Whatever the name it'll still be half empty
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark, or should that be the City of Manchester stadium if we’re to believe the likes of Arsene Wenger and Liverpool FC’s managing director Ian Ayre.
Manchester City’s ground naming deal with Etihad Airlines has been the subject of much controversy and the debate looks set to rumble on.
The Guardian reports:
“When I spoke at Soccerex earlier this year I was on a panel about financial fair play,” Ayre said. “The guys from Uefa said there would be a robust and proper process about related-pay transactions. Is Etihad, Manchester City and Sheikh Mansour a related party? If they are, then it’s up to Uefa to rule on them.”
“The other test the Etihad sponsorship would have to overcome is whether it represents “fair value”. Manchester City have pointed out that the £40m a year arrangement also provides for redevelopment work around Eastlands as well as shirt sponsorship and naming rights. However, Ayre questioned whether the naming rights to any stadium – especially one that already has a name – are worth anything like the money the airline has agreed to pay.”
It’s no real surprise that rival club’s are questioning City’s Etihad deal, after all everyone always expected Stockport’s finest to find a way around the new spending regulations. The likes of Liverpool and Arsenal realise that despite having a bigger global brand and higher earning power, they won’t be able to outspend City when the new rules come in, thanks to the Eithad deal.
Whether UEFA act remains to be seen, but it makes a rather amusing change seeing three of our main rivals slinging mud at one another rather than us for a change.
Hello Man U fans
You know as well as any other fans that Man City and Chelsea are cheats, they are been run buy billioanires who are playing championship manager.
Where is there traddtions? where are there values? or what are they?
To me they are just cheating everyone and cant be looked up on as genuine…
Lfc and Arsenal have a right to question what man city are doing because they are clubs with tradtions and values..
What do you think?
max, very bitter and jealous comments there rag…
Its always been about money since the game came into being. You forget when manu was floated on the stock exchange etc etc.
and you fail to see the difference between what a club earns/what a club is worth and a billionaire using his own money to buy things. Stop playing dumb.
Well if thats right gB where did Utd earn the £18m from in the 1980s while city had spent £5m??
I suggest first of all that you go back to school and concentrate on your english grammar.Next, either go into business or find a business partner who will accept you as a partner for what you have to offer? Business accumen maybe? You have probably attained a degree in reading the red tops or celebraty awareness. Either way, please do not comment on things you quite obviously know nothing about.
It’s funny that you are making fun of other people’s grammar, yet you can’t even spell celebrity properly.
Blah .. get used to it.
I’m from Stockport, quit with this Stockport is a City town crap, I’m a United fan and its pretty annoying to hear it, trust me theres more United fans than City fans in Stockport
gB don’t say that you’re making us look like fools as we always say City fans are all from Stockport!
Did you cross the 2 County border to see the United coming home parade. City fans come from all over the World. There are more United fans that come from abroad, than there are in Stockport or Manchester.
Just because LFC and Ars are part of the so called tradition doesn’t mean that they have god given right over other teams wanting to compete. At the end of the day football is a business and in a court of law not even uefa can stop a business from growing. Just get used to it!
Since when was borrowing 651 million to promote prawn munchers financial fai8r play swamp dweller?
It is rather amusing yes, and there’s one team that hasnt voiced their concerns and thats Man Utd!! We dont one way or another how city try to cheat the system (ironic seen as their council estate dwelling supporters also do the same thing). Everyone should have seen this coming a mile off really! It was obvious the sheikhs werent going let this fair play thing stop their spending. They were obviously going to increase the sponsor money.
I see no reason for us to be bitter, they’ve essentially invested nearly half a billion quid and got an FA Cup out of it. We’ve probs invested the same amount during fergie’s reign and got about 15 of them plus 2 champions leagues and 19 premier league titles. Its not simply money that makes a team win trophies, its team chemistry and careful management. Neither of which city have or look like they ever will…….
Oh, Anneeq.
Were you knocked out of the FA cup at Wembley by a team that doesn’t have chemistry, and careful management?
I rather think City have both these things. For fans of the worlds most successful sporting brand to be playing the nobility of poorness card when talking about City is a bit rich. The ironing is delicious.
Sorry, I meant irony. I can’t sleep either. But its out of excitement rather than worry.
I wasnt knocked out of wembley no, i wasnt playing that match. The Man Utd football team were tho yes. I’ll give credit where its due, city did good, even the top high quality teams such as man utd have to lose at some point (after winning 4 prems, 1 carling cup and 1 european cup, plus 2 more european cup finals in the past 5 years even the staunchest of city fans cant say that man utd are a bad team).
Its not the poorness card actually, its the hypocrite card we’re playing. City have for the past 35 years tried this apparent moral high ground excuse saying that United buy success whereas city build success through their academy. Thats rubbish seen as though city’s rise has been down to players like De Jong, Tevez, Yahya Toure all bought, need i mention Robinho? And yes theres one sole huge academy success hart.
Man Utd’s success has been through the academy, Giggs, scholes, beckham, neville brothers, brown, nicky butt and these are the mancunians! If i mention the other british players that have come through the academy we’d be here all day. These lot have been the nucleus of our success. And even if u look at City’s FA Cup win as the commentators pointed out the only mancunian on the pitch was sent off, (Scholsey). So u cant even boast having a team that represents the manchester working class.
They also like to play the money excuse saying that they are a principled team that dont buy success. Apart from buying Barry, Robinho, Silva, Lescott, Yahya toure, kolo toure, Tevez (with his 300k a week wages) all in 2 years. They performed a whole squad change once the sugar daddy let them go on a spending spree. Something that was appparently not part of City’s moral code for the past 35 years or so….
City have always spent big money, ‘cos City have always been a big club.
Since the begining of football City have smashed transfer records (and attendance records too), so where you get this nonsense about City taking the moral high ground from I do not know.
We all know football is big business, which is why the Sheikh’s money is more than welcomed by all City fans.
Of course academy players are important, but in this day and age you can’t rely on them solely to win silverware, in fact the last team to win anything playing all British players was City back in the late sixties/early seventies – not United.
Your little rant is so full of inaccuracies it’s embarassing – Beckham is not a Mancunian, and Joe Hart wasn’t a product of the City academy, we bought him. I can’t be arsed telling you how many academy players have come through at City, suffice to say plenty.
United bought success and milked the Champions League monopoly cashcow, (Rooney and Ferdinand to name but two record breaking transfer fees), that is what has been different about United’s success.
Mind you, thanks to Fifa’s FFP rules, we’re on board the gravy train as well just in time, no way any team will break into the top four now, Manchester thanks you Monsieur Platini.
Your academy is no better than anyone else’s, certainly not City’s, and in any case it’s the bought in players that win trophies, a good academy is just a bonus.
You’re no better than City over the length of both club’s history, and it looks likely that City’s time has come again, to be the best team in Manchester, like we were in the seventies.
I suppose you’ll drop United in a season or two when the glory dries up eh? Try Barcelona for a change, they’ll be still winning everything in sight.
“The last team to win anything playing all British players was City in the late sixties ealry seventies” the United FA Cup winning side of 1990 was made up entirely of British players- including the subs. If you’re going to criticise inaccuracies then at least try and be accurate yourself.
oops this late night typing must have made my brain go silly instead of;
‘We dont one way or another how city try to cheat the system’
i should have said:
‘We know that one way or another city would try to cheat the system’
Ci’eh showing their MASSIVE class as usual bending the rules in their favour. Stupid Mancs. MUFC 4 eva.
“Ci’eh showing their MASSIVE class as usual bending the rules in their favour. Stupid Mancs”
Stupid Mancs? YCMIU. Bet the United fans from yes, Manchester, love you.
Stupid mancs? Obviously not mancunian yourself then. Why doesn’t that surprise me?
Well clearly Mancunia is somewhere up there,somewhere
All the fat greedy debt ridden cats who have sat around for years. Remember dickheads your popularity is built on disasters. Wind ur necks in and worry about your own debt ridden yards. Di dumbs go and cry into your Norwegian, Irish handkerchiefs or where ever your all from.
ha ha a utd fan calling city and their fans”stupid mancs”……one utd fan who at least realises that city is manchesters only team!