Man City watch on in disbelief as fresh FFP charges spark anger

Nottingham Forest and Everton have both been charged with failing profitability and sustainability rules, sparking anger over who the rules protect

It's hard to say which is more darkly funny for Manchester City fans: that other clubs are finally agreeing with them over Financial Fair Play, or that they are accused of being one of the main beneficiaries of the cartel that they railed against.

Monday's announcement from the Premier League to charge Nottingham Forest and Everton for a breach of Profit & Sustainability Rule went down like a cup of molten sick with supporters of their clubs. As they come to terms with facing punishment for their owners investing in their clubs and cities, many have started to question whether the rules are actually there to stop irresponsible spending or actually to protect the status quo and stop those who spent before the rules came in from being challenged.

It's a fair argument, and it's one that many City fans and some within the club have thought and said for more than a decade. It's just a shame that there was so little interest from other teams before it was their own interests at stake.

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As great as it is that the Mayor of Greater Manchester has recently become very vocal about these rules and football regulations, should Andy Burnham not have found his voice when one of the teams where he presides were threatened rather than the team he supports? Newcastle have been very critical lately of the rules that they think prevent them from gatecrashing the top six, yet they were one of the clubs who asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to kick City out of the Champions League before their appeal had been heard.

It's entirely understandable for somebody not to be on top of something that doesn't affect them because everyday life is so busy. In the same way that caring how much a supermarket shop is can easily take priority over the plight of Ukraine, or Israel and Palestine, why should other clubs or their fans bother to know the top scorer at City, never mind the minutiae of the CAS verdict, when it makes zero difference to them.

However, just as Liverpool and Arsenal have shown this season in kicking off about VAR solely when it negatively affects them, the trumping of common cause by self-interest means that clubs are very much alone to fight the charges - ironic, given it was a majority of the clubs that signed up to these rules and the fast-tracking of simple cases in the first place.

How many of those railing against the rules against their club also think it is unfair on others? Is Burnham condemning the treatment of City and Forest as well, or is it just Everton? What about the clubs that aren't part of the big six that have stuck to the rules?

Anybody who questions why Everton and Nottingham Forest are facing sanction before City isn't worth listening to because the answer is obvious and has been explained so many times. It is unhelpful, partisan commentary that ignores the facts of the very different cases.

City aren't so much disputing multiple murder charges as claiming that there is no victim, whereas according to the Premier League both Everton and Forest have accepted breaches but believe their reasons for doing so is enough mitigation to avoid strict punishment.

City haven't 'got away with it', it is just their day of reckoning is further away because it is so much more complex. And while the club and their fans may welcome the fresh questioning of the purpose of the financial control rules, it will have been slightly surreal to hear after having their identical concerns ignored and dismissed for so many years.

Unless there is a major appetite for change and a sudden will for collective power over self-interest, it matters little anyway. Whatever sympathy there is for supporters of those two clubs they must be given the same response as has been given to the Premier League champions for their alleged breaches: if your club breaks rules that they signed up to, they have to accept punishment for it.