Pep Guardiola has railed against the referees who officiated Manchester City’s game against Everton on Wednesday night and the current Premier League rules, in general, after John Stones picked up a concerning injury when the linesman refrained from flagging for offside.
The English centre-back limped off just before half-time following a challenge from opposition striker, Beto, who was in an offside position but was allowed to play on due to referees still being instructed to wait before raising their flag until the sequence of play is finished.
Guardiola has already detailed that the situation “doesn’t look good”, revealing that Stones left Goodison Park wearing a protective boot and that they are yet to find out how serious the ankle injury is.
Nevertheless, the Man City coach wasted no time in expressing his disappointment and frustration at the continued use of the protocol, insisting that when it becomes clear that a player is offside, the linesmen should simply raise their flag to prevent situations like this.
Pep Guardiola frustrated after John Stones goes off injured with an ankle injury 💢
The defender went off after colliding with Beto despite the fact the fact that the striker was offside, Should the assistant have raised his flag beforehand? 🚩 pic.twitter.com/eifYQqrhUi
Guardiola argues that Stones might not have picked up the injury if the referee blew for offside.
Also speaking in the post-match press conferences, Everton manager Sean Dyche agreed that current refereeing standards seem to be resulting in more confusion than clarity, stating that “the rules are saying one thing, the people in the game want a different thing, VAR intervenes when we’re not sure when it’s intervened or not, and there’s a lot going on”.
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Reflecting on the prospect of putting microphones on referees and installing more screens around stadiums to make the processes clearer, Dyche argued: “Surely the idea is to take it away — give the ref less to do in a good way… just let them referee the game. But they just keep adding another rule, another layer and another offside rule where we all just sit there and think ‘I have no clue what’s going on here'”.
While Dyche was more referring to the handball claim that went against them rather than one for them in the 3-1 defeat on Merseyside, with Julián Álvarez slotting home a somewhat controversial penalty — several City players having been criticised for surrounding the referee — it is clear both sides had their grievances and the injury to Stones proved to be yet another case against the current offside protocol.
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Pitchside at Goodison Park @andykerrtv details how the Man City bench are fuming John Stones' injury came when the linesman didn't flag for an offside as is protocol.
On the subject of injuries, Pep also went on to give an update on striker Erling Haaland and his potential return date, adding, “Hopefully in January he can come back with us.”
The 52-year-old confirmed that the Norwegian number nine is “feeling better” but is yet to complete a training session back with the squad; fellow star man Kevin De Bruyne has completed a training session but is still yet to get back on the pitch.
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Despite their current injury setbacks, the two-time treble-winner — who secured a total of five trophies for his side in 2023 — said that he knew they were “the best team in the world” when he heard them already talking about the next fixture just hours after lifting the Club World Cup.
You can see the full highlights of Man City’s important away win against the Toffees down below:
Featured Images — Amazon Prime Sport (via Screenshot)
Sport
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
28th December 2023 
