Dear Khaldoon...

An open letter to Manchester City’s hitherto, impeccable Chairman:

Dear Khaldoon,

You’ve played a blinder for City since becoming chairman in 2008 – nigh on faultless for nearly 13 years – with a MOTM performance in beating UEFA at CAS last year.

We all make mistakes, even you, but it’s not too late to rectify them.

Time is of the essence. City incur more and more reputational damage with every minute of every hour of every day that ticks by, as we remain subscribed to the so called #EuropeanSuperLeague.

Yes we’re well aware of the corrupt nature of UEFA, its greed and shortcomings, but the #esl is even worse – it’s totally anti-competitive – and that goes against the core principles of football in this country.

Naturally, you’ve always stood your ground for City – you would do, wouldn’t you – but as City fans, we always believed you were doing so for other reasons, the RIGHT reasons, those that gave us the moral high ground, above the cesspit of UEFA’s cartel.

And yet here we find ourselves, slithering around in the slime and shit, alongside all the reptiles which you’ve fought against for the past 10 years.

Why?

The City fans, down to each man, woman and child, have always had unwavering belief and confidence in you – our Chairman – we always trusted you to do the RIGHT thing by us, and by the club we so love.

Please hear our voices and understand that you are taking us in the WRONG direction. Open your eyes and look at the scum you’re accepting as bedfellows!

Take at face value, it’s insane. City will NEVER be the same again. Aligning us with the backstabbing, self protectionists is hypocritical, shameful and spineless.

The silence presently emanating from the Etihad is a further embarrassment.

You’ve always had the courage and foresight to fight injustice, in the full knowledge that City would invariably be left standing alone.

Now you have an opportunity to do so again, only this time with the support of the wider football community.

You and City must step away from those who represent the worst facets of football.

If you don’t you will inflict incalculable and irrevocable damage on the club you profess to want to nurture for us – the fans.

Let the words of Sheikh Mansour resonate like never before, just as they did in 2008, when he pulled City back from the brink of the abyss:

"I am a football fan, and I hope that you will soon see that I am now also a Manchester City fan. But I am also a long-term investor and that is probably more important to the club and to you because it means we are here for the long haul and that we will act always in the best interests of the club and all of its stakeholders, but especially you the fans."

— Manchester City Sheikh Mansour addresses Manchester City supporters in a letter soon after the takeover.

Please Khaldoon, demonstrate to us that you truly ARE the man who we all believe you to be and just walk away from this abhorrent distortion of the beautiful game.

By David Walker

www.readbutneverred.com@ReadButNeverRed