mike

Saratoga Springs, NY. Arsenal FC.

[mike @mikepeyton0]

@NBCSportsSoccer not showing the Arsenal guard of honor is a crime.

[mike @mikepeyton0]

WRIGHTYYYYYYYY

[Arsenal @Arsenal]

Can you spot an Arsenal legend? 👀

@IanWright0 ❤️

[Kai Havertz @kaihavertz29]

Run it back.

[mike @mikepeyton0]

HAHAHHA HINCAPIE

[REDaction Gooners @REDactionAFC]

Mikel wants it

The players want it

The fans want it

WE GO AGAIN

[mike @mikepeyton0]

@CBSSportsGolazo the video is slightly delayed on your Arsenal vs Atletico broadcast. Audio is ahead by about 1-2 seconds.

[F Z 🏆 @FZAFC83]

We collectively have to come together as a fanbase to do everything we can to push these boys over the line. The inquests can come after the season finishes.

10 more games (if we succeed in the CL).
The 2 biggest trophies on the line

Be the 12th Man or don’t show up at all.

[REDaction Gooners @REDactionAFC]

The overall message for the Cup Final is GET THERE EARLY : extra layers of ticket and security checks will add additional time to the entry process.

Note ‘The Angel’ will be played at 4pm, be there in time to sing along

[ArsenalMatchday @ArsenalMatchday]

'The Angel' will be played at 4pm tomorrow, the players will be warming up at that time. If a reason is needed to get to a Cup Final early then there you have one, lets get in there and give it the full beans 😀

[Connor Humm @TikiTakaConnor]

Arteta says the last two games at the Emirates against Everton and Leverkusen are the standards he expects from the fans in terms of atmosphere:

🗣️ “I thought the atmosphere was really good from the beginning. The moment that I went out, I could sense it. It was one of those nights I think they were really, really positive with the team and their reaction.

“I think the team obviously gave them a lot of reasons to behave like this. So, yeah, that's exactly what we need. I think the last two games are the standards that we need to help us to achieve what we want.”

[mike @mikepeyton0]

@SemperFiArsenal Sporting (A) is vital. Big result there could allow slight rotation at home in the return fixture. Cannot count on that though. We move.

[mike @mikepeyton0]

@FabrizioRomano 😂😂😂

[mike @mikepeyton0]

ETHAN!

[Adam @AdamJoseph]

🧵 THREAD: Manchester City, the charges, the evidence, & how justice was delayed.

Manchester City weren’t charged because rivals complained or because they 'spent big'. They were charged because evidence shows a decade-long system designed to hide owner funding, inflate revenue & deceive & obstruct investigations.

The Premier League’s case didn’t appear overnight.
It began in late 2018, triggered by Football Leaks documents - internal emails, invoices, contracts - that contradicted what City had been telling UEFA & the Premier League for years.

Those emails are the backbone of everything that followed. At the centre of the case is a simple allegation: Manchester City repeatedly disguised owner funding as commercial revenue.

FFP rules require sponsorship income to be real, independent, and market value. What the emails suggest is that City’s biggest 'sponsors' weren’t paying what City claimed - Abu Dhabi was.

Take Etihad as an example. Leaked emails show City executives discussing Etihad paying only a fraction of headline sponsorship deals, with the shortfall quietly topped up by Abu Dhabi government-linked entities.

One email explicitly references ensuring funds 'come through the correct channels' so they are not detected as separate sources of funding. That is the definition of disguised equity. This wasn’t a one-off.

Emails show Etihad deals where shirt sponsorship, stadium, training kit & campus naming rights were all inflated wildly out of line with the market at the time - later confirmed in the actual contracts, not just drafts.

The numbers in the leaks weren’t hypothetical. They were real. UEFA auditors suspected this as early as 2013–14.

They found £47m of 'intellectual property' sales boosting income, a £5m 'win bonus' paid for an FA Cup final City lost & sponsorships from Aabar and Etisalat above market value.

City were fined & restricted - but crucially, UEFA never saw the full records. Why? Because City refused to provide them. This becomes a pattern.

When UEFA charged City again in 2020, they imposed a two-year Champions League ban. City appealed to CAS & had it overturned. City fans shout 'INNOCENT', shared out of context screenshots. They're wrong.

CAS did not rule that City were innocent. CAS ruled that UEFA could not meet the burden of proof - largely because City did not co-operate. City were fined €10m specifically for obstructing the investigation.

Even City's own expert witness was denied access to key information that could have disproved disguised funding. 'No evidence' doesn’t mean nothing happened. It means the evidence was withheld.

CAS explicitly stated that disguised equity funding could not be excluded - only that neither side could conclusively prove their case. That vagueness was entirely engineered.

After CAS, new emails emerged suggesting Simon Pearce, a senior City executive & Sheikh Mansour adviser, had given misleading testimony under oath. City declined to comment. Again.

While all this was happening, the Premier League had already been investigating City for years. City’s response? Delay. Delay. Delay. Obstruct. Litigate.

Court filings later revealed City challenged the legality of the investigation itself, filed repeated procedural applications, refused to hand over documents, forced arbitration, then challenged arbitration & tried to keep the entire process secret.

A High Court judge called it out in 2021. “It is surprising, and a matter of legitimate public concern, that so little progress has been made.” That’s legal spiel for stonewalling.

This obstruction accounts for 35 of the 115 charges alone & that’s before we get to the secret payments.

City declared Roberto Mancini's salary as £1.45m per year. On the same day he signed with City, he also signed a “consultancy” deal with Al Jazira - a club owned by the same man who owns City - worth £1.75m per year. That deal was explicitly marked confidential.

Emails show City executives arranging the payments. Same signatures. Same people. Same day. The allegation is obvious: City paid Mancini off the books.

Leaked documents allege undeclared payments for Yaya Touré, including via third parties. These aren’t rumours. They’re contracts, emails, invoices. This is why there are 14 charges relating to manager and player remuneration.

Then there’s image rights. City told UEFA they sold player image rights for a £24.5m lump sum to comply with FFP. Later, they quietly resumed earning millions from image rights again.

The buyer? A company whose directors included City’s own senior legal officer. Independent journalists couldn’t even establish its genuine commercial purpose.

All of this feeds into the core allegation across 54 charges: City failed to provide accurate financial information in good faith. Not once. Not twice. But repeatedly, over nearly a decade.

Now add politics. UK government departments discussed City’s charges with the British embassy in Abu Dhabi. Those communications are sealed - because releasing them could 'damage relations with the UAE'. City insist they are not state-backed. Then why is the state involved?

Yet still, the delays continue. A 12-week closed-door hearing. Half a million documents. Years of silence. City remain 'innocent' - not because the evidence disappeared, but because the verdict hasn’t landed.

This is why the case matters. If City walk away with a fine, it tells every club to cheat cleverly, obstruct endlessly, spend on lawyers, not compliance.. & the rules collapse.

This isn’t about jealousy. It isn’t about success. It’s about whether financial regulation in English football is real - or optional for the richest club in the league.

The evidence exists. The emails exist. The delays are documented. Now only one question remains, do the rules apply to City or not?

[Restoring Your Faith in Humanity @HumanityChad]

HERO: Jon Bon Jovi saved a woman's life in Nashville 😭

He was walking on a pedestrian bridge when he saw a woman standing on the ledge. He immediately walked over, spoke to her, and persuaded her to climb back to safety ❤️

Bless this man! 🙌

[Fabrizio Romano @FabrizioRomano]

🎄 To all of you guys, merry and happy Christmas! Spend the best time with your loved ones, enjoy your holidays if you can…

The usual, special hug to those who are in a difficult situation, struggling, missing your loved ones. You’re not alone. ❤️

[mike @mikepeyton0]

@WillFlemming Here because I’m a Red Sox fan. But I’m also a Commanders fan and appreciate you saying this. Not worth ruining the kids career.

[Repole Stable @RepoleStable]

I have made it very clear that I am interested in purchasing Gulfstream Park.
The owner and her representatives have shown no interest in selling to me or to anyone for racing purposes.
I cannot buy a property that is not for sale.

Hialeah is also not for sale.
I have already inquired about acquiring that property.

Two years ago, I reached out regarding Tampa Bay Downs and was politely told it, too, is not for sale.

If I am going to become involved in racetrack ownership, it will be either in Florida or New York

I currently have low confidence in the future of California racing due to existing ownership dynamics and concerns about doing business with the state of California with racing.

I do believe that New York State will eventually need to privatize NY racing.

When that happens, I will be first in line to purchase the racing rights!!!!!

[Repole Stable @RepoleStable]

Shoot first, ask questions later???
Mr. Negative???
🤔

Ray, for 20 years, whether it was you or that other dinosaur, Joe Drape (who, thanks to me, is now extinct from this sport), you, @jockeyclub, @BreedersCup, @TOBAhorses, @NTRA and now even @hisa_us have done the same exact thing.

Shoot first. Ask questions never.
Intimidate. Bully. Blackball anyone who steps out of line from your pheasant-hunting club…and then have your two media henchmen, Drape and you, clean it up in print.

Ray, you live in the 10% minority of everything I post…the tiny, offended group that can’t handle the brutal truth about the state of this sport. And you’re failing miserably at your job as the Jockey Club’s henchman. I’ve exposed the farce, and it’s clearly eating you alive.

You guys are the root of 90% of the issues!!!!!

What you label as “Mr. Negativity” is really the industry finally having a disruptor who actually cares about the ENTIRE game, not just protecting the blue-blood aristocracy.

I speak up for:
- Horseplayers who get screwed daily
- Owners treated like garbage
- Trainers treated like criminals
- Jockeys treated like cheaters

We’ve had enough.

Meanwhile, the same entitled people hide behind the fake storyline that they “care about the horses” while aftercare is embarrassingly underfunded and a ban on exporting horses for slaughter sadly still doesn’t exist.

Spare us the f$&king hypocrisy!!!!!

Here’s the truth:
I’m a disruptor, a purposeful asshole, and a force of nature and I’m proud of it because someone needs to force REAL change from the old guard who’ve run this sport straight into the ground. And yes…I’ll continue to treat you and the Jockey Club exactly how you treat pheasants.

I’ve got 75% of the vocal majority and 95% of the silent majority behind me.

🚨 If you’re fed up with this broken industry and agree it’s time for REAL change and REAL accountability retweet or like this post. Show these dishonest and incompetent leaders we’ve had enough and show them the unity they F$&King Fear!!!!!

Retweet or Like!!!!!
LFG!!!!! ♥️ 🙏 💪