Man City slammed for ‘aggression’ in ‘hollow victory’ over Premier League tipped to ‘kill the game’

Manchester City have been slammed over their ‘aggressive’ tactics to win a ‘hollow victory’ over the Premier League.

Having already been successful in one battle with the Premier League over Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, City claimed another ‘significant victory’ with the amended regulations deemed ‘null and void’ last week.

Stan Collymore believes it was a ‘poor loss’ for the Premier League, who will now have to make further changes to be voted in by Premier League clubs which also don’t lead to further legal action from City, with millions already spent on disputes thus far.

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As things stand aach Member Club is entitled to one vote and all rule changes and major broadcast and commercial proposals require the approval of at least two-thirds vote, or 14 clubs, but Collymore it should be majority wins.

In his CaughtOffside column, Collymore wrote: ‘First and foremost, I think that the Premier League should be pretty much one man, one vote, with the majority winning in terms of what they’re going to bring in and what will be voted out.

‘Whether there’s going to be semi automated or fully automated offsides, what the amount of parachute payments will be… that should be down to the 20 clubs to decide.

‘If 17 clubs say “we do not want Aston Villa football club to benefit over and above the market rate from associated partnerships with their two owners companies,” I don’t see what’s wrong with that, because competition law says that we all live by varying tiers of laws every day.

‘I failed to see why the Premier League can’t make those rules as they wish, but the problem is, of course, that then you get into very murky waters in terms of contract law, human rights law, overlapping laws, etc.

‘With the recent APT decision going in Man City’s favour, I think what that means moving forward, is we’re now saying you can get money directly in a pipeline from Riyadh or Abu Dhabi or Dubai or wherever, that’s going to kill the game, because it just enables a space race that only a few can really enter.

‘I’m a Villa fan, and I get a lot of Villa fans, Newcastle fans and Forest fans saying to me “we’re the great unwashed. We should all be able to spend what we want to spend, and to be able to compete with these clubs.”

‘To a degree, I agree, but I don’t want to see Aston Villa or Forest or Newcastle just be able to turn on a one billion, two billion, 10 billion, 20 billion pound pipeline in order for the Premier League to become a procession for the next 20 to 30 years.

‘What we all really want is to say that there is some financial regulation and transparency that allows all clubs to be able to spend a really good healthy amount to enable them to build squads and benefit from really good recruitment.

‘We don’t want to stop upwardly mobile clubs from doing that but all we’re really going to end up with in 10 years time now is Newcastle outspending anybody. Once they get the green light, they’ll blow everybody else out the water.

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‘It would be ludicrous to say that Newcastle United – that haven’t won a trophy since the 1950s – win a sixth consecutive Premier League and it’s all because of great recruitment etc. It won’t be, because it will just be the money that gets them there – and we don’t want the Premier League to be just about money.

‘At the moment there is decreasing value in every trophy that a club wins, and that is in proportion to how much that club spends.

‘I want to see Leicester City win another miracle Premier League, I want to see Bournemouth get their rewards because of good recruitment and spending – and by virtue of what they do on the football pitch.

‘I don’t blame Manchester City for doing what they’ve done, but what I do blame Manchester City for is their aggression in trying to get one over on the Premier League.

‘The APT decision is a hollow victory for them and it’s a poor loss for the Premier League who should’ve done much better.

‘My view is very simple. Get back to the drawing board, have an open process where we can see what Premier League owners and groups are saying, come to some consensus that would hold up under any legal scrutiny, and get on with it.’