Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball around for 90 minutes and at the end, the lawyers win. It wasn’t quite how Gary Lineker put it – then the Germans were the inevitable winners – but, amid the Americanisation of football, where everything can end up in court, Manchester City commissioned a new banner.
It was not celebrating Kevin De Bruyne or Erling Haaland, Phil Foden or Riyad Mahrez. “Pannick on the streets of London,” it read, borrowing a lyric from a Mancunian band, The Smiths, and celebrating Lord Pannick. The barrister may make a similar dent on the City wage bill as De Bruyne. He could assume a greater importance if the trophy cabinet is not to be stripped of some of the honours the Belgian and his predecessors won, if City are not to be expelled from the Premier League, if future seasons are not to begin with the impediments of points deductions or fines.
Whether or not there is indeed Pannick on the streets of Carlisle, Dublin, Dundee and Humberside, the prospect of the King’s Counsel taking on the Premier League seemed to buoy City. While the Smiths guitarist and City fan Johnny Marr is often at the Etihad, Panic is rarely on the playlist. It echoed around the ground after the 3-1 victory over Aston Villa, its own message of defiance.
Whether it was needlessly provocative of harmless fun, it was coordinated by the club. Pep Guardiola’s words on Friday may have been designed for an audience; of their supporters. Pannick will use different terminology and different arguments when they eventually have to answer 115 charges of breaching financial regulations. He only has to persuade a three-man commission, but with the probability none will be City fans.
A day with more choruses of Sheikh Mansour’s name than Haaland’s highlights the strange position City find themselves in. Success came courtesy of other owner’s largesse – the accusations include the suggestion that some of it was disguised funding to artificially boost their budget – and it may take the legal knowledge Pannick garnered at Oxford University and polished at the Bar to ensure they keep some of those honours.
Whether or not asterisks are permanently attached to their achievements, City may linger in limbo for several years. Guardiola had roused the fanbase with his words in the media theatre. In the dressing room, however, he said there was no particular motivational speech. “Like usual,” he mused. There could be another element of normality. After uncharacteristically mixed form, they could return to their familiar spot on the top of the table on Wednesday. A fifth league title in six seasons feels more feasible. A first-half demolition of Aston Villa felt ominous for Arsenal, with a solitary point from their last two games and hosting City on Wednesday.
“It was important to take this opportunity to close the gap on Arsenal,” said Guardiola. It felt as though he had regained some of his focus amid the maelstrom of an extraordinary week. After his gripes about some of his players in recent weeks, he was satisfied. The “happy flowers” have been replaced by a happier camp. Some of those Guardiola has seemed to target for criticism – such as Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, De Bruyne – were back in the team. “Especially the way we are behaving in the training sessions, we improve a lot,” the manager said.
He was left with a sole concern. Haaland came off at half-time with a knock, with Guardiola vowing not to take any risks with his top scorer at Arsenal. He may sit out a potential title decider. At least he has fewer grounds to worry that a kick from an Aston Villa defender will rule Pannick out of his big match.
