WILL THEY EVER LEARN?

"I think that is very achievable. In points terms, we are only talking small margins between 16th and eighth but through a combination of reviewing the season, making adjustments and learning from what we did this year, I am very confident we will finish above ninth."

Mackintosh then spoke of the debt problem at City:

”We have things Leeds have been yearning for, such as a new stadium and fantastic backers in John Wardle and David Makin.

"While our debts are above £50million, £44million of that is a long-term liability matched against the long-term asset of the stadium. That debt is at a sensible level now and we don't want it to increase.

"We have been very public in going out and looking for new monies. While it is not essential to our well-being that we get it, it would be helpful into taking us onto the next stage.

"It is relatively easy to sell the Manchester City name because we have a number of unique selling points and I'm confident that if investors come in from abroad, they will look at us.

"But going from selling shirts in China to having someone actually put money in the club is tricky because there are only a certain amount of individuals who want to invest in a soccer club.

"Clearly if we had finished eighth, people would be focusing on the positive aspects such as the stadium, the loyalty of our fans and the sponsorships we have agreed.”

Matching a debt against an asset that you don’t own may not seem to be the most sensible idea but don’t worry, they do have very loyal supporters!