Spot on, my advice to Nas and Wes moving forwards is "F*ck the rules" and simply pay for endless legal challenges whilst they invest seriously in their own asset i.e. AVFC - if we get serious investment in what Unai is doing we will be a permanent fixture of the cabal come the end of the decade.
Doesn't that plan immediately fall apart when UEFA shrug their shoulders and say "fine, we'll give your spot in next seasons Champions League to the team that hasn't deliberately and openly broken the rules"?
Exactly. The problem isn't people breaking the rules TODAY. It's that the rules were broken in the past, allowing these teams to create an almost unassailable commercial advantage TODAY. Eden Hazard signed for Chelsea well over a decade ago, but the impact he had on that Chelsea team is enormous - and those league wins, the FA Cup, the league cups, those Europa League titles, were ALL won with players they signed by CHEATING.
Now, does anyone care if Chelsea loses a premier league title from a decade ago, and it gets given to Man City who finished second instead? I don't. It makes no difference. I could care less.
The REAL benefit, is that they had YEARS of benefitting from being at the top of the game here and in Europe, thanks to players signed through cheating. They still enjoy those benefits today. If those years where these players were in the squad were all trophyless, then they are DEFINITELY a very different commercial animal today.
And that doesn't get corrected with a fine that their owners could find down the back of the sofa.
I personally don't want us saying "sod it, we're cheating too", but I DO want us singing loudly from the rooftops about the unfair advantage these cheats have gained over the years, and that a fit and proper punishment would include points and transfer bans.
Personally, I'd dock them 10 points (minimum) for every season in which illegal payments were made, and have those point deductions applied in consecutive years rather than concurrently. If that means they start every season for the next five years on -10 points, then so be it. If that means they lose all their good players and can't attract anyone decent, all the better.
Same for Man City, I don't want a one-off points deduction and a fine. I want them to have points deducted over multiple seasons, rendering them uncompetitive for as many seasons as they were found to be cheating. Cheated for 5 years? Fine, you get points deductions for five years.
The idea that you can cheat for multiple years, then get a wrist slap and an inconsequential fine, is going to harm the reputation of this sport irrevocably.
