Are Man City responsible for Steven Gerr

Towards the end of a near half-hour addre s, Pep Guardiolas tone of defiance and conviction wavered a little.As is often the way in modern football, those who work tirele sly at training grounds and stadiums in pursuit of sporting excellence find themselves as the public face for machinations that have little to do with such sacred places.On Monday, , with the bulk of the claims related to allegations of false accounting that were also the basis of UEFAs investigation into the reigning English champions between 2018 and 2020.In the absence of any public communication aside from a 79-word club statement, no individual from City had put their words on record before Guardiola stepped out for his Friday lunchtime news conference, ostensibly to preview Sundays home game against Aston Villa.MORE: His presentation of the facts did not always pa s muster City were not found completely innocent when the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned their two-year ban from UEFA competitions and his partisan outlook pleased few outside of the blue half of Manchester. But as an exercise in bringing clarity over how City will face their latest off-field crisis, along with a rallying call to a fanbase once again left exposed by a mute a sortment of senior executives, it was something close to a mastercla s.From Guardiolas point of view Patrick Peterson Jersey , this is simply UEFA part 2, the same charges over the same Football Leaks documents and a situation from which City will prevail again. As for his own future, he is going nowhere. If the independent commi sion finds in favour of the Premier League, the potential punishments are seismic, but Guardiola stated he would remain if City were demoted down the divisions and joked about re-signing club cult hero Paul Dickov.Another central me sage was that, irrespective of the side you take in this battle between City and the 19 other Premier League clubs, your mind is already made up. So where does this leave Guardiolas numerous achievements in Manchester four Premier League titles in the past five seasons, Matt Blair Jersey an unprecedented English domestic treble in 2018/19 and nine major honours overall?Its already damaged. It the Premier League verdict not going to change anything. he said, briefly circumspect.It will be good for us to be cleared but in the case of UEFA, did it change anything? These are the same potential accusations that the Premier League have. Did it change anything? Absolutely not.The outcome of the Premier Leagues case against City, which experts believe will be years rather than months in the pipeline, will decide whether the Guardiola era is one of innuendos or asterisks. If City are not found guilty of the major financial charges, as was the case with CAS, the history books will show a period of record-breaking domination without too much care for what the Twitter account of @RedMen8792012227425 might think. On the other hand, if their decade of dominance is proved to have been underpinned by sustained Camryn Bynum Jersey financial irregularity then it will cast an undeniable shadowThe last time City faced Villa at the Etihad Stadium was on the final day of last season when, from 2-0 down inside the final 15 minutes, Guardiola's side completed an astonishing turnaround, winning 3-2 via an Ilkay Gundogan brace either side of an ice-cool Rodri strike to pip Liverpool to the title. Bedlam unfolded in the stands and the manager himself was a tear-stained me s at fulltime.While he was strident in defence of his paymasters Im proud about my owners, about my chairman, for the relationship we have in the past and this time together and Citys wider conduct, Guardiola did not feel the need to protect those indelible moments of sporting triumph he believes lie beyond the remit of any judicial body.In a turbulent week of football politicking, where the Super League reared its zombie head in the aftershocks the Premier Leagues City bombshell, Guardiola claimed such memories will always belong to fans, speaking of Eastlands triumphs before his tenure as if he was a season-ticket holder in the Colin Bell Stand at that point as opposed to the coach of Barcelona or Bayern Munich. Absolutely they belong to us. Regardle s of the sentence, they belong to us, he said.The moment from Sergio Aguero, where Mario Balotelli slipped I dont know if we are responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping in that situation in Anfield during the 2013/14 title run-in I didnt want it Garrett Bradbury Jersey out of respect for Steven Gerrard. Is it our fault? That belongs to us. The moments that we live these years together, if they decide to give the Premier League will decide.I know we won what we won in the way we won it with the effort we put in. If something happened in 2009, 2010 I dont know how long ago it is not going to change one second. One second.Of course, fans of other clubs will argue those moments or unique snapshots of triumph from a parallel timeline would be theirs but for Citys allegedly illicit presence. Stripped titles are improbable and re-a signing honours previously won by City is even more unlikely. There is no precedent for such punishments in situations like this.The degrees of separation from performance on the field and the myriad variables in play make financial offences very different cases to those concerning doping or match-fixing, for example. That is not to say the punishment should not be severe if the most serious charges are proven. As Guardiola himself said in squaring up to Citys fellow Premier League shareholders, there are grievances on both sides. For his part, the 52-year- Dakota Dozier Jersey old delved into some of his own, rooted deep in his sporting and emotional muscle memory.Always I had the feeling when I arrived here that playing good was not enough to win, playing better was not enough to win, You have to play much, much better, he said. To beat the establishment, you have to do it perfectly in the equal situation because we dont have history. We are not the hierarchy of the Premier League.I said the same words in Barcelona. When I arrived as manager, I said to beat Madrid you have to do not better but much, much better. You have to make 100 points, 99 points, 97 points to win the Premier League. That would be plucky underdogs Barcelona, who won LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League during Guardiolas first season in charge, who had Lionel Me si, Thierry Henry and Samuel Etoo up front. Or non-establishment Manchester City, who were one of the elite Premier League clubs that signed up for the breakaway Super League.But to Guardiola, the pa sionate football obse sive (even after Fridays bravura display, the pre s conference where he spoke with wide-eyed wonder remains one of his highlights behind the microphone) and proud Catalan separatist, these arguments make total sense.Real Madrid remain the big bad enemy, the Goliath he