Manchester City have achieved a remarkable amount in recent seasons, but there seems to be a lingering chip on the shoulder of the club's fan base.
They feel that they do not get the credit they deserve for their achievements on the pitch and are consistently overlooked when it comes to handing out individual and team awards. Of course, this doesn't really stack up when you consider that City were recently named as team of the year at the Ballon d'Or ceremony, while their players have also won the PFA Player of the Year gong in two of the last three seasons (including in one where Liverpool won the league with a 20 point margin).
What is perhaps true is that they are not quite revered by the footballing public as some of the great teams of the past. The reasons for that are obvious, with City's success being built on the riches granted to the club by the Abu Dhabi regime.
Many of their supporters claim that while the money played a part, it was not the defining aspect of their success. Such arguments are of course nonsense.
Jamie Carragher calls out Manchester City nonsense on finances
Manchester City were a mid-table club prior to the takeover, a position they likely would still be in were it not for the money they have been given over the last decade or so.
There are real morale quandaries to be discussed around the concept of states running football clubs, but to deny its impact altogether is certainly not done in good faith.
Jamie Carragher has praised Manchester City on the pitch on countless occasions in recent times. However, he is also growing tired of the conduct of both the club and supporters away from the field of play.
Writing in his column in The Telegraph, the former Liverpool defender said that their supporters need to accept the reality that the club hold a distinctive advantage over almost every side in world football when it comes down to their finances.
City seem to want the impossible - for the football world to unite and proclaim there is nothing unprecedented about the manner in which they have changed the balance of power in English football...
Premier League investigation into whether City broke Financial Fair Play rules has been ongoing for three years and it is naive to believe questions about their extraordinary and era-defining spending power will disappear. Attempts to downplay the significance of the champions’ finances in their success are absurd. Last season, only two clubs - City and Newcastle United - abstained from a Premier League vote blocking teams agreeing lucrative sponsorship deals linked to a club's owners. Why?
City would not be what they are but for the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008. Every die-hard City fan knows how consequential their advantage over rivals. Are we seriously expected to swallow the idea that any team in England can afford Erling Haaland’s wages?
It sounds like a neighbour winning the lottery and filling their driveway with new Ferraris, only to claim that those cars are affordable because of the shrewd financial management of their accountants.
To equate what City and Paris Saint-Germain have done - and what Newcastle United intend to do - with what is possible for other clubs is an insult to everyone’s intelligence, no matter how much ‘net spend’ or salary figures are twisted.
Downplaying the impact of money in their successes is one thing, but the way in which this conversation has taken a rather dark turn in recent times is certainly concerning.
When Manchester City fans sang chants about Hillsborough during a visit to Anfield last weekend, the club said it was a result of Jurgen Klopp stoking tensions by speaking about their financial superiority. They also made the remarkable claim that his justifiable comments were 'borderline xenophobic', with this message briefed to club friendly journalists in the aftermath of the fixture.
These are examples of the way City approaches such conversations in a completely different manner to other clubs, something Jamie Carragher has himself experienced in the past.
He brought up on example of City's reaction when he requested to interview one of their players, also criticising them for their handling of events over the last week.
In the aftermath a game which should have been celebrated as the best the Premier League can offer, a line was crossed last weekend when Jurgen Klopp was accused of xenophobia. With that briefing, City descended to the level of the idiots on Twitter.
Since working in the media, I have experienced City’s paranoia...
Prior to David Silva’s City departure I wrote how he was one of my favourite ever Premier League players. I wanted to interview Silva before he left English football, well aware of City’s belief that their rivals receive more favourable media coverage.
When told of my request, City’s response was they would grant no such interview to me because ‘I wear red pom poms’. Every ex-player in the media wants their team to win but no other club has reacted to me in this way.
You can read the column in full here.
This argument is unlikely to go away anytime soon, with Manchester City doubling down on their stance as a club.
At a time when sportswashing is a hot topic in football, it would not be a surprise to see things get even uglier in the near future.
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