When the result of a sporting contest does not matter, when it is diminished by doubts about the legitimacy of the struggle, when it is undermined by suspicions that the result may soon be declared null and void, when a spectator starts to wonder whether what they are watching is real, then what is the point of watching at all?
It felt like that, watching from the stands at Anfield late on Sunday afternoon. Yes, Manchester City were absolutely majestic in the second half, and yes, they exposed Liverpool’s shortcomings. But so what? In a few months, it may not matter. City may have been relegated by then. Or they may have been docked 30 points. Or their appeal may have succeeded.
The point is that for now, when City play, nobody knows what they are watching. And as football still comes to terms with the findings of an independent commission that decided City are the biggest cheats in English sporting history, there is certainly very little public appetite to watch their players gloating in victory as if they were somehow the wronged parties.
It is a question that is exercising Sky Sports and TNT Sports, as the primary broadcasters of the Premier League in the UK.
I’m sure that Liverpool-City garnered excellent viewing figures for Sky. It had novelty value. It was the first sighting of City since the judgments against them. And they were playing Liverpool, one of those who suffered most from City’s chicanery.
But what now? What next? Is it really commercially viable for the leading broadcasters to keep picking City games for their primetime slots on Saturdays and Sundays and Monday Night Football? It is more likely, surely, that City will become kryptonite for viewing figures in this country.
When City play, nobody knows what they are watching. And as football still comes to terms with the independent commission’s verdict, there is little public appetite to watch them gloat
Yes, Manchester City were absolutely majestic in the second half at Anfield on Sunday, and yes, they exposed Liverpool’s shortcomings. But so what?
City were once the standard-bearers for the Premier League, a team that played enchanting football, a team guided by a genius manager in Pep Guardiola, a team that had Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Erling Haaland, three of the greatest players to have graced our top flight.
But that has changed radically. Haaland is still there, of course, but when broadcasters televise City now, they are showcasing a team that has become a symbol of everything that has gone wrong with the English game.
They are giving more oxygen to a club whose owners have poisoned the product that is Sky’s lifeblood. And so, the more prominence they give to City in the months ahead, the more they poison themselves.
Why would a broadcaster want to do that? Why would a broadcaster want to draw more and more attention to the poison eating away at its most popular product? It doesn’t make any sense. It would represent a form of self-sabotage.
That is why it was hard to disagree with Gary Neville, one of Sky’s headline analysts, when he said after the Anfield game on Sunday that he would prefer not to be involved with City matches for the next few months.
‘I don’t get to volunteer for what games I do,’ Neville said, as he discussed the issue with Jamie Carragher. ‘We get told what games to do. We get a list sent through. I’d prefer not to do Manchester City games for the next two or three months, being honest with you, and that has never been the case for the last 10 or 12 years.
‘I have always admired them enormously. I think of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva and it was a joy to watch them and now Haaland is world-class. We should be fawning over Manchester City after the way they played against Liverpool. To come and win at Anfield is really difficult and we should be eulogising over them without a “but” or any hesitation.
‘But there is that thing in the back of your mind. At the end of the game, it’s quite hard because you’re imagining that if these guilty verdicts are confirmed, Manchester City are not going to be in the position they’re in and there’s going to be a huge cloud hanging over the whole league.’
Neville is absolutely right. Too many people still want to pretend that there is nothing to see here. Too many people want to pretend it is just business as usual. But it is not business as usual.
Gary Neville is absolutely right. Too many people still want to pretend that there is nothing to see here with City
Sky, to their credit, have debated City’s guilty verdicts openly and robustly in studio discussions. Roy Keane, in particular, has spoken of the debilitating effect the verdicts have had on the league and questioned how City’s players must feel, knowing that the club has cheated its way to a clutch of titles.
Others, like Micah Richards, have defended City and urged some restraint until their appeal has been heard. The damage to the product is such that broadcasters must be tempted to ask for a revision to their contract. City, one of their greatest assets, have suddenly become their achilles’ heel.
City’s game against PSG in the Champions League group phase on Wednesday evening still feels like a box-office match. But after that, most viewers would surely rather not be reminded that City’s punishment, whatever form it takes, threatens to turn this into a sham season.
City are due to play Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on the last Sunday in November. That game, just as Sunday’s did, will retain its fascination. Its significance will survive the poisoning of the Premier League. Until then, Sky may decide that City matches have lost their allure.
