"Investments not gifts": Jonathan Wilson's turn on the Man City case for Football Weekly
Four days after Philippe Auclair's monologue, Monday's episode handed the subject to the tactics writer, and the comment section filled up faster than this channel's ever do.
Guardian FootballStory of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 54,897 views a day, 17 times a normal first day on this channel (3,181).
"These are investments not gifts!" - Jonathan Wilson slams Man City | Football Weekly
Fourteen hours after it went up, Monday's Football Weekly clip had been watched about 41,000 times, on a channel where a regular video usually ends its whole first day near 3,000.
It is the second time in a week that the show's Manchester City coverage has carried the channel. On Thursday it was Philippe Auclair, given the floor for a ten-minute verdict, as we reported here, and that clip is still the biggest thing on the page. This time Jonathan Wilson does the talking, reacting to what the description calls the latest twists and turns in the City scandal, with Barry Glendenning, Robyn Cowen and Max Rushden around the table. Wilson is better known for patient tactical history than for raised voices, which makes the title's line about investments, not gifts, land a little harder.
The comments are far busier than usual: dozens in half a day, where around a dozen is normal for a full first day. Most take up the argument in the title, about whether money from the club's owners should be treated as a favor to Britain. Others ask whether wrongdoing really stopped in 2018 and how sponsorship deals ought to be registered in future.
There is lighter traffic too. One viewer wants to know about the decor behind Wilson, another why Cowen did not get a fancier microphone.
Published on Trari
Read next
What viewers say
Did Wilson deck his bedroom out in a Game of Thrones theme?
@j2248See it on YouTubehow comes robyn ain’t got a posh mic
@bourdieufan7433See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
Is this your channel?
Share the story with your audience: in a community post, in your channel's description or on your socials. The text and the badge are ready.
You may use the picture, the badge, and link it to this story.
- Channel
- Guardian Football
- Subscribers
- 306,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 498,117
- Channel views, pace per day
- 113,295 (on a normal day: 61,349)
- Video published
- October 5, 2026
- Video views so far
- 40,974 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 54,897
The numbers
A clip that ran far past the channel's usual first day, in a week when the whole channel is pulling nearly twice its normal daily views.
💡 Test your knowledge
Manchester City's home ground, now the Etihad Stadium, was originally built for which event?
The City of Manchester Stadium was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and became City's home in 2003.
