General Premier League Thread 2023-24 Mod Note in op 27/6/23 And 21/05/24

It would depend on how the punishment is handled.

Do they apply a points deduction based on the amount of charges per season they’re found guilty of? If that’s the case then it might open up lawsuits from other clubs citing loss of earnings(e.g Everton finished 14 points behind City in 13/14, could they sue for missing out on the CL?)

Do they just exclude City altogether from the table? Probably have the same issue as above.

So the likeliest scenario is that there is just no winner declared for those seasons. I’d be happy enough with that tbh.

Depending on the extent of the cheating, administrative relegation to League Two and a five-year (to pluck a number from thin air) ban from European competitions upon qualification would be an idea. I know the case isn't entirely the same but Rangers have been seriously set back by similar punishment in 2012.

Stripping them of the titles or awarding them to others doesn't mean anything; they won them on the pitch and celebrated them at the time. Putting an asterisk beside them should be a given, though.

What should be learned from all this is proper development of financial controls and thorough examination of accounts to avoid this happening again, though the goings-on on Tyneside show nothing's changed so far. It damages the integrity of competitions when fooling around like this isn't properly punished.

FWIW, in the case of any severe punishment being meted out to City, it wouldn't surprise me if they withdrew from FA competitions and join the Saudi league or a Saudi-backed Super League, along with the likes of PSG and Barca, especially if UEFA are forced to act similarly.

That said, I imagine a more likely punishment would be points deductions and fines and a 'don't do that again' admonishment.

From Everton "The shirts are on sale now, they will not be worn by players on the pitch " They are relegation fodder so!

It really is just a hideous design, a concept that's been done quite well plenty of times before too:

We've even done it ourselves

Some start by Villa,3 up already

Brutal defending by Villa and Brighton get one back

Why does every poor decision have to be a dig at United 🤷‍♂️

It's taken a while for the penny to drop but all Steven Gerrard's groundwork and coaching paying off big time for Villa, I'm sure Emery will give him all the credit in his post match press duties.

Not sure Ten Hag is all that

Onana again beaten by a shot I think de gae would have saved. I'm not sure if the nice footwork and passing is an actual step up on Actual goal saving shot stopping

That's where VAR does its work. Red card all day long. Nasty challenge. Not sure what Neville is talking about

VAR made it look 10 times worse, his foot slides on the ball helping him into the challenge.

Yellow is right and the red now ruins the game.

I'm all for VAR but you have donkeys running it. Too many bad decisions these days cause of it.

WTF was that offside call? where were the lines, he looked well onside

Liverpool can consider themselves unlucky and hard done by. A red card for Jones, that's mired in controversy. Then Diaz scores only for it to be marginally offside. Now Spurs lead a couple of minutes later through Son. VAR have ruined another game with that red card.

Heres the Liverpool offside decision for anyone who didn't see it.

Neville lost the plot sometime during last season, he's been a complete joke on comms since.

gakpo equalises

I think it's a yellow and not a red. Ref thought so too and then forced into it cause he's been ushered over by VAR and sees the worst of it because of slo mo which makes everything worse looking.

He rolls over the ball (Casemiro does something similar last season and seen red, not a red imo), foot changes direction *after* sliding over the ball, he loses his balance and the ball brings him into the challenge.

VAR then shows the ref a single angle starting from the most shocking, and then dictates why it's a red. Yellow be fair imo.