It was revealed last week that City had been found guilty by an independent Premier League commission of all charges relating to serious financial-rule breaches between 2009/10 and 2017/18.
City deny wrongdoing and have appealed the verdict, and as per the Premier League's new fast-track rules, an appeal hearing should be held within 12 weeks, with a decision due within 30 days of the hearing concluding.
Punishments have been widely debated, with the club being stripped of their titles and launched out of the Premier League, the favourites for rivals clubs keen to see City be shown as an example.
Dickov backs Man City's appeal
Speaking to 247Bet, Dickov has stood by the club as he backs the eight-time Premier League winners in their appeal process, despite many calling for the side to be torn apart.
Man City have appealed the charges. Do you have faith that the appeal is likely to be successful?
“Well, I think you've always got to have faith. I look at the owners' statement after it happened, and then obviously Ferran's (CEO Ferran Soriano) video out there, and then the appeal.
"My own personal opinion, and this isn't me with my sky blue-tinted glasses on, I genuinely think that they must have something there to appeal. There has to be, for them to be as strong as they are in the wording that they've used.
“The people who run Manchester City, they're really, really good people. And I genuinely think for them to be as they are being as strong as they are being right now, then they definitely must believe that they've got something there."
Do you have any worries that there could be a punishment coming so harsh that it destroys the club? We've seen clubs have to go through it before, like Rangers did, who had to start again.
“I think whatever happens next, the fans will be there for the club. I was very fortunate enough to witness how good the Man City fans are first-hand through playing in a period where we weren't successful.
“It was probably the worst period in the club's history, in the old Division Two, which now would be League One. But we were 12th in that division, and we were still getting 30,000 fans every week.
“So I think, whatever the sanctions are, if it's the worst-case scenario, the disappointment would be there, of course. But the one thing that Manchester City will always have, and always has had in all of this, is an unbelievable fan base.
“If anything, when I played, it seemed the worse we got as a team, the fans got some sort of kick out of supporting us even more the lower we went. And I don't think that will ever waver with the Manchester City fans."
Stripping players of their medals is not realistic
Despite having played without knowledge of the alleged financial wrongdoing, players and coaches could have their success stripped away from them due to the corruption at the top of the club.
Players do their duty on the pitch and could now be rewarded with history being reversed if City are punished in the same way rival fans are pleading for.
Titles and medals being stripped does not seem realistic to Dickov, however, and he mocked those who speak on the subject as if they can see behind the curtain.
Do you think that these charges in any way ruin the success of or hurt those players who worked so hard to win those titles in the modern era?
“Yeah, again, I can hear a lot of people saying that the titles should be stripped, the medals should be stripped, or they should be deducted points and everything else. I don't think you can go back historically and change things if that was the case.
“But, as I’ve always said, and I know it's a bit boring, nobody knows what's going to happen. I don't know what the outcome of the appeal is going to be, and if there are sanctions, I don’t know what the sanctions will be or when they will happen. Nobody does at this minute.
“It's just huge speculation at the minute, and it's making me laugh hearing a lot of the so-called experts giving their opinions on it when they have not got a clue either what the outcome is going to be. So it's a really, really difficult one for everyone."
It sounds like a really harsh punishment to strip the titles. Is it even realistic? Would you call that a step too far?
“It's one of them. I think if it's your club, you're going to stick up for it to the hilt. Just purely going back to the statement that the owners have made. I think that's the way of the world at the minute.
"Nobody seems to really like people that are successful. There's not really a story, you know, and I think if the boot were on the other foot, then City fans would possibly be saying the same if it was Liverpool or Arsenal or any other club in this situation. They're probably revelling in it themselves.
“So I understand that rival fans react this way. It's the way of the world at the minute. It's football fans, they’re tribal. They're going to do everything they can to try and mock the club. Whereas the City fans, on the flip side, are going to be doing everything they can to stick up for the club."
Clubs will have to wait until January 2027 for a decision on the verdict for City after their appeal. For now, the club return to their regular schedule as they face Liverpool at Anfield this Sunday.
Liverpool finished behind City in the 2013/14 Premier League title race, with fans calling for that title to be handed to the club. Sunday will certainly be an interesting clash between the two sides as the charges linger over Anfield and every other City clash until January like a dark cloud.