fears the unfair footballing playing field? He talks about football at a smaller level being in danger of being obliterated by this new money. Oh,Mark Sanchez Jersey, really? I don’t see football clubs disappearing by the dozen. Nor do I see football clubs, at least not in Britain, fulfilling the same functions that perhaps they once did. No longer do they act as the glue that holds communities together,Lardarius Webb Ravens Jersey, so their social significance is actually less, rather than more, important these days. Which begs the question as to why they should have some sort of moral right to survive in the first place.
The Abu Dhabi money that’s come into City isn’t a loan. It’s a gift. And not only a gift to the supporters of Manchester City, who in my opinion have every right to enjoy a bit of success after nearly 40 years of misery. But also a gift to the city of Manchester, where Arab money that would never have come within a country mile of the place is now creating jobs and creating hope in one of the most economically-deprived parts of the country. And all this in a time of great financial austerity.
Michel Platini and his UEFA financial fair play rules have been sold to us as some sort of fightback against... Well, against what, actually? Money has always been the driving force in pushing clubs to the top of the tree. When Manchester United dominated in recent times it was because they had a great manager, for sure. But it was also because they had the financial clout to shove any would-be pretenders to their throne out of the way. And when Liverpool were top dogs before them it was the same deal. Where football is concerned money is power and always has been. Platini talks about fair play and a level playing field, but football has never operated that way. And besides, who’s to decide what’s fair? Can anyone tell me where life is ever fair? Or why it’s unfair that a club should accept the ‘no strings attached’ investment of a wealthy benefactor?
Related articles Blue Moon Risen! Believe! The Best Place In The World To Watch Football?Manchester City is not the big bad wolf, the bogeyman of modern football. You might argue about the morality of an industry where players earn a quarter of a million quid a week, but that’s what a free market economy gives you. If someone will pay you that sum, then de facto you’re worth it,Wes Welker Jersey. And if we all accept that first premise that life isn’t fair, then surely there are far more worthy targets to aim at when it comes to setting the world to rights; the cheats, the devious and the crooked in government and elsewhere, rather than people in football who have so much money they have no need to lie and steal in the first place.
Another weekend, another three points. Now this is something I could get used to! Records keep tumbling as Mancini’s merry men keep up the Premiership momentum and nobody could argue that City weren’t good value for those three points as they ended Newcastle’s unbeaten start to the Premiership season and again showed that they have all the firepower needed to go all the way to the title.
City were understandably under par after their squad had been flung to the four corners of the world for the usual bout of pointless international matches. Mancini decided to rest the little genius David Silva after his exertions with the Spanish national team and his ability to provide that little spark of brilliance to unlock more stubborn defences was clearly missed before the manager brought him off the bench with 69 minutes gone. But even so, City were still way too strong for the Toon.
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