Arsenal went 22 years without a league title. United haven't won it since Fergie left. Chelsea just finished tenth. Tenth!

And these are the guys supposedly running a secret cartel to take down Manchester City? If that's a cartel it's the worst one in history lol.

But I know why the story sticks, so let's go through it properly.

City fans say the old clubs can't stand new money, so they ganged up through the league to get City. Leaks in 2018, charges in 2023, verdict in 2026. Eight years, they say. Witch hunt.

And to be fair, the distrust isn't coming from nowhere. In 2020 Liverpool and United were behind Project Big Picture, which was basically the big clubs trying to grab more control of the league. So yeah, these clubs have schemed before. I won't pretend they're saints.

But "has schemed before" and "schemed against City" are two different things, and I haven't seen anything connecting them. Here's where the story starts falling apart.

First, who actually gave the verdict? Not the Premier League. Not United. Not Arsenal. Three independent lawyers did, after City got to defend themselves with the best lawyers money can buy. Result: guilty on 114 of 115 charges. And 34 of those were for not cooperating with the investigation. That's not Liverpool's boardroom, that's City not handing in the paperwork. They say they'll appeal, which is their right, but the panel wasn't picked by their rivals.

Second, remember April 2021? The European Super League. Which English clubs signed up? Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, United, Spurs and Manchester City. City were in the group chat, guy. To be fair, they were the first to bail when the fans went crazy. But still, they were in the chat. The same clubs they now say are out to get them, they were planning to run Europe with.

Third, and this is the one that gets me. If this was a hit job, it was the slowest, most useless hit job ever. The investigation opened in December 2018, and City won five league titles while it was open. Five. You've got the most powerful football cartel on the planet and they can't even stop their target from lifting the trophy every May. Honestly, who's being bullied here?

Meanwhile look at what happened to the small guys. Everton lost 6 points within a season for one breach. Forest lost 4. Fast punishment, done. City's case ran eight years and the trophies kept coming. The delay didn't hurt City, it helped them.

So are the traditional clubs bullying City? I don't think so. Most of them can't even bully a mid-table team right now. Liverpool have two titles since 2019, fair play, but United are lost, Chelsea are tenth, and Arsenal needed 22 years.

What I'd actually want is simple. If a club is under investigation, the clock should be a lot shorter than eight years. City won five titles while this was open. Whatever the punishment ends up being, you can't hand those trophies back or replay those seasons. That's the part that should bother everybody, whoever you support.

Are the old clubs bullying City, or is City the bully now? Drop your comments below.