Man City 325-point deduction proposed!?

The Man City FFP talk rumbles on while Liverpool’s title win is dismissed, the Big Six ‘myth’ is challenged and more.

Now go and watch some glorious Premier League football and mail us at theeditor@football365.com

How Man City should be punished
Firstly a point I would make is the UEFA ruling banning them from two years which was overturned on appeal only on a technicality…why UEFA didn’t pursue it only makes you think of corruption. Back to these charges…in my humble opinion as a football fan with no affiliation to any one team, Manchester City should be handed a penalty such as to show that the Premier League is serious and you can not gain from such blatant practices.

If expulsion is possible that should be imposed for at least four years and all trophies taken off them. If only points deduction and fines are the options then deducted 100 points next season and a further 75 in the future every season they are in the Premier League until four years have been spent out of the Premier League. 100 points is proportional to Everton and Forest.
Kevin Masterson

READ: Man City FFP, Villa, Spurs, Arsenal hot takes save the F365 Mailbox

It’s always been about the money
In response to Dale this morning who said that the Premier League was all about “who is the richest?” I have some bad news for you… t’was forever thus… from the mill owners of Blackburn in the 1890s, to the industrial centres of the 70’s and the current financial power of London. The top of the league has always been dominated by the most attractive to sponsors and tv money with the occasional input of rich owners..

But what happens when every team has a billionaire owner.. people for whom premier league wages really don’t matter then what makes a team better? Were Blackburn richer than Manchester United or did Kenny Daglish make them more attractive to play for, do players prefer the stability and system of Guardiola to the constant churn at Chelsea and United (Manchester).

Maybe that is the future when the top 10 teams in the league are all state owned petrochemical monstrosities who can pay the earth, maybe that’s when coaching and culture will matter more..

And because every email seems to comment on Liverpool’s out of contract players.. ask yourself would you rather live in Madrid or on Merseyside? Buena suerte Trent!
Paul, BRFC

…Just a quick one in reply to Dale. No one (or very few people) will abandon the Premier League because very few people are really that arsed.

Football exists in its own universe. People had a 5 minute outrage at clubs being bought by sport-washing Saudi states with horrific human rights records. An almost continuous battle against ticket prices has not really stopped people going to the game. The outrageous 3pm UK blackout. People spending £1300 a year to see “a premier league footballer in his 30’s”. There will be a brand new scandal next season. And people will angrily shake their fist for a few minutes, before settling down to pay £1000 a year to watch it all over again.

Best League In The World™, innit?
Si, LFC

Discussing the Big/Top Six
Just taking Nuno’s recent comments about The Big 6 (or the myth that is…..) I wasn’t sure how much this big 6 had really appeared as the top 6 recently…

Upon checking the last 10yrs (seemed like a sensible/round figure) not to make any agendas or stats fit an argument, it turned out that 5 out of the last 10 seasons (including this season as it wont be the big 6 this year) the Big 6 have in fact finished, on one order or another, as the top 6 in the league.

However….. in the last 6yrs it has only happened once.. that all 6 have finished as the top 6.

Villa, Newcastle, Brighton, Leicester and West Ham have all featured in that top 6 come the end of the season (all only once apart from Leics shockingly, at twice)

Only City (and that might even change this year) and Liverpool have been in the top 6 every time in the last 6years..

Does that means its really only a big 2? Surely we cant say that or it’s Scotland or Germany (or is Germany still only 1 really?)

Do we need to redefine BIG?

Has league position got absolutely sod all to do with it and we go purely on ‘history’ or potential for expenditure (Welcome Forest (for both) and Newcastle to the BIG 8 if so…)

Or is it just an assumption that those 6 teams will almost always fill the top 6 slots? Because for the last 6yrs this has not been the case..

Can we abandon the BIG 6 moniker totally? It clearly doesn’t really mean anything, other than a collective term for 6 teams that we all know who we mean.

How many years does a team need to be out of the BIG 6 before we discount them?

And likewise how many years does a team need to be in the TOP 6 for them to be included at someone else expense, or does it just naturally evolve into he BIG 7, as we daren’t possibly discount ManUtd, as next year could be 3yrs in a row they finish outside of the top 6 (won’t someone think of the backlash) for example…

Though none of the BIG 6 have been out of the top 6 places for more than 2yrs on the bounce or in fact for more than 2 yrs in total, in the last 10seasons.

So maybe until one of them has to be out for 5yrs? or 5yrs from 10? Or no matter what Newcastle (Or Forest) do they can only ever become 1 of the BIG 7 or BIG 8 now…

Does anyone care?
Al – LFC – Bored at work and thinking ‘outloud’

Handily, we can look at the Premier League table for games over the last 10 years and that really does show a very clear Big/Top Six…

Liverpool wearing hollow crown?
When I was a kid, I was an awful loser (many would say I still am!). Tantrums, strops, the lot. My mum took me aside and told me that I was a little sh*t and no one would like me if I behaved like that. So I tried really hard and became very magnanimous, very demure, very respectful etc in defeat. However I became an awful winner instead. Rubbing it in people’s faces, making out my victory meant more than others, I mocked my opponents, saying they’d never achieve anything. My mum then took me aside and pointed out that both were sh*tty behaviours, and so I learned to just enjoy playing regardless of the result.

Which brings me to Liverpool. From a subjective perspective, I believe they will be the worst winners of the league from the last 20 years. Yes, worse than Leicester (at least Leicester were memorable). And Liverpool’s fans will be, as always, insufferable. As if they have achieved something miraculous, when in fact if it wasn’t for collapses in form and injuries, they’d be nowhere near. That they grind out their joyless results will be all they are remembered for IMO.

So enjoy your victory, no one else will rate it outside of Merseyside. Enjoy your hollow crown.
John (Hating since 1979) Matrix AFC

To Dave, LFC…
You might not be from Liverpool, but with overwrought, self-indulgent, self-mythologising waffle like that, I can assure you, you’re 100% scouse.
Lewis, Busby Way

Stop citing Premier League stats says old man shouting at clouds
We hear plenty about the records that could be broken in the stat-obsessed Premier League, but how about not falling into line with the FA’s bizarre vandalism of football’s long and storied history?

Mo Salah and Erling Haaland may well score enough goals to be legitimately described as ‘ridiculous’, but they’ll need to find another level to match the 60 Dixie Dean hit in a single season. At least Haaland’s exploits a couple of years ago earned him a spot in the top 20, so he has a base to build on.

If Harry Kane returns to England, maybe he will indeed surpass Alan Shearer’s total, but that would only be enough for fifth on the all-time scorers’ list. One more goal would put him level with Tony Cottee, whose 136 pre-Prem strikes are all deemed invalid by the FA and Sky Sports. Besides, Kane would need to keep playing and scoring at his previous Premier League rate for more than five seasons to eclipse Jimmy Greaves’s record of 357.

The 1992 cut-off point for statistics is what’s truly ridiculous. Why not 1996, when the league was reduced to 20 teams? Or 2005, when the offside rule was changed to favour attackers? The introduction of VAR in 2020 is surely more significant than the off-field changes of 1992, so maybe we should start a fresh set of records from that date.

Sports like cricket and baseball, which football looks to emulate in its increasingly stat-heavy analysis, have a respect for their history that English football can no longer match. Next time you’re prepping another article about stats, I appeal to the writers of F365 to remember the century of history that the FA tried to chalk off purely because the biggest clubs in the country wanted to keep all the money.
Martin, BRFC (looking forward to Liverpool becoming only the fifth club to win the league more than once)

View from the Palace
I hope everyone took note that when F365 described their mailbox as “worst ever”, I was not in it.

I quite enjoyed that Saturday lunchtime kickabout. A lot was said before the game from the ITV gang about Oliver Glasner being a manager who loves cup competitions, having been successful in them at previous clubs. I think it’s more that managers nowadays realise that momentum transfers between competitions for all clubs, so sacking off a cup in order to focus on the league doesn’t work.

Crystal Palace suited being the away team against Fulham, they sat back for 20 minutes or so barely having a kick but crucially not giving away many chances – Dean Henderson wasn’t overly troubled in that period.

Last time these teams met Palace gained the upper hand after a refereeing decision went in their favour, on that occasion a penalty shout was turned down, and Fulham were rattled by it the rest of the game, constantly complaining to the officials about everything. Palace, meanwhile, got on with the game and ended up winning. A similar thing happened here. Adam Wharton, on a yellow card, had a coming together with Rodrigo Muniz. On first glance it didn’t look like much, and remembering the previous game, it looked like Muniz went down easily and stayed down with the intention of getting Wharton a second yellow. On the replay, there was a little flick out that might on another day have ended Wharton’s afternoon, but perversely Muniz’s obvious overreaction probably swayed the official into deciding in Wharton’s favour.

About ten minutes later, the ball was played out to the left wing, Tyrick Mitchell nudged it on to Eberechi Eze, who scored a wonder goal. A few minutes later, he followed it up with an assist when Ismaila Sarr doubled the lead. Sarr’s header showed excellent technique, timing his run away from his marker perfectly and getting enough glance on the ball to send it to the far corner. Lucky it was set up for him and not someone with a 50p head.

Having a comfortable lead allowed Palace to sit back in the second half, which also helped negate one Marco Silva’s plans, to bring on Adama Traore, who struggled to find space to run into behind the defence. The Eagles finally put the game to bed on 75 minutes when Eddie Nketiah made it 3-0. That’s two rounds in a row he’s scored after coming on as a substitute for Jean-Philippe Mateta, although thankfully these were better circumstances for that change this time around. Nketiah struggled for composure earlier in the season, where his biggest strength (his ability to fashion a shot from anywhere) was also his biggest weakness (he shot from anywhere instead of passing to a better-placed teammate).

Overall, things are pretty fun at the Palace. It’s great when you get a group of players who seem to enjoy playing together for your club, and this translates into results on the field. They just need to make sure they keep their eye on the ball in the league, away at Southampton tomorrow night and then at home in the “why is this a derby” derby against Brighton on Saturday.
Ed Quoththeraven