It's a pretty common phenomena it seems, people who cheat convincing themselves that everyone else is cheating to justify their own behaviour. They want easy title wins and eternal bragging rights and are happy to cheat their way to it (not a conspiracy theory, they've been caught and fined and have since had the investigation reopened), but we've somehow managed to beat them and break a lot of their records regardless. They have to tell themselves we're cheating too because the alternative is we've somehow comfortably beaten them while spending a fraction of what they have.
My wife once said that people who accuse others of cheating or bad things, expect it to be so, since they are doing it... and I agree wholeheartedly.
If you're cheating, you'll justify it by convincing yourself that others are doing it. Rarely, do people own up to that.
If you're a thief, you'd be quick to judge and suspect others of it, since you believe that others also steal. In fact- you'd do that with everything "bad"!
City's thing is- "Every big club 'cheats', 'robs' and 'steals'- they MUST be, so we have to go "bordeline" in order to best them! Why can't we? Besides, we've only "pushed the envelope" for a few years. We're not as bad as them! Since they've been at it for so long, they are in no position to lecture, judge or regulate us."
That's a dangerous attitude. Justification has often led to the worst atrocities, because it suspends YOUR moral responsibility, which appears as justice to someone or something that YOU perceive as morally corrupt. Pretty soon, you'll find that you can do anything you want, because "the other guy is worse!"
When you find yourself justifying bad behaviour, you know you've lost the plot. You're on a slippery slope!
