Every Newcastle fan is jumping for joy at the prospect of Saudi Arabia’s billions being pumped into our club.
Every Newcastle fan, except Steve Bruce that is.
Day one of Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s potential reign will be met by a massive elephant in the room – ‘what on earth do we do with Bruce?’.
Anyone with half a brain will tell you that the most important figure at a football club is the manager, and by splashing out £300million on NUFC, you can be sure that Staveley & Co will want their own man at the helm.
If you spent that much on a house, you certainly wouldn’t want the previous owners wall paper in your living room.
Whether you like him or not, Bruce could quickly become a dead-man walking on Tyneside. To say the reaction to his appointment last summer was poor is an understatement, with many voting with their feet and vowing to stay away from St James’ until Ashley was gone.
Many, myself included, thought we were dead and buried. The departure of Benitez, Rondon and Perez appeared too big a job for Bruce to fill. He was obviously going to be tainted by his stint at Sunderland too, with fans feeling this was another one of Ashley’s tricks to intentionally wind the fans up. Remember Kinnear and Sports Direct Arena?!.
The football has been woeful, but Bruce has surprisingly steadied the ship and kept us in the league, reverting to a back five has worked wonders and we even have an FA Cup quarter-final to look forward to – coronavirus permitting.
He has managed to convince the majority of the fanbase that he is just about up to the current task at hand (which is keeping us up these days), but you’d do well to find a single football fan who’d feel he is capable of achieving the ambitions our potential new owners are likely to have.
One man who springs to mind is Mark Hughes. The Welshman was in charge of Man City when Sheikh Mansour came strolling into town, and most feel he was always on borrowed time from the get-go.
When he was replaced by the more fanciable Roberto Mancini less than 18-months into the gig, this marked the beginning of a City era spent competing at the upper echelons of the Premier League.
Bruce could suffer a similar fate, and the romantic return of Rafa Benitez is what some Toon fans are already hoping for. Staveley is thought to be an admirer too.
Let’s not forget, Bruce hasn’t always been the most loyal of dogs himself over the years. As well as both North-East clubs, Bruce’s CV consists of Aston Villa, Birmingham, Sheffield United and Wednesday.
He has reached his ceiling as a manager. He certainly won’t be poached for a job bigger than Newcastle and any exit would likely see him make the move back down to the Championship.
If a takeover is to be the end of Bruce’s stint at the club then our fanbase should only wish him well. After all, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia certainly wouldn’t be interested in freeing us from Mike Ashley if we were sitting in the bottom three.
Prem – wow, 3 names I would not have predicted.
I think Ancelotti is nee chance with him just joining Everton – the other 2 are good managers, but I’m not sure they are what we need in terms of building the squad.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I think Prem is on a wind up. Lucescu is 74.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I think the most likely Managers are Rafa, Poch and Allegri. I read something about 6 months ago that Allegri was studying English.
I wonder why the Ajax manager Ten Haag is never mentioned?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I know Staveley is a fan/friend of Rafa – but I read it would cost £20m to buy him out of his current contract.
Poch is still getting paid from Spurs which is why he hasn’t joined anyone else yet, but I think that contract is over this summer. Allegri would be available immediately I believe.
Poch feels like he would be the best fit for me knowing the league and having done a bit of a rebuild at Spurs – they definitely looked a stronger team under him – but they did have awful form with him for about 6 months and he was sacked for a reason.
But he improved Saints and Spurs, so I think he’d be a better option than someone new to the league I think ??♂️.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Said the exact same thing yesterday to my lass when discussing it.
Apparently the government put out a plea to brits to do the work but had little to no interest.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I don’t want Poch, mainly because he hasn’t really done anything.
If we are about rebuilding the club and community links and facilities as has been muted then there is only one man for the job and that’s Rafa.
He loves the club and area, loves the fans, is tactically sound and perfect for a project.
Give him the funds and i think he’d have us flying .
Allegri is a good tactician and could be a good fit, he has said he’s coming to the PL and said it wasn’t a top 6 team !
But we still aren’t sold yet so lets not get carried away.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim – there are occupations in this Country that are seen as ‘beneath’ people – cleaning, caring, hotel staff and farm work.
The government have a role to play in increasing the appeal of such occupations. Not everyone will want to go into higher education, so the government either need to make it rewarding to go into those jobs – or less rewarding to NOT go into the jobs imo.
Im not saying everyone claiming benefits are lay abouts – not for a second. But there are definitely some – and if they turn their noses up at those jobs, I really don’t see why we should make it easy for them.
Before I’m jumped on, my mates sister is on universal credit after loosing her job and has been offered countless carers jobs – her response has been ‘I’m not cleaning up after people for only a couple of hundred quid a month more than I’m getting paid to do nowt’.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim – let’s agree on Allegri then, coz I’m not sure I fully bought into Rafas ‘love’. It sounded good though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, i thought they placed sanctions on you if you turned a job down whilst on universal credit ?
KIMTOON(Quote)
Pochettino would be my choice 100%. Ticks all the boxes. Well apart from actually winning something but he was always hamstrung by Levy at Spurs and had restrictions on his spending. He looks like he could build something and I like his discipline. If a player looks like they wamt to leave he just leaves them out. Nice guy but obviously strong too.
Stuart79(Quote)
If there isn’t a **** good reason for turning it down they should stop your benefits.
Bone idle generations…
Stuart79(Quote)
Sorry Stu, I already said Poch and as we can’t agree on anything, you’ll have to pick someone else – or at least disagree on my reasons for picking Poch ?
Sharpy17(Quote)
I remember looking at the team-sheets comparing Klopp’s first game against Spurs and the last against Poch. Klopp had total rebuilt Liverpool. Poch had the same team out. You can blame the board for that if you want , But you cannot say Poch built Spurs.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Kim – you’ve basically got to get boxes ticked. Turn up to training course, recruitment events and attend the odd interview.
I was asking her as she told me she’s been to a few interviews at care homes, but she knows that as long as she gives a half ar$ed interview or pretends to be really nervous, she won’t be offered the job.
Honestly, if she put as much offered into getting a job as she does avoiding one, she could make a decent living … but she’d have to work for it and she has zero work ethic – and I don’t think she’ll be the only one.
I’m not against the benefit system mind, only the abuse of it.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Prem – I think Pochs hands were tied in not only player recruitment, but renewing contracts too.
I don’t know if you heard, but they built a new stadium ??.
He did add to the squad, but he strengthened it in terms of performances, becoming a top 4 side as opposed to the nearly men.
I also think that individual players improved under him too.
Sharpy17(Quote)
We’re in for a kicking from the media. Maybe I am paranoid but I always get the feeling the explayers and southern journos are there ready to pounce on anything at NUFC.
I think the Newcastle reporters at the Nationals understand us. But their colleagues are just ready to stick the boot in. Same with most of the explayers apart from those who played for NUFC or have spoken at length to Shearer. Warren Barton absolutely loves the Toon, he is a commentator over here.
Chris Waddle is the exception. Somebody must have p!ssed on his chips when he was at NUFC.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Why doesn’t Ashley just reverse the furlough. If he is really selling what does he care, it just means less in the bank for the new owners? He could do with a bit of good PR. I never understood what hairy hands Keys got out of supporting him and talking down Rafa and all things NUFC?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
11,000 votes on Ed’s poll for who should be NUFC manager. Poch top, followed by Rafa and Allegri. Bruce gets 9%.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So SSN saying Bruce will be given til the end of the season to prove himself – that to me means to manager they want is Rafa or someone in post elsewhere.
I wonder if they will speak to the players for their opinions – particularly if it comes down to Rafa v Bruce.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Olly: I don’t think Bruce has done enough to be kept on. I think you give a new manager a head start by giving him the 9 games to bed in. We’ll probably finish about 9-15 with or without Bruce so just have a total refresh.
If the Saudis and Stavely have any doubts I would lock them in a passed cell and force them to watch Norwich away and Leicester home and away. Have their eyes stapled open like in A Clockwork Orange.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
*padded
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So Bruce will get until the end of the season to prove himself. I really don’t understand what he can prove in the last 8 games? Can’t he only prove himself if he has a few quid to spend?
Sounds to me like it’s the old “we will see how it goes, Steve”. Which basically means see us through until the end of the season and we will bring in someone with a bigger and better reputation.
Stuart79(Quote)
Why would you keep on a bottom 6 manager when you want top 6? Maybe some will sneer but we have a chance of top 6. Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea have never looked this weak for ages and Leicester, Wolves and Everton are easily caught.
Man U are the only team on the up, mainly because of Fernadez and Greenwood. But they have ballast as well (OGS) and who knows what will happen next time Pogba throws his toys out of the pram.
There is an opportunity here. BRUCE OUT NOW.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I see we’re in the 400’s now for the coronavirus deaths. Good news. Maybe, just maybe the government aren’t the morons they’re made out to be and new what they were doing… Well vaguely as Sweden have far fewer deaths per million than anyone else in Europe and haven’t locked down.
Stuart79(Quote)
He’s won nowt so that’s why I’m only halfway there. Naglesmann would be my other choice.
Stuart79(Quote)
We have just about the highest death rate in Europe, the lowest testing rate, and lack PPE. We ignored the 2018 Pandemic risk assessment and underfunded the NHS for 10 years. Yep this gov certainly knows what it is doing
PremAndUp(Quote)
I see many in the media are p1ssing on our parade saying we can spend big due to FFP. Why can’t Saudi Aramco be shirt sponsor for ten years and pay 50% up front? £70m a year is the going rate as that’s what Man Utd have agreed. Also we will build a new training ground. What’s to say that can’t be called Saudi Communications training ground for 5 or 10 years at £20m a year? Another Saudi company could sponsor training ground kit too. They could spend millions on adverts around the ground on Saudi Arabia 2030.
There’s about £1b in sponsorship there. Job done!
Stuart79(Quote)
Give over, Prem. deaths per million which is the accurate way to
measure we are below most of Europe. Italy, France and Spain all ahead of us.
Oh and if you think the NHS was underfunded before. What do you think is going to happen in the next 5-10 years ? We will have no money for anything.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart: I said earlier that the media would p!ss on our chips. They always do. I keep thinking I am paranoid about the journos and pundits always looking at us in a condescending and hateful way – and then I read the next article and realise it is them and not me 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I think Nike sponsored Liverpool for like $650 mil over 10 years. Not sure if that was for the shirt deal only and Standard Chartered keep the chest logo.
There is money there if you have a good team. Man City messed up by leaving a paper/e-mail trail of the fact that the investment fund were pumping money into the airline as a conduit to fund the team. Hopefully, our new owners are not that stupid.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’m not bothered about spending Man City big, as long as we can spend Liverpool big. I know they shelled out £75m on VVD but they only spent £5m on Andy Robertson and I’m sure the likes of Milner and Shakira were freebies.
We’ll need to spend to get top players in, but City’s spending has been mental.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Paul Merson’s Giant Balloon Heed always contradicts himself. He will say something that makes sense about 1 time out of 3 and you think – maybe he is not as stupid as he looks? But nobody could be as stupid as Merse LOOKS.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Also Merson loves to have it every single way. He plays the drama card about booze, drugs and gambling then says he is better. Next thing you know, he is talking about his mental health issues and wanting sympathy for that. Then he is telling you to listen to him coz he knows a thing or 2 about football. But next it is “I have mental health problems so feel sorry for me during this social isolating”.
He’s all over the shop with his opinions and his desperation for sympathy, so maybe we should just ignore him 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
How the hell Poch is above Rafa and Allegri puzzles me.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim – I really believe that despite our preferences, Staveley will be pushing hard for Rafa.
I think he’s her preferred choice and I think he would come back running with her and the Saudis in place.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Merse, Simon Jordan, Stan Collymore, Martin Samuel, Oliver Holt are just making stuff up. They are acting like NUFC fans think we are suddenly going to buy five 100 million pound players and win the league next year. I haven’t seen anybody think that.
We have raised our hopes, expectations and hopefully glasses to getting a new Manager who is better than Bruce. We can dream because there are not that many good jobs available and there are some Managers looking for work.
We can also dream because we supposedly spent 40 mil on JoeLinton (supposedly) even under Ashley, so up to a 150 mil spend is not out of the question.
As I have said a couple of times today I think some of these w@nkers have an issue with, and even vendetta against, NUFC and I have no idea why? What have we ever done to Simon Jordan 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And who the fck does Simon Jordan think he is to comment on Newcastle United. Relatively wealthy, but the EX-Chairman of Crystal Palace who have done nothing in their entire history. A p!ssant team who benefit from the ridiculous money in London but will go nowhere – ever. Have never been anywhere and will go nowhere. And I still don’t forgive Mr Roy for taking a cruise with his assistant the day before the England/Iceland game. And what is that with you scratching your face Mr Roy.
So there !!!!
Had it with pundits today 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What are these **** videos that keep appearing at the bottom of my screen and getting in the way??
Shamrock(Quote)
Yes, Sham – getting on my tits.
I see Jabba was going to announce the sale last week but the Saudi’s didn’t want him to as it’s their custom to not announce anything until it’s completed. Hurry up! I reckon two more weeks.
Stuart79(Quote)
So, can we just say this is done now. The PL wont block it or they would have to explain Man City, the Qatar WC and even Trump’s bizarre shindig in Saudi to get an arms deal.
Let’s be done with Bruce as well. We know he is gone even if for some inexplicable reason they keep him on for the final games. Actually, the only reason I can see him staying is if the new owners have someone lined up who doesn’t want to leave their current job mid-season.
We can get a Director of football in as soon as this is done.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I would like them to upgrade SJP and the training facilities. Thinking there will be any impact from a better academy is a bit pie in the sky. When did Abramovich buy Chelsea – 1992? We are only seeing players come through now. Man U have had a drought and their academy is said to be one of the best in the World. Even Barcelona haven’t had many recently. And City. It has been 10 years and no-one, not even Phil Foden is in their first team. I think Sancho was there but he doesn’t really count as they couldn’t hang on to him. Liverpool? Alexander Arnold is the only real success. They even poached Joe Gomez from Charlton.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
so jabba wharehouse broken into and 1mil worh of stuff nicked,well done to them lol
icedog(Quote)
Ice – it’s nee hatton garden heist like is it ? – and how big must the crew have been to nick a million quids worth of 3/4 length Lonsdales ?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Well that’s what he’ll claim on his insurance, whether it actually was million quids worth is another thing .
KIMTOON(Quote)
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11678/11976361/newcastle-takeover-nearing-completion-after-contracts-exchanged-and-deposit-paid
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim – sod that, his premiums would go up … but NUFC is now being sold for £301m I hear.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Just reading an article in Telegraph about what might have to happen if football starts again in May/June. It’s a shambles. It’s better to cancel it or void it and the tv companies work with the clubs so they don’t bankrupt some of them. From dedicated stadiums playing a few matches to players having their temps done a couple of times a day (when there is a shortage of them globally), to how do they train without touching each other, how do they get to the games and how do they not touch each during a game? Only takes one player to contract it and it all falls down.
I think we need to bite the bullet and void the season.
Stuart79(Quote)
The virus wont be going away when the lockdown is eased. We void this season and do we then put all football on hold until a vaccine is found and the World is vaccinated ?
sidekick(Quote)
Richard Keys is really strange. In the piece that Olly did today Keys states that he wishes it wasn’t NUFC that the Saudis were buying. He then goes on a rant about human rights and how Qatar where he now works has been affected. I don’t really want to get fully into this but the Saudis have a diplomatic embargo on Qatar and of course the Shia/Sunni thing has gone on for centuries. I also think the Saudis want to curtail the influence of Al Jazeera the Qatari media conglomerate where Keys now works. So he looks upon this purely from a selfish perspective.
He holds up the newspaper reports and supports all of the ones that are pure condemnations of the Saudis and is against anything that is also about football and how this might shake up the PL status quo. I thought he was a football journalist. Are we bothered in the least about Keys’ political opinions?
I do not know enough about the middle east to get into this too deeply but I have seen that Keys takes a dig at NUFC whenever he can while being careful to promote Ashley as a good guy and savior of NUFC. I think that him saying he wishes it wasn’t NUFC is that we now will have the financial muscle to challenge the elites of the PL and he has some bizarre vendetta against NUFC fans in particular. I think he has swallowed the “Geordies are delusional” line hook, line and sinker and everything stems from this as well as his unbelievable pettiness.
If you have ever watched the show (I know Icedog has) it is a mishmash of washed up ex-pros and Managers going over there for a spot of golf and probably a few expensive nights out with Keys and Gray. By their girth, I think I am safe in saying that. Then they have remotes with people I have never heard of like non-league chairman and the CEO of a football boot startup company. Then they have John Cross of the Mirror who also bizarrely has his laptop camera pointing up his nose each time. Has he never watched the show? Why doesn’t somebody tell him to change the camera angle? I find Cross almost impossible to watch because I dont want to see his snot. If you have ever read him, 95% of it is about Arsenal anyway.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I really don’t want to become an expert in Middle Eastern politics but all of the countries there seem to have human rights issues to one degree or another. Qatar own PSG and UAE own Man City. Are we going to dissect which of these has the highest degree of wrong in their internal politics and laws? Certain FOOTBALL journalists feel it is their right to tell us, and Keys especially has his own bizarre agenda against NUFC.
You might say Keys should know about all of this because he lives there. But he is in a bubble in Qatar where them and the Saudis have taken sides. I wonder if Keys will say anything about the bribes that got Qatar the WC. Nah, he works for a State run media empire! His employer, Al Jazeera is run by the Qatari Government. Should Keys even be commenting on this?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, Keys has waxed lyrical about how good Qatar will be for the WC and completely ignores their human rights issues and attitude to woman’s rights and the fact gay people can be executed and just being gay is punishable by jail. Same with Saudi’s but we know that and take it into Consideration. He doesn’t.
Stuart79(Quote)
I see some worrying about shifting dead wood. I don’t see this as a problem as Fatty has deliberately run down contracts and many expire this year and next. He extended players he thought would have sell on value and I am not sure that many of the others are on big contracts by PL standards.
I think NUFC have one of the lowest player wages to revenue ratios. I think we are at like 50 or 60% whereas I saw Bournemouth were at 80%. Even when we have spent big like on Joelinton or Almiron they came from countries where wages are much lower that the PL so I highly doubt they are even at Shelvey level. That was always his method. He would get them in for reasonable wages and then extend if they were hit.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
That’s the other thing about sacking Bruce NOW. It would give a new manager 9 games to assess who he wants to keep. I think that some are gone anyway, and we will take what we can get – Murphy, Atsu, Gayle etc…
A small issue when you are talking about a massive investment of cash in a depressed market. Have no doubt that this will be a buyers market and we do not really have that much dead load to offload. We will need squad players like Dummett and Schar and can hope that a better manager can get more from Joelinton.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Are all of these players ESPN are linking us with out of contract? I think they are all 32 so maybe have a couple of years left. Messi is 32 and Ronaldo 34 I think.
Anyway, Cavani is the best of the bunch and would help us transition for a couple of years as we get our new bearings. I don’t mind one or two aging stars as long as their injury record has been good like Messi and Ronaldo. Shearer and Beardsley played until they were 35 and although Big Al had a couple of serious injuries, his record on that front was good as he got into his 30s.
Wouldn’t mind Geroud either and he is 33 but off to Inter I think.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So, Amnesty International have written to the PL. I read the statement and it is pretty tame. I think they are just going through the motions to register a complaint knowing full well the PL will look like hypocrites if they block this with all of the others they have previously approved. Including Man City who have been about as high profile as you can be with Mansour on the pitch in full Arab gear.
And didn’t the Queen host a state banquet for our new owner? I know there was 24 hour news coverage here when Trump did his state visit to Saudi.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Chelsea went the route of signing some aging stars when Abramovich took over with mixed success. I remember Shevchenko was a total bust but Crespo did well. There were others. Makelale was approaching 30 when they signed him I think.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Makes sense that the new owners keep Charnley on. At least for the short term. Even more so when they can’t even get into the building at the moment!
I often wonder how Charnley would perform given a different remit and a more expansive approach from owners. People who know him say he’s Not that bad and literally “just follows orders”. That’s not a great trait to be fair.
Stuart79(Quote)
I don’t have a problem with Charnley staying on. He has been at the club for 20 years and has done a good job with the accounts. Make him the club accountant. That seems to be what he is good at. He should have no speaking responsibilities at fan meetings and he will have a Director of Football over him so wouldn’t have to do much contract negotiating. Although, he seems to have been OK at that as well, it was more Fatty giving a number and not budging on fees.
We could have had Aubamayang and Lacazette 5 years ago if you believe what the press said.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
My guess is it will be Stavely and a DoF doing all bidding and contract negotiations from now on. You could accuse Charnley of being a puppet but did he have any choice? He had seen what the Fat Man had done with Keegan, Shearer, Hughton, even Llambias. Bobby Moncur was on the board and then he wasn’t. Ashley didn’t even show any loyalty to Wise.
Stavely will be the face of NUFC (or t!ts if you read The Chronic as they seem obsessed with that black tie event picture.) Charnley can blend back into the background which is probably where he is best suited.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Get rid of Penfold – id bring Sir Lesley of Ferdinand from QPR and have him as our DoF.
He has worked with the Reuben brothers and is a toon man.
Penfold is a little Ashley rat and I want him out with his fat gaffer. Give him a SD shop to run somewhere.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy I’m getting the impression Penfold is not in your good books ?
A Sunderland board I am reading is saying we should be taking the moral high ground and refusing to support the new owners. They will take any angle to have a dig it seems.
Pundits and ex pros having a dig too. Richard Keys?
Amnesty International and other groups now getting loud about the deal too.
The long and short of it from my perspective is this:
We – the UK, US etc are in no position to get on our moral high horse about another Country’s HR record. The very reason we are a prosperous nation is because we basically pillaged half the planet, enslaved countless lives and got rich from their natural resources.
The reasons for the invasion of Iraq were a guise to unsettle the middle East and make lots of money from oil.
We cannot judge Saudi Arabia on its incursions of neighbouring Countries with our own track records and in any case we are complicit by selling them and other nations Arms with which to kill people.
Whilst we have our own moral code here in the West, we cannot expect the rest of the world to follow suit in line with our own beliefs. They have their own religions and culture and their own laws. I do not agree with them, but they are Sovereign Countries and it is down to them to justify their domestic policies. So long as they act in accordance with our laws and policies whilst operating in our Country then I welcome their investment not only into the football club but also the local economy. The move will be huge for locals, with jobs created, facilities upgraded etc. Newcastle and the surrounding area will receive the attention of untold millions across the globe and that will in turn bring further investment and increased tourism.
It’s all good news for the club and region and there is no way that the fit and proper test will not succeed.
If this was an already successful club aka Liverpool or Man Utd then I have no doubt that the level of scrutiny we as a club have already ensured and will continue to endure would be on a much much smaller scale.
Chelsea and the dodgy Russian oligarch money? Any billionaire more than likely built their empire on the backs of the likes of child labourers, poor working conditions, abuses of rights and dodgy dealings. I doubt a single pair of hands belonging to the owners of most of the top clubs in the world is clean – so leave us alone and see you on the pitch.
Shamrock(Quote)
Reported that Charnley is leaving after handover. Fair enough.
We are certainly getting all the attention from the hacks. They’ve all had something to say. Sign of things to come.
What’s the population of Saudi Arabia? 30m? I assume we will have an additional 30m supporters in a couple of weeks…
Stuart79(Quote)
Totally agree Sham, made m,any of your points to my friend earlier .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Sham – Penfold sharpened pencils before Ashley decided to promote his new puppet. He’s one of the lowest paid in the PL and hasn’t even had the b@lls to go after a better contract for himself.
The length of time it’s taken to sign players whilst he’s been in post, I’m sure is either down to his inexperience or incompetence.
Between him and Carr, they were responsible for McClaren don’t forget.
I think he’s a little rat weasel, and I won’t miss him for a second.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sham – you are absolutely right in what you’re saying too.
I wonder where amnesty were when was it Oxfam or one of the charities were going into the likes of Haiti and other devastated Countries under the guise of ‘doing good’, but were raping and prostituting their women, then fleeing the Country when they got pregnant.
I’m not suggesting this is a case of 2 wrongs or anything like that. But what’s to say that our takeover and the AJ boxing isn’t them trying to integrate more with the Western ways.
I know that they regularly send their police over here to be trained up.
Now we are out of Europe, if the Saudis wanted to pump their money into our economy, I dare bet it wouldn’t be given a second thought!!.
I would have thought that if the PL had any issue with the takeover, they would have intervened before contracts and money exchanged hands – I would have hoped so anyway.
Sharpy17(Quote)
So Mirror reporting Pochettino is number one target. Hope so.
Stuart79(Quote)
I see Richard Keys paymasters BeIN Sports have written to the PL and all PL clubs saying the takeover should go ahead as it will cost the PL money from overseas rights due to Saudi company pirating the football and showing it.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – I think in an ideal world Staveley would want Rafa, but apparently he has a £20m buy out clause in his contract.
Maybe Bruce is getting his 9 games so they can sound out China on reducing that amount. If not, then I see them going for Poch.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Yep, could be a spanner in the works .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim – I doubt it. The PL has its own criteria that it goes through for owners. I doubt they will change it halfway through just for us. Although I think this spat was played out in a French court and was found in favour of Arabsat which is the Saudi company. Plus Qatar and Saudi don’t like each other so there’s regional politics to it.
It would also be utterly remarkable if the potential new owners hadn’t Foreseen this and set out their position.
Stuart79(Quote)
We need to get this done as we are the only story in football for every hack on the planet. Most have some sort of bias against NUFC apart from those specifically assigned to NE football. We are getting so many negative stories now and also the pundits love to pile is as well and I have no idea what we ever did to them!
They have talked to death what is happening with wage deferrals and there will probably be no decision on resuming the season for a month. The Dutch might cancel and the Germans want to go ahead so I would take a wait and see approach.
That leaves them with the NUFC story because how many stories can they possibly write about toilet roll keepy uppy and footballer having a kick-about with his dog in the back garden?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
had a look at the Pl fit and proper test or whatever it is called now. They are looking at 3 criteria:
* whether a party has been previously been disqualified as a director
* whether they have previous insolvencies
* whether they have criminal convictions pending
They have no jurisdiction to judge whether a Qatari state run media company are correct in their gripe against a totally separate Saudi entity that is accused of pirating a product. They are also not there to judge the morals of a Sovereign state either.
We could get into the UK selling arms to the Saudi’s but that is a well worn path by now. The point is, can the PL block PIF and they don’t have the grounds to do so whatever Miguel Delany at The Independent (part owned by Saudis BTW) and Amnesty International say.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Qatar, Bein sports pay the PL £500m for TV rights though, they could and likely will apply some blackmail and threaten to withdraw payment in future. They have also written to every other PL club too.
Perhaps the Saudi’s could buy tv rights from PL ?
KIMTOON(Quote)
Not getting too excited about all this until its done and dusted.
I agree with Sharpy. Pochitino is my choice as well. Don’t agree with Stuart because I never have. ?
I will say this tho, if this sale does go through, you can say goodbye to the intimate thing you have with your club. It won’t be yours anymore and it will just be a product. Fans will jump on board purely based on how successful the team is going. You won’t know what you had till it’s gone.
Aussie(Quote)
What has it been for the last 13 years then?
Stuart79(Quote)