Football Daily | Manchester City v Chelsea: get ready for a Wembley FFP derby showpiece

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Given that the two teams contesting this season’s FA Cup final face more than 200 outstanding counts of financial chicanery between them, the atmosphere at Wembley will – as several Social Media Disgrace wags quickly pointed out – definitely be highly charged. In the blue corner, Chelsea still face 74 FA counts of financial misconduct, having already had their wrist lightly slapped by the Premier League. In the lighter blue corner, Manchester City continue to go about their business, apparently impervious to the outcome of the inquiry into the 130 or so charges of money-related shenanigans that may or may not be released before the next sighting of Halley’s Comet in 35 years. While this season’s renewal of the oldest cup competition in the world had more than its fair share of magic in the form of muddy pitches and giantkillings, it’s not unreasonable to think that some fans will go to Wembley on 16 May more preoccupied by the outcome of forensic audits and arbitration hearings than by the actual final being played.

The latest Chelsea exit raises the intriguing question of who will be the next manager lucky enough to secure a contract there well into the 2030s, only to be back on the market shortly after. Logic suggests Claudio Ranieri may yet return to Chelsea, if only because an anagram of Liam Rosenior is ‘Ranieri looms’. With Leicester preparing to parade their recent silverware in front of the directors of Bromley and Burton Albion next season, memories may yet stir in the Chelsea boardroom and prompt a nostalgic reappointment of the Tinkerman” – Phil Hearn.

Spurs fans: worried about relegation? Console yourselves with the trivia possibilities it will bring! For example, the last time Tottenham played Lincoln City in the league was 1 January 1949. That was also the day that Celestia was registered in Illinois, a micro-nation that claimed ownership of all outer space and chased that claim for decades. There’s a metaphor in there for having the loftiest of dreams that somehow always remain out of reach” – Jon Gregory.

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