- Published
If I was manager of Manchester City now, after they were found guilty of breaking Premier League financial rules, my whole psychology with my group of players this week would encompass one major point:
"No-one is going to like us, but we won't care."
asserted
we → publish → us
I loved being the underdog and I loved to prove people wrong, and that is what I would demand now - a siege mentality from my squad and supporters alike to prove to people that, irrespective of what is happening off the pitch, on the field and the terraces we respect our club and we are going to fight on.
City will be vilified by everyone else but their players have a great opportunity to show unity and togetherness, starting on Sunday away to Liverpool.
'
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players → love → Liverpool
Supporters at away grounds will be baying for their blood'
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Supporters → bay → blood
When the Premier League returns this weekend, the spotlight will be on one game in particular - at Anfield.
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spotlight → return → Anfield
As well as preparing for such a huge match, City's players will be arriving back from international duty and going straight into an off-field fight that has turned into a media frenzy.
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that → prepare → frenzy
The allegations seem relentless with finger-pointing from every Tom, Dick and Harry jumping on the bandwagon in hammering a club that has dominated the Premier League for over a decade.
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that → seem → decade
It feels like every positive gained by City over the period in question and beyond has been smashed into oblivion.
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positive → feel → oblivion
Yet, despite all of the above, the club have remained firm in denying all charges.
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club → remain → charges
So, where does this leave Enzo Maresca and his City players as they prepare to take on Liverpool?
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they → leave → Liverpool
Firstly, although they themselves have not been involved in any of the allegations about the club breaking the Premier League's financial rules, they must understand that supporters at all away grounds will be baying for their blood.
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supporters → involve → blood
City have become a team that, whenever they play, will provide an opportunity for all critics to attack them, and from all angles - including the frenzied media outlets.
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critics → become → outlets
So, as the manager, Maresca must first act to reassure his players that the club is not in any way going to take a step back from defending their own position, and also the position of the players, staff and supporters.
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club → act → players
Once that is established, I would then expect every player to concentrate on what they are being paid for, which is to win games.
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which → establish → games
There should be no distractions or any questions that do not relate to the games they are involved in.
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they → relate → games
No excuses about what is happening off the field would be tolerated, and that would be my final word on the matter.
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that → happen → matter
If the verdict about City breaking the Premier League's financial rules is upheld, it will come at a heavy cost to the club and its reputation.
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it → break → club
I feel there needs to be more attention paid to all of these rules, and their fairness, because professional football at the top level is now dominated by massive financial investment.
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football → feel → investment
Even if you just consider player transfers, it's not unusual for around a billion pounds to be exchanged between clubs in England and around the world during each transfer window.
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pounds → consider → window
While individual players at the top level are being bought and sold for more than £100m, smaller academies are being plundered by the bigger clubs.
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academies → buy → clubs
They can hoover up the best young players for much smaller 'compensation' fees, enabling them to polish them up and sell them on later for much more - without any Financial Fair Play rules to regulate how much they profit.
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they → hoover → much
That's one way of dealing with FFP, I suppose, but is it for the good of the game, or the players involved?
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it → deal → game
Over many years of Premier League governance, clubs have broken the FFP rules that are in place.
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that → break → place
Some have not been caught yet, I'm sure, but others have and have been punished.
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others → catch → ?
It keeps happening, so are the current rules right?
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rules → keep → ?
Do we need to try to change them or are we taking a bigger risk by leading clubs to find different ways - or loopholes - to try to break the financial shackles that are currently in place?
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that → need → place
The money in our game today is extraordinary and today massive corporations, billionaires and even countries are buying our clubs and want to invest more and more into the product but are not able to.
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corporations → buy → product
Gone are the days of local business owners buying their local clubs.
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owners → go → clubs
In the Premier League, Tony Bloom at Brighton and Matthew Benham at Brentford are the last men standing and, in the Championship, the Coates family at Stoke City and Steve Gibson at Middlesbrough are among the few to have had a taste of the top flight.
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family → stand → flight
I always see the top clubs having the power financially to remain at the top but it's important there is a way for the smart guys - people like those I named above - at clubs without the big bucks or big histories, to play a leading role in the top league in world football.
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I → see → football
At the moment all the negative media attention is on what Manchester City have done wrong but the likes of Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford have achieved success by being smart, without the 'big club' tag.
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likes → do → tag
It's great to see, but surely the rules need to reward all clubs for being smart.
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rules → see → clubs
Doing the right thing should give everyone the chance to compete at the highest level.
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Doing → do → level
Tony Pulis was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
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Pulis → speak → Bevan
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