Cheating Manchester City at Villa Park, broken record and news conference lines from the BBC

I think it’s okay to say that Manchester City cheated in the title of this post. I mean it was called a sham by the team that investigated the cheating and there are rumours that they’re going to be given a massive points deduction for this season and next.

That doesn’t happen if you don’t cheat. I also think the rumoured punishment doesn’t fit the crime and I think they should be expelled from the football league and never be seen again.

Anything other than expulsion is saying it’s okay to cheat and it shouldn’t be.

When Leeds City cheated and then didn’t hand over the books, they were expelled, so why not Manchester City? Expelling Manchester City would show the world that there is no Club bigger than the Premier League.

Not expelling Manchester City will just show the world that the Premier League is done.

Enough about that and yes, you can print off the note and throw it at the pitch tomorrow afternoon, there is a match to be played and you won’t be surprised to learn that Manchester City are flying.

I mean, with all the money in the world to buy whoever you want and pay them whatever they want and however you want, it shouldn’t be a surprise that they’re flying, so tomorrow will be tough.

But we’ve beaten them before and a couple of seasons ago we showed them how to play football at Villa Park and we could do it again.

And with everything that’s been going on, Manchester City getting found guilty of cheating, it’s got me thinking, how good really was Pep?

I ask because I could win the League in Germany with Bayern Munich and with all the money in the world, I think I could win the Premier League too. Give me Messi, Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta at their peak and I think I’d win the League in Spain also.

Pep has retired (still getting paid if you believe the rumours) and he’ll never manage a mid table side or team in the second tier to prove us all wrong, so we might never know if he was really any good and that’s sort of the point isn’t it, there is little to no real proof that he’s a good coach or manager.

Give me Unai Emery over Pep every day of the week.

But that is a debate for another day. Today is about tomorrow and it’s the mighty Aston Villa against the cheating Manchester City. Sorry, I’ll try and leave it alone after this post.

And the only thing that works tomorrow is three points for us. If we don’t get three points, it’s going to feel a little like we’ve been cheated out of it.

But even playing them tomorrow feels a little wrong. I mean, they’ve cheated to get here so why are they still allowed to play and is it really a fair playing field tomorrow? I’m not sure it is and I’m not really sure if this match should be getting played and yes, I thought they would have been expelled by now.

I also think the Manchester City owners know what the punishment is and that it could be expulsion and I think they knew months ago that they were going to be found guilty and it’s why Pep left.

But, I’m just a man with a keyboard and an opinion and the main opinion on all things Manchester City is that the Premier League have to show the world that it’s not okay to cheat and the only way to do that is to expel Manchester City from the football league.

And that’s not nice for anyone, but neither is cheating for everyone else. Right, that’s it, I’ll be back later after a few beers or probably tomorrow because I’m going to have a few beers.

News conference lines from the BBC

• Emery confirmed Amadou Onana, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Matteo Ruggeri are all “clearly out”, however, he will see about his other players following Wednesday’s win over Viking.

• On reaching four years as Aston Villa manager: “I am not doing a celebration, I am only trying to get better, to work more and to try to enjoy the way we are doing. My only celebration is when I can have some days off or I can rest, but another day is working, focussing.”

• Asked about how they are balancing the fixtures this year being in Champions League too: “Last year we were in the same situation. We were with different players, in different competitions because we were in the Europa League and now in the Champions League. And our objective is each match, each competition. The challenge is to improve. The challenge is set strong our standards, our demands and the gap we have as a team collectively or the gap we have individually.”

• On the scheduling of games across all competitions this campaign: “It’s not my concern. And if we are speaking about it, we can use it as an excuse - and I don’t like to use excuses. We are ready for tomorrow.”

• On facing league leaders Manchester City: “They are favourite with Arsenal. They are so strong, so competitive in everything. The identity is clear. So we dream sometimes to be close to them. They have 21 points, we have eight. Game seven, the difference is so big.”

• He added: “I think the key there is the coach. Enzo Maresca is doing a fantastic job. He worked with [Pep] Guardiola. He worked in Leicester, successful. In Chelsea, successful. And now he knows Manchester City players, culture, club, and he is following the same way they did before with Guardiola. I think this is the key.”