In a stunning display of priorities, Ipswich's Gary O'Neill has revealed that he simply cannot bring himself to care about Manchester City's ongoing Premier League financial saga. "It's so far away from a priority for me to even know or care what is happening at Manchester City," he said, presumably while doing something far more important, like organizing his sock drawer. Meanwhile, the rest of the football world continues to obsess over the 115 charges and City's appeal against guilty verdicts for breaching financial regulations. O'Neill added that everyone wants clarity, but he's just here to coach football, thank you very much.
Over in Spain, the RFEF is taking its case to CAS after being fined for Islamophobic chants during a match against Egypt on March 31. The chants, "whoever doesn't jump is a Muslim," were heard in Barcelona, prompting anti-discrimination messages on the big screens and halftime announcements. The RFEF argued that "Muslim" is just the accepted term for a follower of Islam, but FIFA's disciplinary committee disagreed, concluding the chants "clearly use religious identity as a means of distinguishing and discriminating against the opposing side." The fine: $20,000 (£15,000) and a 15% stadium closure for the next men's senior team friendly. Spain star Lamine Yamal, a Muslim himself, called the chants "intolerable" and said those who sing them are "ignorant and racist people." The RFEF insists it acted immediately and diligently, and that the measures ensured the chants were not repeated. Good to know they're on it.
Oliver Glasner has been singing Arsenal's praises ahead of Nottingham Forest's game against the Gunners on Sunday. "Huge credit to Mikel Arteta and to Arsenal," he said, presumably while quietly weeping at the prospect of facing them. "It's not only the quality it's the mentality. In every game this season they're outrunning the opposition." He also noted they have "so many world-class players they can react from the bench." In other words, Forest are doomed, but at least Glasner is polite about it.
Speaking of Arteta, he had to explain why Arsenal's official team photo this week was missing William Saliba. Turns out Saliba had a doctor's appointment when the photographer turned up. "We tried to do that picture three times already and we had to cancel it last minute for different reasons," Arteta said. "We will retake the picture with the whole family." Saliba, reportedly "completely fine" about the whole thing, is presumably not losing sleep over his absence from a photo that will be retaken anyway.
David Moyes, ever the optimist, faced the media ahead of Everton's game against Chelsea. "I'm not an expert on Chelsea," he said, which is one way to start a press conference. On his own future, with his contract expiring at the end of the season, Moyes said: "I'm getting on with the job and trying to build Everton and keep it going in the right direction. Hopefully we've done some half decent things in the last year and a half or so. So, we'll see. There's been plenty of talks happening through the summer. Maybe at the moment there's just a little bit of a lull. But as I've said many times, it's not the most important thing for me." Translation: he'll sign when he signs, or he won't.
Unai Emery is having a whale of a time at Aston Villa. "More than last year even," he said. "Because when we were building the team in a successful year, it was fantastic. But then we were not changing so much the squad, and we had a lot of challenges and I was enjoying how we were achieving, the good performances. But this year especially more because we changed it more than normal." He also busted out a John Toshack quote: "Don't avoid the trees not permitting you to see the forest." Which is either profound or a cry for help, depending on your perspective.
Enzo Maresca, Manchester City's manager (yes, you read that right), spent a surprising amount of his press conference discussing bananas. "I didn't know the history behind the bananas. I hope tomorrow I can see many bananas in the stadium," he said. "I think it creates a nice environment for everyone in the stadium." He also addressed Reece James's knee surgery, saying the captain will be out for "several weeks" and that it's "not going to be short." On City's off-field situation, Maresca said he feels "no stress" and trusts the club's owners. "There is a lot of outside noise. We need to try and make our own noise." He also revealed he spoke to Pep Guardiola after City's Champions League defeat by PSG, and that Pep was "very happy to be at the stadium." Pep did not speak to the players, because apparently that's not his job anymore.
Michael Carrick was asked if Lisandro Martínez should have apologised personally to Jason Wilcox for his comments on Tuesday. Carrick's response: "He's released his statement. That's enough for us to move on with. From our point of view, the acknowledgement of what's been done has been enough. We've moved on. We're not looking it back now. I think I understand emotion at times. We ask for passion." And with that, the matter is closed, presumably forever.
Keith Andrews explained why Mamadou Sangaré isn't starting for Brentford. "We've got a really good squad, really good options. It's difficult picking a team," he said. Sangaré himself was gracious: "He's the coach, he's the boss. I'm a player like so many others. It's not only about me here. The most important thing is the team." A rare moment of humility in modern football.
And finally, Pierre Sage was asked for an update on Crystal Palace's injured players. "I don't know because we will train after the press conference," he said. "For the moment we hope, but we don't know." Inspiring stuff.