The salary cap is an interesting idea and one that would be nice to restore a bit of balance, but the bigger clubs would never go for it and (and I may be wrong here) I think it would contravene European laws.

Ashley’s done… ok at Newcastle. He certainly hauled the club back from financial problem, but I don’t really know much about what’s going on up there and the jury still seems to be out. Still, at least he’s a fan, which is usually a good thing.

Every Villa supporter I’ve met has sung the praises of Randy Learner – he’s done a lot to connect with the history of Villa fans and has generally let Martin O’Neill get on with it, making cash available where necessary. As a manager, it’s such a help to have a relaxed owner and you can build for the future. it makes a huge change from ‘Deadly’ Doug Ellis.

Salary caps have done wonders in the States. But over here we don’t have international sports. Implementing a salary cap in football would require FIFA to oversee it. It could be done, but I don’t see it happening. Perhaps some sort of profit sharing. It really is silly when teams in the CL are hauling in massive amounts of money that the other teams don’t have access to.

MA has done pretty well and I think he has a good vision for the club. A lot of Geordies are frustated by the silence that sometimes surrounds the club, but then again Newcastle fans are pretty well known for their bipolar disorders. On the whole I think folks are pretty pleased. We were bloody close to pulling Leeds. MA really saved the club from what I’ve read.

Learner seems like he’s done the right thing and let MO run the club. Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t follow Villa and I don’t know anyone who does. But he’s one owner you don’t ever hear anything about in the insane British press, and that is a good thing as far as I can tell.

Corrupt idiots who bankrupt football clubs are, sadly, all too common.

A salary cap would probably help things but I don’t see it ever being implemented, hence the need to find uber-wealthy owners. Randy Lerner’s probably the only one I can think of in the Premier League who seems to have come in and won the respect of fans.

It would be good to see clubs owned or part-owned by the fans, although that’s not necessarily the best way forward for every club. But the fact that Exeter, Stockport and Swansea all got promotion last season is cause for optimism.

There was a lot of buzz when Mike Ashley took control of Newcastle. People didn’t really know much about the bloke, except his business. A less complicated situation than the Citeh case for sure. In our case we already had a corrupt idiot who nearly bankrupted us.

It’s all about the Benjamins now and may get worse. I hope City gets it sorted without too much pain. The one silver lining could be that people will pay a lot more attention when a perspective buyer comes sniffing around. Many of the latest group of new owners have hardly endeared themselves to the fans of their clubs. Until the league implements somekinda salary cap though, the uber wealthy owners are really the only way forward. I’d love to see more clubs owned by the city that they’re in. At the end of the day, it’s probably a lot healthier than the current path we’re on.

It is difficult, as a far, to know exactly what to do and what you’re getting into with a new owner, definitely – and to the majority of fans at all clubs, all we really want to do is watch football, hopefully seeing our side win in the process. So trying to understand the political situation of Thailand isn’t something I’d envy having to do with a potential new owner.

Yes, also, I do accept that not all Man City fans welcomed Thaksin with open arms (and there have been some great pieces by City supporters David Conn and Simon Hattenstone in the Guardian on this). But, certainly on the forums I’ve seen, there’s a very large number who seem unconcerned about the source of the money or the owner as long as money is made available and the team’s doing well. And yeah, not many boards listen to the fans, other than lip-service, sadly.

But Thaksin’s record did briefly surface when he made eyes towards Liverpool and a quick Google will revealed the human rights, corruption and drugs allegations. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch had written to Thaksin several times and there’s several reports on their sites dating back to when he was in power. It’s worth nothing they both condemned the military coup.

I definitely take your point about the military coup – they’re certainly not good, and there’s an argument that could be made about some of the charges being politically motivated – although many of them, including the land deal and the telecoms sale that made him rich, were around a while before the coup.

That said, your analogy of the businessman is a good one, and yes, there will always be some people seeking to destabilise for their own ends (sometimes, as you point out motivated by jealousy). However, it is slightly different from Thaksin’s situation – and no matter which club it was, I’d question the wisdom of selling to somebody like Shinawatra, whose record and funds would suggest in the long term there could be troubles, like the ones that have surfaced now. You’re definitely right to say the Premier League should have done more though.

It’s a sad indictment of football from top to bottom that fans need to be clued up on potential owners and their history – and yes, for the most part you are stuck with them, which is something I wouldn’t wish on any club.

Sure, a lot of people disagreed with our decision, but I truly believe that football rivalry and jealousy were just as big a part in that. If another club’s chairman, for example, pulled £10m out of the air, and one report came out saying he swindled it out of the Government but then numerous more came out telling you it wasn’t illegal but simply lottery winnings, or the result of a tidy investment from a few years back, would you expect his club’s fans to automatically believe the ill rumours and proclaim their chairman to be a thief? I suspect that instead, you’d find them believing the stories telling you everything was peachy, and quite possibly they’d feel like the fans of other clubs posting article after article or comment after comment about how the money isn’t legit was just insults being thrown at them by jealous fans of other clubs, too.

Before you post your next article slating a club for getting involved with dark forces – the next Tevez saga next year, perhaps, or whatever turns up, I’d beg of you that you try to consider the position of the fans when it started. We all know this thing has blown up out of all proportion now and that City fans are “reaping what we sow” for having Thaksin at the club, but a year ago when we (for the most part) welcomed him into the club, we had no way of foreseeing that the rumours about this stuff were actually true, and through the rose-tinted glasses there was actually a compelling case that it was a massive fabrication. Remember, when he took over there was no warrant for his arrest, and the £800m of frozen assets were still controlled by an illegal military government – just as dodgy to support as Thaksin. We never asked for Thaksin to come, he was given to us, and we stuck with our club as any true fan should do, and I wish you might realise that we didn’t “know this was going to happen and conveniently ignored it” as you seem to think. We simply trusted in the club and hoped for the best.

I have no problem with City – or Portsmouth, or Villa, or Everton – breaking into the top four on a regular basis. I’d positively welcome it – it would make the Premier League more exciting than the two-horse race it’s usually been.

Football, from Premier League downwards is littered with ‘interesting’ characters who I wish wouldn’t take such an interest in football. My club, Exeter, was virtually driven to the point of extinction by two criminals. Then you’ve got Luton, suffering for the sins of a past regime; Rotherham, royally shafted by their former owners; Mansfield, where the now ex-chairman took out a million pounds in loans from the club and has yet to repay them; Cardiff, who’ve had the misfortune to suffer not only Sam Hammam but also Peter Risdale in charge at the boardroom. I could go on. Yes, Ambramovich’s background is also inetresting, as is Usmanov’s at Arsenal. But neither of them currently have a warrant out for their arrest and £800m of assets frozen. Hence the article.

And yes, I’m well aware City have been through a hell of a lot over the years and I’m glad that they’re in the top flight. I also remember Francis Lee supposedly leading you to a near era only to somewhat balls it up.

But at the end of the day, City fans were happy to look away from Thaksin’s rather dubious background and happily eye up the money. While I’ve a lot of sympathy for City’s past problems and generally have a soft spot for them, I’ve very little sympathy this time around.

What about Chelsea’s owner and his past???

As usual City gets a hard ride from the Media. What is their problem?? What did somebody do to them in the past? Are they really that paranoid about us becoming a success? It may not happen, but non City fans do everything to stop it. If any of the top four had gone through what we had in the last ten years would they have had that support? No. Maybe that’s the answer.

I hope this is more balanced that the article above.

CTID