Premier League have bottled it says Collymore

Man City are on the verge of enjoying another incredible trophy-laden season.

Pep Guardiola’s side are just two wins away from claiming a double of Premier League and FA Cup, and were they to beat West Ham at the weekend, it would mean City landing an unprecedented fourth successive English top-flight title.

It’s a feat that’s not been done before in English football and deserves high praise indeed. It simply isn’t enough to say that the club has all the best players so what do you expect. A team still has to be blended together and the manager also has to be at the very highest level to be able to continue to motivate his playing staff.

All the while they have charges outstanding against them, however, their achievements will continue to be tarnished.

Former professional, Stan Collymore has really gone to town on the Premier League themselves for allowing such a situation to fester.

Man City’s charges needed to be dealt with sooner

“Apparently (Premier League chief) Richard Masters is going to the Arsenal game this weekend to avoid having to give the Premier League trophy to a club that’s got 115 charges against it,” he said in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.

“The argument over the charges that we’ve had from Manchester City Supporters groups – who will undoubtedly have been briefed by the club – is that the charges are too serious and too hefty over a number of different domains, to be dealt with quickly. Okay, I can go with that. 115 charges, take some more time…

“However, the fact is that no one expects a weekly digest from Richard Masters. I fail to see how the Premier League could not have taken one of Manchester City’s charges, perhaps the most serious and focused on that as the headline grabber, then just get to the other 114 as and when.

“I believe that Premier League have got it wrong because they haven’t dealt with one single charge and you can’t honestly tell me it couldn’t have been done in the same timescale as Everton’s and Forest’s punishments.

“They could’ve then said to people ‘this is the gravity of the club’s situation.’ Whether it would be a three point, six point or 10 point deduction, that would have had clear ramifications for this season’s title race.

“It would then be a template for dealing with clubs in the future because I’m sure that other clubs will fall foul of FFP sooner or later. Villa aren’t far off, and Newcastle may not be far off either.”