Man City could be the team that Arsenal fans look at with immense appreciation.
Man City are integral to Arsenal both in terms of history and their immediate future. The first reason is rather obvious, they are the 49th team that Liverpool will face and the team most likely to stop their relentless push to go the most games unbeaten, currently a record that Arsenal proudly holds.
It cannot be said yet that they are the only team likely to stop them from being the second team to go a whole season unbeaten because the Reds have yet to visit the Emirates.
The second reason is that because of their financial doping or cheating if you want to be totally accurate, it opens up fifth place as a potential entry into next seasons Champions League.
Now, on a personal level, I have absolutely no respect for Pep Guardiola’s men, I do believe they have cheated for years and am of the opinion that they should have all the trophies they won while cheating, stripped. I am also of the opinion that they should be docked a massive amount of points or better still, relegated.
But if they beat Liverpool and fail in their attempt to avoid justice then I will not be able to help myself. For a very short period of time, I will be very thankful towards them.
But it will not last too long I will admit, there is not much lower in sport than cheats and Man City are up there with the likes of Lance Armstrong and Ben Johnson for what they have done over the last few years.
Huddersfield already went unbeaten and a lot more impressively that Arsenal, without all the draws. The only record that they beat that only one club did is to go over the 100 point in the entire history of the game only one team ever did that
. Martin, why are you blaming the players, when you say that you have no respect for peps men?
It’s the club that has broken the rules, not the players. They are being paid to do a job… playing football – and to compare them with a lifelong drug cheat is way over the top.
Not one city player has been named or blamed, let alone been accused of cheating have they?
The owners of the club are the ones who have been disciplined and rightly so it seems, although they vehemently deny any wrong doing.
However, bearing in mind the corrupt organisation that has suddenly become moral judges, after already been caught up in scandals themselves, their sudden conversion to be seen as policing corruption beggars belief.
I wonder if you would have been as harsh on the players at our club, when a certain GG was caught up in a scandal?
I’m all for punishing those who were wrong, but the players would have had nothing to do with what the owners were doing, just as our players have no input into the scheming of silent Stan.
I think he expressed himself badly.
Probably he meant Pep’s superiors.
And UEFA have to do the policing. They have been doing it for years. Not well, but still. City, PSG, and Madrid probably have better lawyers than UEFA, finding loopholes.
(yes, I’m mentioning Real because until recently they were also propped up by construction mafia and have overspent)
Nah, next you will tell me OJ was innocent. I make no distinction from those that run the club or play in the team. They are all a part of it. Yes, I would have been harsh if it happened at Arsenal. You complain at me for being harsh on Mesut Ozil, who is an Arsenal employee by the way, but question if I would be the same with a bunch of cheats. Give me strength.
Sorry Admin Martin
I honestly don’t think you can put the finger of blame on the players who are extremely unlikely to have a barking clue as to what is going on in the boardroom
Armstrong and Johnson chose to dope themselves. I even think that the Saracens players who had ‘business partnerships’ with Wray had some idea of what was going on but whether they knew it was illegal I don’t know
Anyone who can beat Liverpool this season will get a loyal toast from me as I down a bottle of fizz
I will also celebrate them if they beat Liverpool but the idea they did not know what everyone in football knew is not realistic to me
Martin, take a step back, forget OJ and think about what you are saying.
As employees of thee club (your definition) shouldn’t you be including the stewards, catering staff, the coach driver and anyone else who have received any kind of renumeration from the club owners?
Were the employees of BHS also to blame when “Sir” Phillip sold the company for a £1 with a deficit in the pension scheme?
Or the counter staff when the banks had to be bailed out?
As for Ozil Martin, I have nothing to say further to you, MA is doing that for me wouldn’t you agree?
No Ken, BHS employees in no way knew what their boss was doing. I refuse to believe for one second that those Man City players and their representatives were the only people in football that was no ware that City was engaged in massive financial doping, I mean, UEFA called them out on it years ago. Those mercenary players are just as culpable. As for MA and Ozil, give me a break. Ozil has had a couple of good games recently and I have said so, but he is a leech on the club, he has been an utter disgrace for years and even if he plays well until the end of the season I want him gone and will celebrate his exit more than I would if Arsenal win the league. Such is the level of contempt for what that man has done to Arsenal. But as you say, you have nothing to say to me on this so I assume you will leave it there.
MARTIN, I really lose total respect for the notion that you have fairness in your soul when you write as you do. I t is plain wrong and total nonense in so very many ways. Ken’s fine post, mentioning Philip Green and BHS employees explains your nonsensical and biased attitude better than any words of mine can do.
THINK AGAIN AND YOU MAY REGAIN THE RESPECT I AND MANY OTHERS TOO ALWAYS HAD FOR YOU AS A FAIR MINDED MAN. This post lets you down big time MARTIN AND MUCH DAMAGES YOUR CREDULITY AS A PERSON. THINK AGAIN , I BEG YOU!
I stand by every single word when it comes to those cheats and those players that took the money and collected the medals knowing full well what was going on was cheating. I mean, if they did not then they were the only people in football that did not know. In fact, I am saddened that I was not stronger in my condemnation of those cheats and will make sure that when my next article invokes their cheating that I will state what I really feel.
You are clearly adamant that you are right but I stand by my belief that most players-if not all of them leave contracts etc to their agents. Most of them are so cosseted that they probably can’t change a light bulb so why would you expect them to understand the shenanigans of the board?
Would they all just choose to tear up their contracts?
I am adamant I am right otherwise why would I have my opinion. I am sure you, Ken and Jon are adamant that you are right. There is nothing wrong with that. I am not sure you calling them thick excuses them for being ignorant of what everyone else knew. As for their contracts, they signed them when they knew they were joining a club that was in full-blown corruption mode. They were publicly accused years ago of financial doping and the minute they put pen to p[apers those players knew they were joining a club that was cheating. Same with Pep Guardiola, he was asked at his very first Man City press conference about Man City being banned in the future, what did he think the ban was for, easting too many hot dogs? If you knew and still joined then you are culpable.
Well said Ken . Totally with you and against Martin on this subject. RESPECT FOR YOUR WORDS!
Jon, one thing I knew was that you and I would have completely the same view on this matter.
You have been saying for as long as we have both been involved with “justarsenal”, that the corruption within the game was rife and that is well documented in your posts.
Fair play to you also, because you have complained long and hard about City and the owners, so your agreement, along with so many on here, that the players, staff and anyone else who has received payment from the club are not accountable, is recognised and appreciated.
As for the reply to you from Martin, I’m afraid it shows a complete lack of knowledge with regards to the charges made.
Not one player or any other member of staff has been mentioned – either as an accomplice or even implicated by second hand knowledge, including the biggest leeches in football today, the player’s agents!!!
That doesn’t stop Martin from being judge and jury in condemning players who have done nothing wrong…according to eufa (who have been riddled with corruption themselves) so would certainly know every trick in the book when it comes to corruption.
I have no issue whatsoever with charging the owners of Manchester City Football Club and await the outcome of the appeal from the club lodged today.
Lack of knowledge? OK Ken, so you knew, Jon knew but the Man City players did not know. But it is me that has that lack of knowledge. Also, I am not judge and jury, having an opinion does not make one a judge or a jury member, but I have noticed that anyone that disagrees with you does get branded with that accusation from you. At least you are consistent.
Martin, it seems you are feeling the heat for making such an absurd claim about the staff at city being complicit in the charges brought by eufa – so, with your ability to check back on the posts received, please back up your claim that I “branded” anyone who disagrees with me as “judge and jury” – let’s see if you are as consistent with your accusations as you are with your insistence that eufa got it wrong and should have charged everyone/anyone receiving monetary rewards for doing the job they were paid to do.
If you read what Jon and I are saying, instead of trying to switch the heat on to us for your error, at no time did we say anyone but the club owners were to blame and, just like the BHS staff, the employees continued to do what they were paid to do – so tell me Martin…why has no individual player ( shall we keep it to the players and their agents?) or their representatives been specifically charged with any offence whatsoever?
That is not an opinion, that is a fact by the way.
There you again Ken with how you handle debate, “feeling the heat” “absurd claim” “check back on the posts” “for your error” I could go on but it would get boring. You do the exact same thing to everyone on here that disagrees with you. Why you cannot debate without resorting to such a transparent tactic I do not know. I will repeat, because one usually has to do so with you, you brand everyone that disagrees with judge and jury, maybe not in those exact words but in other dismissive tones, I never said UEFA got it wrong. You are so quick to ask everyone else to show this or that but you never ever do it yourself when you make a claim, so here is an opportunity, show me where I said UEFA got it wrong. You cannot, no surprise there the, I said they are just as culpable. That is my opinion, you disagree, there you go, something else not unusual from you. Anyway, as with Ozil, you are beyond reasonable to debate with on certain subjects and I will add this to the ever-growing list. If it is ok with you Ken I will sit here and laugh to myself that there actually people out there than honestly believe that every single Man City player had zero clues that the club was cheating despite the fact that there have been literally millions of words written and spoken on that before they finally got busted. Yeah, I know Ken, you now want me to find literally every single one of those millions of words to back up that claim. Go ahead Ken, have your final say, though I could probably pen it for you word for word knowing exactly what you will say and I will leave it at that. My shoulders are broad enough for whatever slander, innuendo, false assumptions, twisting of words, burying one’s head in the sand comeback you produce.
Admin Martin
I’m happy to agree to disagree but I didn’t refer to the players as thick. I said cosseted most likely with advisers and all sorts attending to their every whim. I heard somewhere that Phil Neville actually didn’t know how to make a blinking cup of coffee as his wife always did it. That was where the light bulb bit came from. Watching players arrive for matches with headphones on I’m just guessing that they are not listening to the money program on radio 4. They are all young and have been leading life in a rarified financial bubble.
You may we’ll have a point with Pep who is almost double their age and is definitely switched on. The agents in my opinion put themselves before their young clients so I might have to agree with you there
No, you did not use the exact word thick but I felt you were intimating it, certainly the impression I got. If you were not, then, of course, I retract that.
Martin, if you write words that aren’t accurate, why on earth do you do it?
Am I supposed to know that when you say “I have noticed that anyone that disagrees with you does get branded with that accusation from you” is not what you meant word for word?
I can look back at every reply on here and each one agrees with me, is that what seems to be bugging you?
You wrote that the players were guilty of the same corruption levelled at the club itself – charges that eufa have not made.
You of course clearly stated that you “make no distinction from those that run the club or play for the club” but eufa obviously do as they have not charged any player…so what other outcome can one make, other than that you disagree with uefa?
So, as a debating blog, many of us asked you why you had made that assumption, surely that seems to be a perfectly reasonable thing to do and I asked you in a friendly, respectful and questionable manner.
You came back quoting OJ Simpson, Armstrong and Johnson, to which others on here then questioned your motive for doing that as well.
Now, if you aren’t prepared to be questioned and asked about your statements, then your broad shoulders are certainly needed to deflect the blanket criticism received from your claim that the players of City are “cheats and mercenary players that are all part of it” – slander, false assumptions, twisting of words and innuendos would be the least of your concerns if city players were to read what you are saying about them.
Then to cap it all Martin, you want these cheating, mercenaries to beat Liverpool so that we preserve our unbeaten record!!!!
I certainly do not need any lectures from you regarding the way I conduct myself on here, which now approaches five years I believe.
LOL, “others” literally two, but hey ho, whatever helps you. I will not respond to anything else you have said in this latest comment as I am happy to let you have the final word. But for clarity I stand by every single word I said.
VAR and the onfield referees played a major role in liverpool’s unbeaten run.
But tbh liverpool is a very very good team and their fans as well.But can we beat them?Its not mission impossible but if we improve consistently i think we can maintain the unbeaten run in 2020.
The players of Man City have nothing to do with the cheating and the subsequent ban. It is the Club who have cheated and deserve the strictest punishment. The players are the best professionals and wonderful footballers and if anyone can stop the Pools unbeaten run, it is Man City. Also we should be thankful to Man City for having developed a wonderful coach like Arteta.
The actual players are blameless. Perhaps you would be better reminding many of the people on this site who have been vitriolic in their condemnation of Kroenke for not investing his personal money in the club and point out if he had done so we could well have been in the same boat as Man City.
Martin I am totally with Ken 1945 when he challenges you asking “why the players too”! Your view is inconsistent. About the owner I can agree totally with you but Pep and the players are not guilty. What would you have them do; destroy their own careers by refusing to play for that club? You need to be measured and not blame those NOT responsible. Otherwise, fair minded Gooners are BOUND to question your reasons for writing as you have. Do not hang the innocent along with the guilty. I see to that you are quite happy to benefit from City beating Liverppol(as I think we all hope , to preserve our record) whilst still condemning those sam players you will temporarily support. Double standartds I’d suggest!Though to be fair to you and others, we all have double standartds at times. It is past of our shared human condition
If my double standards that do not exist means celebrating City beating Liverpool to preserve our record then so be it.
Admin Martin I’d like to leave this debate behind and it was certainly an interesting post Thanks for accepting that I didn’t mean the players were thick. Perhaps not worldly wise but with years ahead of them to become so