Pochettino: City Fans 'Lived Through an Era of Deception'

Mauricio Pochettino, the USMNT head coach and former Tottenham, Chelsea, and Southampton manager, has accused the Premier League's regulatory system of failing to deliver a proportionate punishment for what he called 'a period of deception' in the Manchester City case.

Mauricio Pochettino has broken his silence on the Manchester City verdict, accusing the Premier League's regulatory system of failing to deliver a punishment proportionate to "a period of deception" that, in his view, misled supporters across the years under scrutiny. The USMNT head coach and former Tottenham, Chelsea, and Southampton manager said fans had "lived through an era of deception," according to the Guardian.

It is the most prominent managerial reaction since the independent commission's findings began to circulate. Pochettino managed three Premier League clubs across the relevant period, putting him among the few figures qualified to speak to what the case has cost the league's competitive standing.

His intervention lands on a club still in combative posture. Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has publicly maintained the club's innocence, declined to answer direct questions on the 115 charges in another exchange, and warned the legal fight could run for years. Rival Premier League clubs, meanwhile, are pushing for the full commission verdict to be published rather than sealed.

Whether the pressure from managers, rivals, and supporters translates into a public ruling, or simply into a longer legal corridor for City, is the next question the league's other clubs will have to answer.