Toon Takeover Thread - Chopra should be champing at the bit

[Donkey Toon]

People need to think twice before celebrating this, if the stuff coming out is true, the delay was constructed to keep power balance, not an ounce of blame has been put towards Piracy claims, they are even on record saying it was never put forward as an issue but the consortium tried to help solve disputes. The majority of the blame is being put on delaying tactics with other Premier League clubs being blamed along with PL itself delaying after all questions had allegedly been answered. If the answers were not satisfactory then fail it. You have to ask yourselves why wasn't it failed. I think it's clear the O&D test wasn't an issue, other clubs influence and PL being spineless was, no nufc fan wins today, as much as you think so, the conclusion has come about through dodgy means, no action was taken for any of our benefit.

Not true in my case i'm afraid. I still have the club i've supported for 50+ years to support, which would have come to an end with the takeover. I said early in this thread I didn't care what the cause was that ended the deal I would celebrate it ... and I absolutely meant it.

[Remember Colo]

Also, this woh is us "if it were any other club they'd have approved it" (a direct quote) mentality is already irking me. Comparisons to Man City are off-base, because Saudi Arabia has had more bad press than their owners at the time, social media didn't really exist, there weren't other government interests/conflicts like Qatar to complicate things, and the league didn't have the benefit of hindsight to see how government involvement would change European club football.

I don't disagree that the opposing clubs probably don't want another challenger, but that sentiment would apply regardless of which club it was, and you can't really compare to what the league would have done had they bought Man U or Arsenal, because they never would have, because they're worth too much already to be a good investment. It's not because we're Newcastle, but that we're too late to the party and Saudi Arabia comes with more baggage than any previous prospective owner.

Despite all that, wish the PL had the balls to actually make the decision months ago rather than drag it out until they could escape accountability.

I do agree with you, but do you not think that the PL would be less inclined to play chicken as a strategy if a top 6 club was (hypothetically) involved? As I've already said, I'm glad it's not going through, but I can't help but feel the PL would have made more of an attempt to resolve this one way or another if it were one of the major brand teams who were subject to a bid. With a club of our stature they likely feel that a few weeks (at best) backlash from fans is worth it if it means they don't have to play arbiter to various parties that have their fingers in some powerful pies. Something tells me they wouldn't be as keen to take that risk if we were a powerhouse with more of a global reach, if only for the bad PR alone.

That being said, we are in the midst of a global pandemic and the PL have other things to deal with, but perhaps our mid-table (at best) status puts us at the bottom of a table of priorities.

There'll be anger, there'll be outrage, the media outlets will feed on the maddened Geordies that'll clog the phonelines, and then life will move on and the next big story in football will come into focus.

Well that's a different question. I could see the league having to make a decision faster if it was a different football brand, or not during a pandemic, but I don't assume they would have approved. People are quick to say the league did it for money, but clearly the PIF brings money - and the Saudi government offers a lot more threat to them and their business than any threats from John Henry, Daniel Levy or the Glazer family.

Also, top 6 fans wouldn't have cared as much about the sale, because they're already on top and wouldn't have looked at new ownership like saviours the way so many of ours have. So I can't really imagine a fair comparison.

[Colly]

People need to think twice before celebrating this, if the stuff coming out is true, the delay was constructed to keep power balance, not an ounce of blame has been put towards Piracy claims, they are even on record saying it was never put forward as an issue but the consortium tried to help solve disputes. The majority of the blame is being put on delaying tactics with other Premier League clubs being blamed along with PL itself delaying after all questions had allegedly been answered. If the answers were not satisfactory then fail it. You have to ask yourselves why wasn't it failed. I think it's clear the O&D test wasn't an issue, other clubs influence and PL being spineless was, no nufc fan wins today, as much as you think so, the conclusion has come about through dodgy means, no action was taken for any of our benefit.

Not true in my case i'm afraid. I still have the club i've supported for 50+ years to support, which would have come to an end with the takeover. I said early in this thread I didn't care what the cause was that ended the deal I would celebrate it ... and I absolutely meant it.

Same. You'll have seen early doors in this thread me grappling with whether I'd be able to walk through the turnstiles at SJP next season had this gone through, this takes an enormous weight off my mind knowing we're still owned by a domestic knobhead rather than the head of state of a horrible place doing horrible things. Granted at this point I've no idea when I can go through those turnstiles again, but I can't really blame Ashley for that...

I really don't get all the relegation talk either, unless he goes full asset stripping and flogs ASM, Almiron and half the defense we've got a decent enough squad. Our £80m front three have had some time to bed in, in ASM we've got one of the most exciting players I've seen since Ginola, the manager (even if it is Steve Bruce) has had a year to understand the squad and the situation, so with a few sensible additions to fit the system we could strengthen quite easily. It's not going to be brilliant (it never is), but I can't see a collapse even with all the current misery.

[ALF]

At the end of the day it’s only a game and we should all have more important things to worry about than who owns a football club.

Like someone mentioned earlier, the trials and tribulations of NUFC really used to get to me and if we lost I’d be annoyed etc, but when you leave your teenage years and early 20s behind you then it bothers you less and less (well that’s the case for me). Obviously I want us to win every game, but if we don’t I’m just like “never mind, time to get on with something more useful”.

Hopefully the NFL season goes ahead this year, I've fallen out of love with football long before today, go back 10 years and I'd have hated us being taken over by someone with so much wealth, I always wanted us to crack the PL without financial backing, sadly it became a pipe dream for any club (leicester the only exception) the only way we can do anything of note is with money, I'm not local to Newcastle it's very difficult for me to go to any games unless its away and nearby so the fun for me very much is sapped in this era, I dont have that day out with good mates to fall back on all I have to show for a game is the joy of a win or a loss. So when you have the last 13 years of that will little to show for it kinda loses all the fun. For me the takeover was a chance to reignite something thats been dying for years. I can't see myself following the club much longer whilst things are the way they are especially when I have another sport to follow and to be honest if the NFL season was longer I'd have probably given up on football full stop by now.

Completely agree with all of this. Even if the Panthers are s*** as well

[jpg]

*googles Henry Mauriss*

[lassassinblanc]

Talk that deal might not be fully dead. Next 24 hrs will be interesting in terms of what the PL come out with

[bodacious benny]

Talk that deal might not be fully dead. Next 24 hrs will be interesting in terms of what the PL come out with

Some people (not you) clutching at straws!

[lassassinblanc]

Talk that deal might not be fully dead. Next 24 hrs will be interesting in terms of what the PL come out with

Some people (not you) clutching at straws!

Perhaps but truth is the PL have a lot of questions to answer.

Staveley interview in athletic is pretty damning in regards to PL. The PL has not come out of this looking good.

[Hjl]

Hahahahah

That'll teach you all for calling me a pessimist.

Funny way to spell c***.

[Don Sholeone]

Some people (not you) clutching at straws!

Perhaps but truth is the PL have a lot of questions to answer.

Staveley interview in athletic is pretty damning in regards to PL. The PL has not come out of this looking good.

I think it's dead but I wouldn't be shocked if this was a power play, it seems the consortium have gone directly to the press when they could have just released a statement, the club have said they had no idea it was coming so I'd guess the PL first heard about it via the Sky exclusive too. It was definitely done for maximum effect.

Staveley still talking like it could be done and encouraging condemnation on the PL, shes keeping ashley onside too, sounds like the deal is technically on the table still as they said if the premier league said they will pass it they would complete it tomorrow.

Also to add there are reports they had a different statement prepped for release aimed at putting pressure on the premier league which was expected this week but them this came instead.

If people wanted to be optimistic then you could say this is the final take it or leave it to the PL, putting the ball firmly in their court.

[seaside nipper]

All this conjecture and whatiffery........simply put this failure is down to fearful and inept governance of the game here and the lobbying against this takeover by many hidden faces. No matter, it’s only Newcastle and in due course we’ll all roll on to Qatar for the World Cup as if all is sound.
Utterly shameful, but this was always on the cards.

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

Some people (not you) clutching at straws!

Perhaps but truth is the PL have a lot of questions to answer.

Staveley interview in athletic is pretty damning in regards to PL. The PL has not come out of this looking good.

True, but there were so many people against this (mainstream media and PL teams) that they’ll see this as a good thing and the PL will come out as the good guys in all of this.

The PL don’t have to answer to anyone due to the fact that the Saudis pulled the bid. They have no responsibility as they didn’t make a decision either way, so the PL can go about their business as usual.

[bodacious benny]

Got to love all the media outlets pretending to know what's going / gone on. Some say this was completely out of the blue and Ashely had no idea, others say he was attempting to renegotiate, all quoting unnamed 'club sources', or 'senior club sources'

[biggeordiedave]

#WeWantSaudi is now trending on Twitter.

[Cal]

The Athletic have put a couple of pieces out regarding this.

https://theathletic.com/1963663/2020/07 ... er-league/

Their summary of points:

During detailed conversations with The Athletic, multiple sources connected to the consortium have claimed that:

• The Premier League gave them “private assurances” before the deal was signed and again in mid-April that “approval would be forthcoming soon” before the mood music changed in June
• After being asked by the Premier League to provide information about PIF’s independence from the Saudi state, there were guarantees “from the highest possible levels that there would be no state interference in the running of the club”
• They believe the Premier League has been “unduly influenced by politically motivated attacks from third parties” and “repeatedly moved the goalposts and the process was devoid of transparency or objectivity”
• They suspect some of their top-flight rivals, believed to be Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in particular, were strongly against the takeover and made their opposition evident to administrators
• The “final straw” was the Premier League’s refusal to put a timeline on a decision, whether rejection or approval
• The decision to pull out was agreed by all parties but led by PIF
• Ashley asked for more money after the June 26 completion deadline had expired, raising the £300 million price, although Staveley told The Athletic “that is absolutely not the issue”
• The Sports Direct retailer is now “distraught” that the deal has collapsed
• According to their business plan, which was submitted to the Premier League, PIF had committed to investing an initial £250 million directly into the club, plus more into the city and region, including infrastructure projects
• Henry Mauriss, the American chief executive of ClearTV Media, is not understood to be a serious rival to buy the club
• Staveley was so convinced that a deal was imminent she took media training lessons, while members of her football operation house-hunted in the region
• The consortium has lost their deposit, believed to be around £17 million, which would have been refunded had the Premier League rejected the deal
• There is still a slim possibility the takeover can be revived. “I don’t know if this is the end of it,” they said.

https://theathletic.com/1963915/2020/07 ... interview/

A few quotes from this interview:

“The Premier League wanted the country, Saudi, to become a director of the football club,” Staveley says. “That’s what this is about. They were effectively saying ‘PIF wouldn’t be the ultimate beneficial owner, we believe it’s actually the government, therefore we want the country to become a director’, which puts them in an impossible situation. They feel they weren’t wanted by the Premier League.

“I hope the fans realise what’s happened, that this is a lot more complicated than it might seem. I want them to understand the whole thing about the directorship, that it would be impossible for a state to become a director. The Premier League made it so hard. It would be unprecedented. No country has ever become a director of a club. It’s ridiculous.

“They were saying ‘you know what, we won’t reject you but we won’t approve you either, so we’ll just sit here for month after month’. They could have told us all this before we exchanged. It’s up to the fans now. Because if the fans want this back on then they’re going to have to go to the Premier League and say this isn’t fair.” The Premier League declined to comment on the specifics of the failed takeover attempt.

“Please don’t think there was any argument between Mike and I because there wasn’t,” she says. “All this crap about Mike and I not getting on … We get on very well. There’s no issue with Mike. None at all. We had a deal agreed. Yes, there was a bit more money on the table, but we agreed it.”

“When things went public the first time, it became hard at various points, but ultimately we got beyond that,” Ghodoussi says. “We agreed a deal with him. And yes, he played around with numbers, but we were happy to pay what we needed to pay. The reason the deal failed is because of the Premier League not because of Mike. That’s really important.”

“I’m trying very hard to understand,” she says. “Today is probably not the right day … I need to figure out if there is any route through this.”

“Even now, if the Premier League came to us and said ‘we will approve you’ we would do this deal tomorrow, all three parties of the consortium,” Ghodoussi says.

“Mike has agreed, we’ve agreed, the Reubens, PIF,” says Staveley. “The only reason the deal won’t get done is because the Premier League won’t pass it. Everybody is just so, so sad.”

Is there a chance, however slim?

“I don’t know,” she says. “I just don’t know. I don’t want to give up, but I can’t do it on my own. I’ve tried. I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried. You need investment. You can’t just buy a club with no investment behind you. You need £600-700 million minimum, to do a deal like this. That was all in place.”

Also claims that they were going to invest in the women's team.

[Don Sholeone]

It's like I was saying yesterday, this isn't a victory for NUFC fans or for football. The system is quite clearly corrupt, the O&D test is a sham, club ownership is clearly controlled by sponsors and other clubs. Basically a squeaky clean multi billionaire could come in trying to buy the club and other clubs can turn around and say, no, we don't want the competition, or a sponsor/partner can say the organisation is a rival to us they are not allowed in the league.

It's a complete sham, if Qatar came in and bid for liverpool with the owner willing to sell, it would sail through in this current climate.

[lassassinblanc]

Yep it appears that the PL only give a s*** about the so called Big 6.

[Colly]

This "it would have been fine if it was Liverpool" is complete conjecture though. Guesswork.

[Blue & Maroon]

This "it would have been fine if it was Liverpool" is complete conjecture though. Guesswork.

This. Everyone is taking Stavley's and PIF's word that they've been shafted as gospel.

[Blue & Maroon]

I'm just glad that people will now hopefully get rid of the Saudi flags in their profiles and stop with the ''30 million Saudis will become Geordies if this goes through''. Maybe it's been stopped for the wrong reasons but I'm glad I'll be able to step into SJP (at some point) with next to zero reservations.