‘Get the hell out’ – Ex-PL boss wants Man City put in non-league after they ‘ruined’ football
Former Premier League manager Ian Holloway wants to see Man City severely punished after the club’s owners “ruined” football in England.
During the international break, the Citizens were found guilty of 114 of their 115 charges after being accused of breaching the Premier League’s financial fair play regulations.
Man City have appealed the verdict but it has been widely reported that they are likely to fail in their attempt to overturn the decsion and face severe sanctions,
Potential punishments being mooted include a heavy fine, transfer ban, points deductions, expulsion from the Premier League and the possibility that they could be stripped of their previous titles.
Holloway managed Blackpool in the Premier League during the nine-year period that Man City – who still deny the charges – were found to have breached the rules.
An angry Holloway wants to see Man City punished with expulsion to non-league football and inists the club’s owners are “still lying”.
Current Swindon Town boss Holloway said: “To be honest with you, in that whole season, I felt robbed. My team played so well against Man City. We scored three perfectly good goals. We had one disallowed for being offside, and they scored two. One was not a foul, and the other one was offside.
“So they were given a penalty, and the other goal was offside, and the referee sent me a letter saying we cost you nine points this year because we expected, oh, that must have been a foul because that was Man City, let alone them now cheating. The game worldwide is being ruined by people who are rich, who think they can do God knows what they want to it.
“And it belongs to every one of us, whether we’re rich or poor. And it’s a sport that is turned into a business that makes it ugly. But there is no game on this planet like it because it’s like a game of chess on grass and it gives you a chance to become part of something that matters.
“One of my granddaughters has been playing for a while, Luna, her younger sister, Remy, has just started playing, she’s 6 and Luna’s 8. I watched her score her first two goals, Luna, last Sunday. It was a joy to see. I’m going to watch their training session tonight, really looking forward to it. And it’s helping me remember why I love this game so much. And I always will love it.
“You can’t ever control it. These new pundits are saying, ‘oh, you’ve got to gain control’. That’s all about what Pep has done inside the game with the new rules about playing out and going into your box. So you gain control and the more control you get and then you go, we can’t all do that.
“That’s not the way the game should be. You’ve got to try and find a way to be part of something and be with somebody. They have seriously dented football and I think it’s harmed it and I would absolutely hammer ten bells out of the whole lot of them because they knew what they were doing.
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“They’re still lying about it now, which is absolutely disgraceful. But how can you control who owns a football club? But you can certainly get stronger rules and regulations. You can certainly make sure that they’re being tested and looked at.
“It’s even at our level. How can you have a gate of 2,000 people and you pay what Salford are paying? None of it makes any sense. How can you be Wrexham and get all of that? None of it makes any sense. And in the whole world, you find people who find loopholes and exploit that.
“This game is bigger and better than all of you. You’re a disgrace. You’ve tarred it so badly. You’re not the only people who do that. They have, right at the top of it all, where some of the people at the top of UEFA and FIFA were put in prison. And I said they were corrupt because that’s what happens. Money, power.
“But the game is the game and it belongs to every single one of us. And the beautiful thing about it, you can be a grandma who’s 94 years old and loves that football club from top to bottom and you’ve got every right to say what you want and you deserve the life that it’s given you, the joy that you’ve had and the horrendous moments that you have, but there’s nothing like it. There is absolutely nothing like it and it’s wonderful and you should never disrespect it.
“I lost because we weren’t quite good enough. We weren’t quite good enough because the team was allowed to cheat. And if you didn’t know they were cheating, I’m sorry you’ve turned a blind eye to that.
“For me, it’s all too late now. I would absolutely take everything away from every single one of them and make them start again. Right now. It happened in Scotland, I would do it now. They are disgraceful and they’re still not owning up to it. What type of people do they want to actually be?
“Is that Pep? Did he know it was happening? No, I don’t think he knew that. It’s the people at the very, very top who were trying to cheat this game and I would throw them in. Why have they still got the company? Why are they still owning? Why do they still do that? Get lost.
“How dare you ruin what is part of our country, our DNA in this country. Honestly, every one of us, mining villages, God knows why it all started, who knows, but it’s all about a team and believing that you can be fairly better than someone else. And they’ve gone and ruined it right at the top of the game. Absolute disgrace.
“So does it hurt me? We might not have been good enough anyway. Lots of things you could look at, but wow, I think now we know that they’re like that. Something really has to happen. And is it a points deduction? For me, get the hell down. Put them in non-league somewhere and make them only use the amount of money.
“They would probably have one player left. Seriously, you can only use that, and you only spend that. Take that all away from them, all the titles, however many, and let them start again and rebuild. Let’s see if their owners would even bother if they have to do it right.
“Because they’ve ruined all of it. Completely and utterly ruined this game that they don’t truly believe to be in if they’re going to do that. And that’s it. End of. Absolutely no respect for me, for you people. Get the hell out. Why can’t we do that? That’s what should happen.”