Man City have to be punished now before the Premier League is damaged beyond repair

So much has been written and said about Manchester City.

But I don’t think anyone could predict what we would actually feel until after City’s first game had been played.

From my personal perspective, I left Anfield on Sunday night feeling completely cheated by what I had just witnessed. City were superb. But what does it actually mean? In a few weeks it might mean absolutely nothing at all.

This is why the Premier League has to dish out the punishment now. Yes, even while the appeal goes on. They are two separate entities.

The independent commission found City guilty. City are appealing. But this sense of limbo cannot be allowed to linger even further. I’m fed up of managers, players and even pundits leaning on this “appeal process” excuse as to why they cannot speak freely. They’ve been found guilty.

We have to get a sense of direction and understanding otherwise we might have to write this whole season off.

We are facing a very real situation where City have been found guilty but could easily go on to win the title. What happens then if the appeal fails?

Do we scratch the whole season from the record books? Fans pay a lot of money, invest a lot of emotion and expect to watch football when they go to watch Premier League games.

At the moment, they are left with more questions than answers. And this is not just about Liverpool 0 Manchester City 3. It’s about Brighton's win at Sunderland. It’s about Crystal Palace beating Nottingham Forest.

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Why? Because they all play in the same league. All 20 teams are being dragged into this. And at the moment, the team at the top could soon be relegated as a punishment for breaching Premier League spending rules across a nine year period.

I’ll admit I didn’t know quite how I would feel at Anfield yesterday. I suspect a lot of fans probably experienced the same. A lot more might be feeling anger.

I actually thought it would be louder at Anfield. Maybe it’s hard to get too worked up when there is so much uncertainty. It was a bit surreal.

City fans were defiant. And it’s so unfair on them. As it is on the City players and they played no part in this and so why should they be punished?

We cannot expect them not to try and to just surrender to give every other set of fans some sense of justice. City are the best team in the Premier League right now. And, by my reckoning, by some distance.

Arsenal are in second place but look weaker in attack. They did not address that in the transfer window. If this is allowed to drift then City will run away with it, in my opinion.

This is not bitterness. It’s just the sense of farce. The Premier League is a huge export for the country. It’s a tourist attraction. The overseas rights are a multi-billion pound industry. It’s huge for the country.

But this season is in serious danger of damaging the Premier League’s integrity and reputation. And I don’t blame the Premier League. How can you? People lose their minds over this. They set the rules and the clubs are expected to follow them.

Yes, the case dragged on for too long. Nearly four years from City being charged to being found guilty. But, to give it some context, just look at the complexities of the case. The Premier League had to get it right - and they did. The delay seems more justified now.

But we are left with fans getting angry because City supporters celebrated with their players after they won at Anfield. How can you possibly blame Erling Haaland for celebrating in front of the City fans? You can’t. He’s not to blame. What else do you expect?

And that is the whole point. Football has been left in limbo. With every day which passes, the Premier League is becoming more and more damaged.

It is damaging for other teams, too. If City get their punishment in a few weeks will they be as motivated if they are facing relegation on the back of a 100-point deduction? I doubt it. And then how is that fair on Liverpool who got walloped 3-0?

It has gone on long enough. We’ve reached a point where we might as well just not read out the City scores on Sports Report. It’s bonkers.

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