Carrick on stripping Manchester City of titles: what happened remains in the past
The Manchester United manager speaks about the neighbour's conviction in the controversial case
Michael Carrick has weighed in on the accusations that Manchester City committed financial breaches across nine seasons, insisting the drawn-out saga raises plenty of questions and that a swift resolution would serve everyone involved.
The Premier League announced that the independent commission handling the case confirmed City's guilt on 114 charges. The Citizens have lodged an appeal against the decision.
Fail in that appeal, and City face severe sanctions that could stretch as far as being stripped of titles or relegation to the lower divisions.
Carrick spoke at today's press conference, on Friday, as his side prepare to host Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow, Saturday, at Old Trafford in the sixth round of the Premier League.
"It's very difficult to comment on the matter in many respects," Carrick told the British Broadcasting Corporation "BBC". "It has raised a lot of questions, some of which have been answered, and others which have not. And since the case is still ongoing, and we don't know how long it will go on, there are limits to what I can say."
He added: "Certainly, I have my own questions about it, and it has affected me personally in various ways over a period of time. But with the case still ongoing, I don't know where things have got to or how it will end, so we have to wait and see what happens."
Carrick continued: "What I would like to say is that resolving it as quickly as possible is essential, for everyone's benefit."
Carrick recalls memories of the title battle with Manchester City
The United boss also cast his mind back to those title races against City during his own playing days in a Red Devils shirt, reflecting on the emotions that come with winning and losing in football.
"I think that the pursuit of winning, and the feelings and emotions that come with it, represents a big part of sport, and especially football," Carrick said. "A lot of it is about the moment itself."
He added: "Whether you achieve success or lose or things go against you, the beauty of sport and football, and the beauty of the pursuit of winning titles here, lies partly in the journey towards achieving the goal, and then in the decisive moment: do things go in your favour or against you?"
He went on: "Once that moment is over, you can't get it back in any way. The feeling we all aspire to is to be at the top and to win. And that pretty much sums it up. What happened in the past remains the past, but what you feel in that moment is what stays present."
Wrapping up his remarks, Carrick said: "Certainly, this is what we, the participants and the players, feel, and I'm sure the fans feel the same thing. And that is why we love football so much, because of the emotions we experience in its decisive moments."
Those comments land amid the prospect of City being stripped of titles across the nine-season period, with the honours potentially reassigned to other clubs. United are among them.
