There are two games happening today in the WSL as Charlton host Manchester City and London City Lionesses take on Brighton.
-
Charlton v Manchester City (1:30pm BST)
-
London City Lionesses v Brighton (5pm BST)
Then, tomorrow, the main event sees Chelsea host Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. There is also a Merseyside derby as Liverpool face Everton.
-
Manchester United v West Ham
-
Birmingham City v Crystal Palace
-
Liverpool v Everton
-
Tottenham v Aston Villa
-
Chelsea v Arsenal
Bernstein argues 'money is not sufficient' for potential City punishment
Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein believes “money is not sufficient” in terms of a potential punishment for the club being found guilty on virtually all counts of breaching Premier League financial rules.
News broke on Friday that City had been found guilty on all but one of the 115 charges laid by the Premier League in February 2023, charges the club have always strenuously denied.
The charges date back to the 2009-10 season, since which time City have won multiple major trophies.
City are expected to appeal, and Bernstein, who was City chairman between 1998 and 2003, would want to see that process dealt with quickly.
He told Times Radio: “I felt absolutely awful, I felt in shock yesterday, actually. I think you’ve asked me on the programme because of my time as chair of City and the FA, but basically I’m a fan of Manchester City and have been a fan for 70 years.
“It’s really awful that this great period of success, which followed many years of being less successful, when I was chair I think I helped get the club out of a very difficult period and started the road to better things.
“But to see all this tarnished in this way is very sad, I feel particularly bad for the wonderful supporters of the club who’ve stayed with the club through thick and thin. It’s a pretty bad day I think for the fans in blue of Manchester.”
Asked what the correct punishment would be, Bernstein said: “First of all, the timing of this I think is crucial. This whole process has taken too long already.
“So the appeal process now has to be done quickly because…you’ve got the club playing with this cloud over its head and it’s just not viable.
“The appeal process cannot go on for year after year, I think that would be a disaster. Not just for this particular case but for English football generally. The timing is crucial.
“I can’t give a view on the punishment. If they are found, after the appeal, guilty of 115 charges, my beloved club is going to face a very severe penalty.
“All I would say is that money is not sufficient, it would have to be something, unfortunately, more drastic than that.” Press Association
Thomas Tuchel has thrown Cole Palmer’s England future into major doubt by questioning whether the Chelsea attacker wants to be part of his squad.
England’s head coach did not hold back on Palmer’s latest withdrawal from international duty, warning that the 24-year-old has missed too many opportunities to play for his country. Palmer has only 14 caps and his decision not to join up with the squad this week, because of a minor muscular injury, caused disappointment given he was left out of Tuchel’s World Cup squad after struggling with form and fitness last season.
Tuchel said: “He misses too many camps. That’s the overall headline. We have a lot of invitations and he couldn’t make this one. It is what it is. I am not ready to focus on players who are not here. The players that are here have my full attention.
“It is a missed opportunity. He [Palmer] misses too many opportunities. I don’t blame him for it. It is just a fact. He misses way too many camps with injuries, and I only want to rely on what I witness within my team, and for that you have to be in camp.”
Liverpool appoint new sporting director
Liverpool have appointed Julian Ward as their sporting director for a second time following the departure of Richard Hughes to Al-Hilal.
England host Spain at Wembley this evening. Thomas Tuchel was asked yesterday if he thought that Spain’s possession-based style of play gives them an advantage.
In response, the England head coach said: “I think it is an advantage in general. Not only against us, but against everyone. This is how they play. I think they rely on that. This is how they train and they were brought up. This is clearly part of them.
“But at the moment, I think the more you analyse Spain and their last matches they played in, you have to admire the way in which they defend. They added this to their game. It is collective work and they are masters of delaying and pushing you towards wide areas where they can initiate the press.
“They have world class goalkeepers, as you know - three of them - but they are hardly tested. It is so difficult for every single team in the world to create chances against them. We have a plan and we have ambition, and we want to prove the opposite. We want to be the exception to the rule, but at the moment they are a very complete team.”
Today’s Nations League fixtures
-
Slovenia v Scotland
-
Faroe Islands v Kazakhstan
-
San Marino v Finland
-
Iceland v Estonia
-
Bulgaria v Luxembourg
-
Czech Republic v Croatia
-
North Macedonia v Switzerland
-
England v Spain
-
Slovakia v Moldova
-
Albania v Belarus
Before we take a break from talking about City, here is everything you need to know about the hearing and charges:
“There is no episode in English football’s history that even resembles a precedent for the epic Manchester City disciplinary drama, which encapsulates the modern game at breaking point. Here was a grand, stoic old club, taken over in 2008 by Abu Dhabi royalty and mega-funded to imperious success, then crowned serial champions by a league simultaneously pursuing charges of monstrous financial cheating…”
Rodri says nobody can take away Manchester City players’ success and still believes in his former club’s innocence despite reports they have been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules.
“We have faced something similar back in 2020, we had a similar judicial process,” the Barcelona midfielder said. “Different accusation but similar process.
“There as well in the first instance we were found guilty, but we believed in the club and the innocence that the club maintained and in the end we ended up acquitted. So, I believe in the justice system, and I believe in the innocence of the club.”
Asked if such talk hurts having achieved so much with City, Rodri said: “For us, the players, it is a different thing than for you guys. I can understand all kind of opinions, and it is something that now is big.
“But we always tried to think in a positive way, when you live that club daily and the people who have worked hard all these years to have all the success we had.
“Not only Pep [Guardiola] and the players but all the structure, from the owners to the guys who worked daily. What we did, they cannot take it out of us. It is something that is not paid by money, it is paid with effort, with partnership and with being shoulder to shoulder every day.
“We had a lot of success over the years and here in Wembley, so I can tell you everything was deserved and I’m glad I could live one of the best eras of English football.”
If you are going to watch your local non-league side this weekend, let me know which game you’re attending. Leave a comment below the line or send me an email.
“This is not over of course. We still work on the principle of innocent until repeatedly proven guilty, pending mega-bucks final appeals. There could yet be a dramatic reversal at the next stage. And if so, fair enough. Trust the process. So for now we must also asterisk the asterisk. It should also be pointed out that City still deny all allegations, even when proven at the first instance. They have also, in fairness, not been found guilty of all of those 100-plus charges. Maybe the club can spin this, take the positives, a vital away charge to take into the appeal…”
The legal teams
Manchester City:
Leading the City team was David Pannick KC, one of the foremost barristers of his generation, renown for representing the rich and powerful. Previous clients include Queen Elizabeth II, Boris Johnson, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and more than one billionaire sheikh.
Lawyers may not earn as much as the Erling Haaland’s £500,000 a week but Pannick charges a none too shoddy £5,000 an hour. In 2019, Pannick charged £407,250 for defending Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, a former Qatari prime minister, involving a two-day trial, which the crossbench peer did not attend.
Paul Harris KC, a leading sport and commercial silk, also led City’s successful appeal before the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) against Uefa’s Champions League ban on the club for alleged breaches of financial fair play rules. He is said to have been a trusted adviser to the club for more than 20 years.
Premier League:
Adam Lewis KC is widely regarded as the country’s preeminent sports barrister and co-authored the leading textbook in the field. His significant cases include acting for Chelsea at Cas when they successfully halved a two-transfer-window ban imposed by Fifa. He also represented Premiership Rugby at an independent tribunal where the champions Saracens were found to have breached salary cap regulations.
Andrew Hunter KC’s prominent sports cases include rugby’s “bloodgate” scandal and Formula One’s spygate scandal when McLaren were fined $100m (then £50m) and docked all their points in the constructors’ championship when found in possession of documents belonging to Ferrari.
Jason Pobjoy KC represented the Premier League alongside Lewis as he did when Everton were docked points for breaching financial rules. Pobjoy argued that Everton’s “unreasonable conduct in the proceedings unnecessarily and significantly increased” costs for the league, which sought to recover £4.9m in lawyers’ fees. However, Everton argued the costs were “eye-watering” and were ordered to pay only £1.7m. Pobjoy has also represented the Football Association but is best known for his civil liberties, public and human rights law cases, including substantial pro bono work.
The big news yesterday was that of Manchester City’s guilty verdict in their legal battle with the Premier League. Click below for all the info.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! There is no Premier League action today but we have 10 Nations League fixtures to look forward to, along with two WSL games.
And in case you somehow missed it, Manchester City were found guilty of over 100 charges related to breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules this week, so we will be bringing you the latest on that and telling you everything you might need to know.
There is plenty to talk about – so join us!
