Arsenal Should Be Punished Over And Over And Over Again by Dan
So the next debate regarding the ‘big six’ is what (if any) repercussions should they have for clearly breaching FA rules.
Reports vary from if they will simply be welcomed back by the other 14 clubs who business wise might feel it’s counterproductive to antagonise the situation.
There’s talk though that some of those sides are going to be ruthless and use this as an opportunity to take advantage. If, for example, they could enforce points deductions suddenly it increases their own chances of qualifying for Europe.
It would be ironic after all the greed they showed if this saga concludes with ‘the Founding Members’ losing money.
I don’t think any Governing body will want to kick these clubs while they are down, but the more I hear all these cringeing apologies, the less I’m forgiving and the more I want to see some consequences.
I have worked with young children with behaviour difficulties. To help manage their behaviour you are taught not to ask them to say sorry. The idea being that sorry is just a word. Instead you want to encourage a child to reflect.
Why is that person sad with you?
How can you fix the situation?
Instead of words, what can you do to make amends?
Because deep down, if you really have regret, have empathy, you will want to put things right.
That’s what I had to teach young children. These are middle-aged well-educated men. Yet like a toddler they are saying, ‘well, I did say sorry’.
In what other company can you read and agree to a policy and procedure, not follow it and there be zero consequence? If there is zero action to your policies being disregarded, why write them in the first place?
There is a fear that any sanctions would be more of a punishment to supporters, managers and players. If I hear that come out of one of the owners’ mouths, then I will be fuming. Don’t now suddenly get a moral compass when as recently as Sunday you didn’t care what your supporters think.
That’s why us Fans will get over it. Remember gooners woke up Monday morning thinking we were about to be prostituted to a midweek League where we get paid 350 million to do nothing. With that once a reality, I am sure we could cope with say UEFA kicking us out of the Europa League.
It’s correct that so many stakeholders’ hands are clean of any guilt. Yet lets learn from our mistakes. On one hand we are moaning that these clubs thought they could get special treatment, but then some want some leniency shown because your scared to upset the status quo.
There is and never has been any case where a club avoids sanctions just because it might offend supporters. Leeds United, Portsmouth, Bolton, Wigan, Bournemouth, etc, have all previously been deducted points for going into administration. That’s punishing fans, isn’t it?
The men and women in the stands are not accountable for a club’s finances. What’s worse? Struggling for cash or trying to kill the national game?
So fans of Arsenal Man United, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs are not my first concern. If the idea of being banned from the Champions League worries Chelsea or City fans, then that’s just a small example of the anxiety the likes of an Everton Fan have had to deal with.
Forget a short-term ban, these 6 owners were willing to leave their peers with nothing. If they had got their way a new pyramid would have left the rest with nothing to play for. So, versus that, I’m sure we can take whatever slap on the wrist we get if that means the likes of Stan Kroenke is put in his place.
Only he knows if there are any legal complications about withdrawing from a concept you signed a contract for.
Any compensation won’t come out of the Americans pockets but probably the already limited transfer kitty we have. That can’t be controlled, that’s his prerogative if he wants to put his hand in the till to pay off his own affairs.
Something tells me though that the Kroenke Family, while content to spend money to make this problem go away, will feel less comfortable if he perceives income is being withheld from him
For example he will be calculating huge revenue if we win the Europa League, and his ego might not take that money going in someone else’s pocket. I would love it just to see his face.
Some things are bigger than Football. These 6 men being held accountable is bigger than our sporting ambitions.
If like me, you think it’s fairly obvious they are not sorry one iota, then you need to get their attention. Hurt them in the only place they care about, the wallet.
Let them watch UEFA money fall from their grasp. There would be something beautifully potent that the clubs who wanted to be rewarded without sporting success would actually earn something on merit and have it taken away. Then they might know how Leicester and West Ham were feeling last Sunday.
The best part of any serious punishment is surely these owners would have to accept it. It would be a PR disaster if they got their lawyers to appeal, even if you have a strong case in your favour.
They have said they are sorry, that they hear us. If you’re sorry you accept that you deserve to be punished.
I don’t think there will be any sanctions because the other parties, while wronged in this instance, are equally as greedy when it suits them. They benefit from not upsetting the big 6 any more than they have to.
In an ideal world though, I would throw every sanction at them and even then, it wouldn’t be enough.
Nothing will be enough to get rid of the stench around Stan Kroenke after he made 55 staff redundant, knowing full well that he had this Super League up his sleeve.
Nothing can rebuild the trust of insisting football had to be played during Covid for our mental health and escapism, when the whole time you were using a Pandemic as an experiment. That’s sick.
Nothing can hide your deceit. Whatever your opinion of Ozil, he was publicly made out to look greedy for not accepting a pay cut. Like him or not, Ozil was correct. He wanted clarification of where the money was going because he simply didn’t believe Stan Kroenke. How many fans did he manipulate in that situation?
Do you want the Big 6 Punished?
If so, how?
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Dan