Jamie Carragher believes Manchester City should face a punishment lasting multiple seasons and has called for the club's owners to be forced out following their financial scandal. City have been found guilty by an independent commission of widespread financial cheating over a nine-year period, having disguised funding of over £830million by arranging "sham" contracts between 2009 and 2018.
The club continue to protest their innocence and have appealed against the verdict, but are facing a serious backlash. The commission has the power to relegate City, impose hefty fines and transfer bans. While the punishment will have to wait for City's appeal to run its course, Carragher gave his take on the situation during The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.
Punishment should last years
Carragher believes a straight one-off points deduction would not be punishment enough. "I think if the people talk about 80 points or 100 points, but that's just over one season that gets you relegated and then you come back again," he said. "And I think players, a few of them would leave, but I think some of them would say, 'I could put up with that for a year.' It also builds a connection with the supporters, it'll be seeing in a great light. But I think because this has gone on for so long, I do think the punishment should be over a number of years, three to five years and then players would move on.
"But then you've got the financial aspect of how can they afford the wages of those players if they haven't got Premier League money? If they're having to pay all this money out and you can only spend the money that you're bringing in. They'll have to abide by it now."
Owners can't continue
The futures of City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak have come under scrutiny following the verdict, with one expert on Abu Dhabi saying they could look to sell the club, having been "embarrassed" and "disgraced" by the ruling. "I didn't know how the owners could continue," Carragher said. "How can you ever trust them if they're found guilty of this? And the problem being is my worry for it is it won't be a case of, if they lose the appeal, 'Okay, yeah, we'll get on, we'll take our punishment.'
"I think because of where they're from, the power they have, the finances they have, they'll never admit they were wrong in this, and they would always say we were wronged. This was a sham, the Premier League as such, or different people. And I think they will keep just dragging it on and I think it'll just drag the game into the gutter. And it almost needs sorting out for the game, but also for Manchester City, their support to move on from it. And I don't think they'd ever be able to move on from it with those people."
Players should be separate
Carragher went on to explain why the City scandal should not tarnish all of the club's great former players. "I've always felt they were guilty, they have cooked the books, they have cheated, should take titles away. But when I just, the way I think about it, I can't change my view on individual players," Carragher said. "If I was a Kevin De Bruyne or a David Silva or a Vincent Kompany, I'd be so angry at my club because people would be having these conversations. I don't necessarily agree with that in that I'm looking at an individual player. I'm still thinking of Kevin De Bruyne putting those balls in with his right foot and thinking that's got nothing to do with the owner."
Many City supporters have stuck by the club's hierarchy, who are refusing to accept their guilty verdict. "I do feel for them because the people who've completely transformed their football club in terms of what they're seeing on the pitch, winning trophies," Carragher said. "These are like these big, powerful rulers from a nation state, and they're saying, 'We're adamant, I'm telling you, they've got this wrong.'
"Pep Guardiola comes out as well. It's like, you know, these important people, these people, these supporters probably look up to and absolutely adore, because of what they've given their football club. They are so on the front foot about it. I almost feel, in some ways, it's very difficult for City supporters not to say, to hang on to that for as long as they possibly can."
