Manchester City's troubles have deepened a week after revelations that they would be found guilty of the majority of accusations in the 115 case. A 40-page decision from the independent panel has been published, reading as a damning verdict on the cheating judged to have gone on for nearly a decade.
City continue to insist on their innocence and have appealed against the decision, meaning the evidence will be looked over again by a new set of experts to see if a different conclusion is reached. The Premier League want to finish things up as quickly as possible, so the sanctions hearing could run alongside or even come before the appeal.
Players and staff react to the verdict
Most of the players won't be back until Thursday to prepare for the trip to Liverpool. That has been less than ideal for City compared to three years ago when the Premier League first announced the charges. That came a day after a game, so club bosses were able to get players together in a room and calm everybody down. This time, those reassurances have had to be remote.
For all the uncertainty, the squad can't actually do anything about it. Any potential punishments are months away, and if any of them are to affect the players, it won't be them personally who do anything about it. Maresca will speak to them and will likely tell them to forget about it, but there will also be senior players such as Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias who use it to fire everybody up. If there is anger at City now, imagine if they beat Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Appeal process and publication of details
City will have seen the unredacted verdict, and also were in the room where everything happened for 11 weeks back in the 2024 hearing. The latter contributed to the surprise at how the verdict was written up, and the strength of feeling to appeal. The Premier League have said they are committed to publishing the appendices "as soon as it is able", which is rather unhelpful for anyone trying to understand how the panel reached their verdict, or how likely City are to succeed with their appeal.
Given the publication of the redacted document was challenged on the basis that the process is still ongoing, it would not be a surprise if the full facts are not released until all this reaches a conclusion. Hopefully it is sooner, but I won't be holding my breath.
Potential punishments and player exits
While it is still speculative as City's appeal is yet to be heard and likely months away, a massive points deduction that effectively relegates City would tick a lot of boxes for the Premier League. It avoids a vote from clubs having to expel City from the competition, and also the messiness of at what level the EFL would accept City, and is also quantifiable in the sense that the club could be docked points for breaching financial rules using the same scale as clubs such as Everton.
Such a punishment would also bring the highest chance of City losing their star players. All of them joined despite the noise because City represented the best chance of winning the biggest trophies every year, but relegation to the Championship would change all that - even if it was just for a year. City's squad would be gutted. Clubs will already be circling to see if they can pick off City's top talent, as usually happens when teams are in difficulty - the reason Rayan Cherki was picked up so cheaply was that Lyon had financial problems - and it would be remiss if players and their representatives were blindly loyal to City.
None of this is happening very quickly and it remains unclear that any punishment would even arrive this season; it is also highly possible Haaland and the biggest stars go abroad rather than to another Premier League club, which means the league would lose as well. Regardless, that timeframe likely gives these players at least a year before City's fate is known and they potentially arrive at a position where they want or need to get out. They will still be some of the best players in the world at that point, so shouldn't have an issue getting a move so they don't need to be agitating for one now or for some time.
Fan reactions and the road ahead
Support the team, by all means, but the chairman and board have been found to have committed serious offences and the team and supporters will likely pay in any punishment despite not being a part of it. If anybody wants to back the board because they insist upon their innocence that is absolutely fine, but as head of the Official Supporters Club Kevin Parker told me last week: if fans have lost any faith then that is perfectly understandable as well. You can't help how you feel, and the verdict on City was damning.
It would be some dark humour if the charges are upheld or remain unresolved by the end of the season and Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has to confront the prospect of City ribbons on the trophy again. And yet, it is entirely possible. Maresca's side have plenty of room for improvement, as the Sunderland win showed. But Arsenal showed their weakness at Brighton and no other clubs have stepped up to show their quality so far and it is the Blues who sit top of the league with five wins from five. Any result is possible at Anfield but it would be entirely in keeping with the chaos now apparent in the Premier League - as well as the early struggles on the pitch of Liverpool this season - if City are to walk away with a victory that causes even more uproar.
