Fenerbahçe at Villa Park, Leeds City and sorry, Manchester City

We’ve played Fenerbahçe three times over the years, most recently earlier this year on the journey to Istanbul and we’ve not lost. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be three points tonight, but it does paint a picture.

But it’s not a great picture. It’s essentially telling us that the standard and quality of football is better here. That doesn’t equal fight and desire and that often wins matches like this.

But we know our manager likes European football and European football gives us an opportunity to approach the match a little differently. It’s not the same pace as a Premier League match and I think it means we start to see more of the squad.

That isn’t me saying lots of changes tonight, but I think it does mean we will see something a little different and that might just be the approach, but I suspect it will also be in who starts but that might also just be because a player or two is available again.

And it’s worth also writing that we are still very early into the season and the manager is still working with the new players and the players he has. New players creates opportunities for changing how the players we had here can change and adapt too.

But this is Europe and just because the season is young, it’s not an excuse. We need to be on our game tonight and we need three points. It’s all about three points and getting into the top eight of this League.

One last section on Manchester City

And I know I shouldn’t but something dawned on me yesterday about everything Manchester City have done and it’s that they can’t be allowed to continue.

What they’ve done and are in all likelihood still doing means that everything moving forward that includes Manchester City is tainted and not fair.

The only way this can end for me is that Manchester City are banned. And it’s happened before and I think it has to happen again.

Leeds City was expelled from the Football League on October 13, 1919, during the 1919–20 season due to a financial scandal involving illegal wartime player payments and a refusal to hand over accounting books to an FA and Football League commission and I think what Manchester City have done warrants the same punishment.

I know it sounds harsh and when this all broke I wrote that they should probably just accept getting sent to the bottom, but this is what needs to happen and I think it has to happen soon.

Gary Neville has said he’s not going to work on another Manchester City match. Liverpool supporters at the weekend spoke about that match against City not feeling right and the thing is, they’ve been found guilty and we all knew they were doing it.

It does also mean the rules need to change, but that is another post. But Manchester City need to be expelled and it has to happen soon. Appeals can happen after but everything is tainted with them involved and it doesn’t feel right.