Legal expert reveals why Premier League could use Rangers as example for Manchester City sanction
Rangers may be utilised as the perfect case study for the Premier League's case against Manchester City, a legal expert has told Ibrox News.
The Ibrox faithful know all about the kind of mess football finances can get you into.
It was just 14 years ago that the Gers were expelled from the Scottish Premiership.
Things certainly look different now and it is instead the Citizens who are taking the front and back-page headlines.
They have been found guilty of artificially inflating their revenue by over £900million between 2009 and 2018.
The Premier League are yet to confirm the punishment that Man City will face, but Rangers could be central to the thinking.
Premier League could use Rangers against Manchester City
All this news surrounding the Etihad Stadium has seen many supporters in Govan be reminded of what happened to their club not so long ago.
The Gers were forced down into the third division as they faced a hard reset.
It took four years, but the Bears were eventually back in the Premiership and it didn't take too long for them to be back fighting at the top of the table.
That may be exactly why the Premier League could use that as the grounding for their punishment against Man City, says Senior Associate at Knights, Daniel Baker.
The legal expert has represented elite-level coaches, athletes, clubs and organisations within football, including cases within the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Speaking exclusively to Ibrox News, Baker said: "The sanction has got to be the heaviest possible. Even Rangers weren't on the scale of this - nine years of systemic financial manipulation.
"I don't think there is a prescription for the sanction within the rules so that leaves them to decide what they think is appropriate. Potential expulsion from the league is on the table.
"The Rangers example proved that you can stabilise after that and maybe that is what is needed to wipe the slate clean, but Man City aren't showing any sign of adopting that, they are doubling down."
How could Rangers example be applied at Man City?
Rangers went down to the fourth tier of Scottish football in 2012 with the goal of fighting their way back up.
They made ease of the Third Division and League One as Ally McCoist dragged his side through.
That was quite impressive given the volume of players who departed Ibrox after a tumble down the pyramid.
The Govan outfit were stuck in the Championship for one season, but came up the following year under Mark Warburton.
A first season back in the Premiership ended with a third place finish and European qualification.
It is this story in G51 that may give the Premier League the perfect way to punish Man City.
They could find themselves in League Two with the ambition to rise back up to the top flight as quickly as possible.
Should they replicate Rangers, and do so fairly, there can't be many complaints.
It will now be down to the Premier League to decide the sanction.