The Athletic FC Podcast

This week's What If is centred on the biggest story in town: Manchester City's guilty ruling.

Emma Paton is alongside The Athletic's Tim Spiers, Jack Pitt-Brooke and Dan Kilpatrick to discuss who was the most impacted by City's spending, and if that money hadn't been spent, where would the rest of the division be?

What if the big signings they made went elsewhere, who else would they have signed in their place and what is an appropriate punishment?

Host: Emma Paton
Co-hosts: Tim Spiers, Dan Kilpatrick, Jack Pitt-Brooke
Exec Producer: Adam Jones
Producers: Mike Stavrou, Grayson Moody
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Manchester City supporters are facing a new reality - their club has been vilified since The Athletic revealed they had been found guilty of almost all the Premier League charges relating to financial breaches nearly two weeks ago.

So how do their fans feel about it? And how has their relationship with the club changed, if at all?

Two of The Athletic's resident City supporters - Jack Pitt-Brooke and Thom Harris - join Emma Paton to debate and discuss their conflicting feelings.

Plus, The Athletic's Jacob Whitehead drops by to talk about one of the other big side plots to this story - Rui Pinto - the Portuguese whistleblower who gained access to Manchester City's servers, leaking emails and documents that prompted the Premier League's investigation.

Host: Emma Paton
Co-hosts: Jack Pitt-Brooke, Thom Harris
Featuring: Jacob Whitehead

Exec Producer: Adam Jones
Producer: Jay Beale
Videographer: Liam Warburton
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who are the best up and coming managers and head coaches across Europe right now?

In this episode, Emma Paton, David Ornstein and James Horncastle detail who they think are the ones to watch - from Cesc Fabregas to Regis Le Bris - and discuss the shifting managerial landscape with so many 'big personalities' moving towards the international game.

David also discusses Mikel Arteta's new contract and Arsenal and how Manchester City's players will respond to the pressure at Liverpool on Sunday.

Host: Emma Paton
Co-hosts: David Ornstein, James Horncastle
Exec Producer: Adam Jones
Producer: Mike Stavrou
Videographer: Grayson Moody
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Manchester City have lodged their appeal against the Premier League's independent commission after being found guilty of almost all the charges made against them.

On today's show, we explain how City's appeal process will work and why they still believe they can overturn the initial verdict.

Plus, the panel review England's 7-0 thrashing of Croatia, discuss Cavan Sullivan's debut for the USMNT and get excited for the return of the Premier League this weekend.

Emma Paton is joined by Rob Green and Cerys Jones in the studio and The Athletic's Football Finance expert Chris Weatherspoon.

Host: Emma Paton
Co-hosts: Rob Green, Cerys Jones
Featuring: Chris Weatherspoon, Felipe Cardenas

Exec Producers: Adam Jones
Producers: Jay Beale
Videographer: Liam Warburton
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What If is back with a big topic: VAR. Should the contentious technology continue or should the Premier League vote to scrap it?

Emma Paton is joined by Tim Spiers, Dan Kilpatrick and former Premier League referee and VAR Graham Scott to discuss the pros and cons of getting rid of VAR.

The panel also discuss the possibility of introducing a VAR challenge system, and other potential improvements to the system.

Host: Emma Paton
Guests: Tim Spiers, Dan Kilpatrick, Graham Scott
Executive Producer: Adam Jones
Producers: Mike Stavrou, Grayson Moody
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.