Up in the Stretford End’s middle tier, the ticker had returned, a retouching job to “51 years” invoiced for the pertinent sum of £114. The Manchester City that existed before the Abu Dhabi project won their last trophy in 1976. Questionable maths is perhaps not confined to the Etihad’s accounts department, though Manchester United’s support must get their kicks where they can.
Should City’s fall from grace be fully confirmed by the appeals and sanctions process, there is nothing in the way of irrefutable evidence of United’s former supremacy being restored. How United fans would love to return to 2008, when Michael Carrick was a key cog in Sir Alex Ferguson’s team of European champions. Instead, the autumn of 2026 brings a familiar swell of doubt, another manager dragged towards the meat grinder.
It will be 40 years next month since Ferguson was appointed. A draw made United’s start to their league campaign the worst since then. The Carrick bounce has come to a standstill.
Sweet succour for City fans caught in legal limbo while railing against a “red cartel”. Should such a thing exist, United are a poor relation. Only Ipswich have been defeated by United this season in the Premier League, the latest disappointment to follow many years of corners being turned, only for culs-de-sac to be found.
As the club who previously had the financial muscle to match the disguised funding of City, United have become the model for frittering away financial advantages. That the Glazer debt repayments since 2005 are a sum higher than City’s £900m-plus injection of petrodollars represents bitter irony. The cash has been flushed down a hole as deep as the Ship canal.
That won’t be coming back either. It can be readily argued that Tottenham have been more disadvantaged by City’s breaches. As with United, their lawyers have laid a legal marker against City for the compensation that could follow the completion of the Premier League process.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
