Bombshell news in the world of Manchester City charges as we now have a date when the hearing will begin.

They don't, of course, since they already knew it, and we all knew that it would be September so with each passing day in the month the options grew shorter. But now everybody knows that on Monday the arguments will finally begin to be thrashed out in private so we can all continue to know practically nothing until a verdict is announced at some point next year.

'Ominous for Manchester City fans' was how the news was described on national radio on Friday after the date was reported in a national newspaper on Thursday. Which, if it is, it is surely also ominous for fans of the Premier League and fans of clubs who would like to see City punished because all possibilities are on the table.

However, and more importantly, it just isn't ominous at all. The hearing will be seismic for the balance of power in English football, yet it is also being conducted almost entirely in private arguing over a set of financial and legal rules that are too complex to be interesting to your average person, and the results won't be known for about six months.

Anyone who is significantly excited or worried for that long over something so abstract should be asking themselves why. That is why, in a survey conducted by MEN Sport, 40 per cent of City fans were 'not worried at all' by news of the charges and 43 per cent were only 'a bit worried'; life is too short with too many other real issues to grapple with than to be consumed by this.

None of those opinions will have been swayed by learning of an exact September date for the lengthy hearing to begin, yet just the smallest details is enough for the avalanche of content to come crashing down and top agendas. The Manchester Evening News has published five fresh pieces in the 24 hours since the minor administrative update emerged.

This technically counts as a sixth, although hopefully the last before somebody reveals what one of the barristers is wearing next week and the whole nonsense rolls around again. It feels like never before have so many people had so much to say about so little; there are obviously millions of pieces of evidence, but basically none with context available for public consumption.

If anyone is desperate for an arbitration fix, the results into the dispute between City and the Premier League over Associated Party Transaction rules are due this month with - hopefully - some real meat on those bones even if those bones are still dry and regulatory. There are also some football matches happening between now and the results of the charges hearing being announced next year if anyone is still interested in that.

Most City fans are - it's why they're not racked with worry about the charges. It would be healthy for everybody to adopt the same approach.

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