Wolves Banter 2

01 Oct 2026 23:10:58
Proposals for Citeh; Ban the owners from UK and football, 40 points deduction and not allowed to buy or loan any players for ten years! Job done, Come on you Wolves.

02 Oct 2026 09:57:17
Roberto Mancini's statement that he knew he was being paid twice (here and abroad) is a clear indication of a conspiracy to 'massage' the accounts. He was not a lone wolf, many people had to be involved in his dodgy remuneration arrangements. The Citeh accounts will have to be restated at Companies House. This is merely the tip of the iceberg of wrongdoing of course.

A good mate of mine was a big music agent. He booked top bands to appear at venues like the Royal Albert Hall. One foreign band always insisted on being paid twice: whatever fee they got on the books, they wanted the same amount in cash to be delivered to the venue. My mate became a nervous wreck carrying the cash. That ended about ten years ago, but was not unusual back in the day so maybe not surprising that Citeh did it too. It wasn't a little cash side hustle for Citeh though, they did it on an industrial scale and to this day proclaim their innocence.

01 Oct 2026 14:00:50
A report today says that ex-Citeh manager Mancini was paid nearly £9mil to his offshore companies, in addition to his declared salary in the UK. This £9mil is now potentially liable for UK PAYE and NI, plus penalties and interest. A penalty could easily be 100% of the taxes evaded. Tip of the iceberg?

01 Oct 2026 15:13:33
What people forget Deep is that other agencies beyond the Premier League like the HMRC could be looking at this as well. As you imply breaches of the law are something else altogether.

Even people commenting in the media haven't thought it through or don't understand how these things work. As Simon Jordan put it some are so far behind in the race they think they're in the lead.

Will there even be any political pressure to soften things to protect investment from the UAE and so on?

01 Oct 2026 17:30:17
LMW, whatever are you suggesting a former Mayor of Manchester & all that regeneration allowed around Moss side Manchester. Hope your not suggesting they might be calling in a favour😉.

01 Oct 2026 18:11:41
As you say, Long, other agencies beyond the Premier League could be looking at this as well. I'd like to throw another name in the ring: The Old Bill. Yes, some of this stuff might tick enough boxes for a criminal investigation.

01 Oct 2026 18:20:28
Tax evasion wasn't high up the list foe people.
The amount paid to managers isn't even included in FFP, is it? Nor are arena expenses or building.

01 Oct 2026 18:29:50
Blackfords the thought never crossed my mind 😇 but I must admit he was unwise to even comment, now he's put himself in the firing line if that did happen.

Incidentally, because of his work for the Abu Dhabi government the chairman of City has diplomatic immunity so cannot be prosecuted.

Interesting times no doubt Deep, there might yet be a queue. What a mess.

01 Oct 2026 21:55:54
Further to that I see that Downing Street has issued a further statement, damage limitation I think it's called, pretty much reversing his earlier comments.

And they accuse others of lacking political experience.

29 Sep 2026 08:47:33
Don't think i'm pro Fosun but reading reports of how the two Machester clubs are being run with 114 charges against one of them and the other nearly a Billion pounds in debt having to sell pieces of turf to raise funds, so are we that bad off? i know it's not great, but if we were in their position, what do you think would happen to us - liquidation?

29 Sep 2026 09:08:14
I do not think it can happen, Fosun would not allow a liquidator.

29 Sep 2026 14:18:25
Ah, those were the days Baza.

29 Sep 2026 16:10:54
B Hill
Wolves have not broken the rules.
They sold players to ensure that they did not but sadly that also ensured they got relegated.
Relegation is a massive financial blow - despite what Jeff said - and it has to be possible that if Wolves don't go up this year then yes some sort of financial reckoning will face Wolves.
City seemingly broke rules and not only won numerous trophies but also made billions (note the s) of pounds more in revenue.
Hence my comment re the punishment - why should Wolves obey the rules and face the v v harsh consequences if there are no consequences to breaking them.


United however are not in any real trouble.
Although they lose money steadily, every year for the last 7 apparently, and have, as you say, a mountain of debt. Eventually this will bite but it is unlikely to be in the near future.
This is due to the sheer scale of their operations - they will turnover something like 6x what Wolves will turnover this year - and their ability to attract investment.
Ps Note that whilst they lost less than £90m pre player sales last year, Wolves lost something like £128m and have almost zero ability to attract investors.

29 Sep 2026 20:06:24
Not sure relegation is all down to selling off your better players. Obviously doesn't help, but a combination of selling good players & replacing with poor or average players is probably the real reason for our demise. Brighton for example are a great example of the model we should be following.

They must have a fantastic recruitment/scouting network as they sell off their better players at huge profits & somehow manage to replace with either a player or players of equal or better quality at very low cost & keep repeating this cycle.

29 Sep 2026 21:47:14
Of course Blackfords selling v poorly and buying even worse is the reason Wolves went down.
However if they had been as well run financially as some of the other clubs in the Prem, ( or had simply cheated), they wouldn't have needed to sell any of their better players.
I have compared them to Brentford regularly in the past but also see my comment on Wolves profitability v Man U despite the cost United have of carrying that mountain of debt.


It goes without saying that if Wolves hadn't sold the good players the squad could/would still be v good and the club would not have been relegated.
ps you are absolutely correct re Brighton but i am sceptical if it is possible long term - see Southampton who were the poster boys for this for years but ended up getting relegated.

29 Sep 2026 22:36:38
Relegation is due to Wolves picking British managers who aren't experienced enough.
But most people liked it because they are British.

30 Sep 2026 08:33:27
I'm not sure a combo of Wenger and Klopp could have kept last year's squad in the Prem.
The decline and fall went on under both English and overseas managers so I am not certain that you can simply blame Edwards and/or GON.

30 Sep 2026 20:14:45
Hardly, Handsome. Just look at where Wolves were when the British managers you refer to were appointed (bottom for Edwards -2 points after 11 games- and beginning of season for O'Neil after the Lopetegui will he won't he saga left him with no pre season or preparation time; still finished 14th, ie midish table).

Maybe you should search out another scapegoat for Fosun's inadequacies. O'Neil hardly covered himself in glory in the following season but you need to level your accusations somewhat higher up the food chain.

02 Oct 2026 15:52:28
It certainly contributed to the malaise. Maybe the players were just unprofessional that they let these guys' lack of experience and different style affect them.

European players don't want to be coached by a Brit who probably has completely different drills and playing philosophy.

29 Sep 2026 07:39:03
{Ed's Note - OptimumShots has posted a new article entitled, What a Fair Punishment for Manchester City Should Look Like

28 Sep 2026 16:52:32
Although, supposedly, in the squad, Krejci was not in the starting X1 or the 27 subs for the Czechia game on Saturday! Interesting to see if he'll play against England tomorrow. FWAW.

28 Sep 2026 17:15:22
He was injured. He might be back for tomorrows game.

28 Sep 2026 13:19:05
Man City may have cheated but how much more money did they spend per year than Liverpool or Man Utd?
If Wolves cheated and spent £400 million, they would still be spending a fraction of what the top teams were. Would they be demonized if they got into the top 4?

28 Sep 2026 16:42:20
The amount is irrelevant Handsome, it's about the profit and loss of the business and how much the club itself can afford. Man U and Liverpool have built their brands up over many years accruing large (genuine) sponsorships/income streams along the way.

Their owners aren't routing money via third parties and calling it sponsorship which is one of the things City are charged with.

28 Sep 2026 17:47:15
Point is, the rules are artificial. If they spend the same amount as Liverpool, from a sporting perspective, they were better.
This whole FFP is so that team owners don't bankrupt their teams and yet Man U owners have saddled the team with enormous debt, as I understand it.
The rules are an ass.

28 Sep 2026 17:50:17
"Manchester United has about £969.6m in debt (including gross debt, bank borrowings, and outstanding transfer fees), and more recently its total debt was reported at a record £1.29 billion."

How is this preventing Man U from going broke?

28 Sep 2026 18:41:10
RankClubRevenue (£ million)
1. Liverpool: 836
2. Manchester United: 793
3. Manchester City: 719

So did their cheating just allow them to spend the same as Liverpool?
How much did this cheating allow them to overspend? £50 million per year? £150 per year? £250 million per year?
If we find out all top clubs were cheating by including or not including some revenues or costs, would they also get their trophies questioned?

29 Sep 2026 19:34:32
Again the size of the debt is irrelevant if the club has the income to service it. Carrying a large debt does not make you insolvent if you can make the payments, therefore service the debt and continue to pay your bills.

The problems start if you lose significant income ie, sponsorships to the extent that you can no longer do those things.

The rules may in practice protect the 'big 6' but all the clubs voted for them and agreed to adhere to them. As things stand neither Man U not Liverpool have been found guilty of any rule breaches and are not insolvent.

30 Sep 2026 08:34:30
Long - thanks!

28 Sep 2026 07:39:03
{Ed's Note - KingCarlos has posted a new article entitled, Manchester City and Alleged Rule Breaches

30 Sep 2026 11:20:02
Trying to assess an appropriate penalty is all mind-bogglingly complicated. When charges were first brought the Citeh owner said they would spend £50mill on the best lawyers to string this out indefinitely. Well, 'indefinitely' has a time limit, even with the best lawyers.

It's now time for them to admit everything and plea for leniency, as a really appropriate penalty would destroy the club and hurt the fans more than the owners.

30 Sep 2026 21:28:12
Deep - good post.
I strongly suspect that whilst you are correct about "indefinitely" it is sufficiently far enough into the future for none of us to be holding our breath.
Plus if you are not stopped from winning trophies and making billions of pounds in "excess" revenues, (over the last 10 years alone they have turned over some £5.7bn. This is some £4bn more than say the average "mid table" Prem team would have made over the same period.

That even assumes that a club can remain "mid table" over 10 years without suffering the seemingly inevitable relegation that all bar the handful of Sky teams are seemingly merely waiting their turn for), why would you not simply prevaricate to extend that very lucrative and successful period for as long as possible.

27 Sep 2026 19:23:34
Does anyone here think Man City are not still doing this?
Send them to the Championship just puts the Premier League mess on the EFL to deal with.
Ban them and then the EFL might be able to deal with them differently or ban them, too.


By the way, does anyone think Pep still being on their books is exactly proof of what they are accused of?

27 Sep 2026 20:10:14
Incredible that Citeh are still loudly protesting their innocence. They should instead be pleading for mercy. This should make the eventual penalty even more severe: no remorse. Even celebrity supporters like Oasis are shaken by this.

At rock bottom a few decades ago Citeh were in the fourth division. Send them back there. Fine them massively and share the fine will all clubs affected by their cheating.

28 Sep 2026 07:40:19
Just a further reflection Handsome, they probably don't need to misrepresent things now they're up there, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were given their arrogance and belief they are untouchable.

28 Sep 2026 09:50:28
Aren't the Premier League responsible for running a fair and honest competition ? Maybe it's not fit for purpose.

Fourteen clubs who all get to vote on any changes aren't even competing, their only aim is survival and generating vast amounts of money through transfers, not really what was promised at the outset, they're about as good at running their competition as Fosun are at running a club.

28 Sep 2026 11:49:53
Happy days e'h Ron.

27 Sep 2026 13:02:25
"Man City star Rayan Ait-Nouri sent home from Algeria duty after furious altercation with coaches on substitutes' bench".

27 Sep 2026 14:41:19
Don't really care about other teams players to be honest mate it's a Wolves page.
But still that is interesting though.

27 Sep 2026 16:38:36
It's interesting but you don't care?

27 Sep 2026 17:33:54
Why all of a sudden interest in RAN?
Personally speaking, I've no interest in former players, not in a nasty way, I wish them all the best in their professional and personal lives. Obviously there are circumstances like Diogo Jota, which was very sad.

If RAN excels at City, great. If not, the player decided to join City, he can own his decision.

27 Sep 2026 19:18:02
I have no interest in him specifically but when a big paper prints a big article about it, I thought some Wolves fans might be interested in it. Apparently, they thought it was newsworthy.

28 Sep 2026 03:44:55
No i do not care about him being sent home he isn't a Wolves player.
He isn't our problem.

28 Sep 2026 07:34:38
I find it relevant Handsome especially given the focus on City at the moment. Are their players starting to feel the pressure, what started it, etc.

27 Sep 2026 10:21:17
Let's get back to Wolves. I am still buzzing about the Sandwell Town result. Fer Lopez is the best player in the division and will take us into the premiership. Keiron Trippier should be made captain. He still has a couple of years in him. Can't wait for the next game. Fffffff forget Man City.

27 Sep 2026 10:33:18
Lost - completely agree Fer Lopez has been an amazing and a welcome revelation.
Can I also give a shout out to Djiga who has similarly astonished me with his rehabilitation from the negative atmosphere regarding him last season.
Those 2 have made an enormous difference to the side this season and give me some hope that the club has not just bottomed out but has actually turned a corner and is once again moving forwards.


The new manager must also take some credit if only for the energy he has managed to instil into the side.
Shame the international break has taken some of the momentum out of the season.

27 Sep 2026 20:13:02
Lopez has a bit of the young Diogo Jota in him. Here's hoping.

28 Sep 2026 07:29:40
The break also hopefully gives time for a few injuries to mend so I don't mind it tbf partcularly as our next game at Boro is a big test.

27 Sep 2026 09:51:44
I think they should be forced to rename the club Manchester S*****.

27 Sep 2026 13:02:09
Just listening to Keiron Maguire he's done a back of a fag packet estimate that City may have benefited by as much as £1Bn in league position, Euro Cup and other bonuses since their new owners took over. He compared their average league position, successes, etc before and after and therefore the difference in payouts, bonuses, prize money, etc.

27 Sep 2026 14:37:37
Wolves improved a lot after Fosun took over.

27 Sep 2026 14:48:10
Long - did you read my post a few days ago.
It's on banter 2 now.
I postulated a figure of £1bn for the fine!
I don't want to diminish what the chap does but it is amazing how whenever he comments on the "screamingly obvious" people suddenly realise its "screamingly obvious".


He wrote a piece a few weeks ago on Wolves financial demise over the past few years and it was like no one had heard of it before!
ps I think the £1bn is probably an underestimate of what they should be fined but in the ball park.

27 Sep 2026 16:26:38
I didn't see it tfiog but you're right none of these experts/pundits say much until as you say it's blindingly obvious.

Personally I started questioning City's finances about 6/7 years ago asking where's the money coming from. Der Spiegel I think wrote an article along similar lines and then everyone had an opinion.

28 Sep 2026 07:31:43
They did Handsome but hopefully Fosun haven't been cheating the system.

28 Sep 2026 15:08:29
The only reason we improved, out of hand, was the Nuno / Jorge Mendes connection !