The news that Everton could be docked 12 points by the Premier League for one instance of financial irregularity could have massive consequences for Man City according to Stan Collymore.
The pundit, who is never short of a strong opinion or two, even suggested the the club will go into complete meltdown at the thought of being bounced to the bottom of the English league football pyramid.
‘The Premier League are quite prevalent at briefing journalists and if they’re throwing a 12 point deduction at Everton, which is a significant sanction against one club, for the 114/115 charges that are facing Man City, they’re effectively saying ‘we’re ready, our lawyers are across all of this now, and as an organisation we will not accept it,” Collymore wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
‘Manchester City’s lawyers have tried to kick things into the long grass for quite a number of years now and these aren’t fresh charges. The Premier League are almost prepping the footballing public as to the severity.’
It’s certainly a strange situation when Man City’s historic and significant charges are still not dealt with but Everton, with just a single charge levied against them, appear to be getting hauled before the authorities in double-quick time.
‘Most people would look at Everton and say they feel a little bit for them. They’ve had a shaky time and they’ve never offended anybody, and they come from a great footballing city,’ Collymore continued.
‘If the Premier League can go straight away bang 12 points that might relegate them for the first time in I think 70 years, they would have no qualms whatsoever in throwing the book at Man City.
‘Even if just a quarter of those charges were proven, there is a situation where Manchester City will not only be bounced out of the Premier League, but thrown towards the bottom of the pyramid.’
Given the immense financial backing that Man City’s owners have, it’s a given that they will be able to call upon the services of the best legal teams in the world.
If the Premier League are going to press ahead as Collymore believes, then having taken their time before making their move is likely to serve the EPL better than if it had already gone all guns blazing to try and ensure City were punished.
‘The stakes are so great now it could mean an absolute meltdown for Man City, to the kind of proportions that Rangers suffered in Scotland when they fell foul of paying players via elaborate schemes,’ Collymore added.
‘The Premier League only have the remit to be able to kick them out of the Premier League of course, but the Football Association and the Football League won’t want them in the top divisions of their competition either. City will go to the very bottom of the pile.’
There’s still no timescale on whether any charges will ultimately be brought, and whether the proposed sanctions will be authorised and actioned.
Until there is complete clarity, both Everton and Man City are likely to be waiting on tenterhooks.