It has been a week that many in football have been waiting for, although the outcome of it isn't yet clear. With Manchester City having been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League, including all of the ones pertaining to financial breaches, Liverpool supporters have been wondering just what could have happened over much of the past decade had their rivals been playing by the rules.
Reds ponder what might have been
Would Liverpool have won more trophies? Would Jurgen Klopp have his place in club folklore cemented even further? Our Reds Jury have been pondering that and more, and here's what they think:
Rhys Buchanan said: "There are some lyrics on The Smiths’ 1986 masterpiece ‘The Queen Is Dead’ that speak to the situation that the Man City find themselves in right now: “I know it’s over, still I cling / I don’t know where else I can go.”
"While a young Morrissey was toiling over some unreachable romance, City fans have been desperately trying to cling to memories and silverware they’ve been bogusly bought over the last decade, yet it’s clear the ship is finally sinking under the weight of a pretty damning tide.
"It’s been equal parts depressing and hilarious seeing the likes of Pep Guardiola, whom by the way has already fled said ship, come out and defend ‘my owner’ and ‘my chairman’. It’s increasingly worrying to see Andy Burnham wading in and defending those powers who have cheated and undermined English football to the tune of £900 million.
"When the dust settles though and all is said and done, we’ll be left looking back on that era with pride and joy and a manager who managed to scale Everest with a glorious side who pushed those cheats to the very limit.
"Like Roy Keane said, lash your medals in the bin lads, the game is up, and I’m sure we’ll be reminding them of that next Sunday."
Ripple effects and next steps
James Noble said: "Jurgen Klopp, FSG and so many more associated with Liverpool productively utilised the challenging context shaped and skewed by Manchester City’s alleged financial breaches between 2009/10 and 2017/18 to hit immense heights.
"For LFC, and many other clubs, tangible rewards and various moments may well have been unjustly denied over the last 17 years or so, but the positive collective feelings and memories stemming from much of that time reflect glowingly on much of the Reds’ work.
"From The Athletic breaking the news last Friday that an independent commission had found City, who maintain their innocence, guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League (including all related to serious financial breaches), to the league’s confirmation of those developments – and strong statement – on Tuesday, the potential ripple effects have bordered on disorientating.
"That is perhaps partly because this is, as feels important to emphasise, an ongoing process. Appeals and possible sanctions – which must, in themselves, protect the division and the sport’s integrity – remain ahead of us.
"Forwards and backwards in time, across football, business and beyond, the knock-ons could be as multifaceted as they are immense – and hopefully, somehow, for the better. Amongst the understandable emotion, taking this forward constructively - via coherent learnings, regulation, consequences and more - is key, if easier said than done."
