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It had nothing to do with me, i promise!
The same people that have been trying to purchase Man United for a while now. It's a bit interesting that they have not decided to hold off in case of the pandemic softening the Glazer's stance on selling or not.
Interesting. Perhaps it is designed to make the Glazer's extract the digit.
Then again Newcastle are probably the best pickings up the top end. Leeds are probably a financial trainwreck at this point.
Oh most certainly. Newcastle would be a decent option for them but I could totally see them wanting Manchester United instead of Newcastle United to help with their global branding.
If the Saudis can pass the Owners and Directors test (which is a joke of a thing), it looks like it's done and dusted.
The Sportswashing thing is certainly making headlines. My take is that it's not up to football fans to affect pressure on foreign regimes, that's the job of journalists and politicians. If the FA and PL don't permit a Premier League club to be owned by a brutal regime then that's the end of it. But they won't, so journalists should ask them why? Not ask Keith from Byker what he thinks about it, when he couldn't point out Saudi Arabia on a map.
Newcastle aren't going to see a rise like Man City, we're light years away from the clubs chasing for European spots, let alone those gunning for the title. Not just on the pitch, but our facilities, our academy, hell our stadium has barely had a paint job in Ashley's 13 years. I'm hoping for the kind of regeneration Manchester City's owners gave that area of Manchester; a shiny new training ground, a high quality academy, a stadium that doesn't look like it's been mothballed.
I would love to see us win a trophy, there's 65yr old fans who've seen us win nothing that was taken off a dot matrix printer and laminated. It won't be the title, but a League Cup, an FA cup would be amazing.
The Sportswashing thing is certainly making headlines. My take is that it's not up to football fans to affect pressure on foreign regimes, that's the job of journalists and politicians. If the FA and PL don't permit a Premier League club to be owned by a brutal regime then that's the end of it. But they won't, so journalists should ask them why? Not ask Keith from Byker what he thinks about it, when he couldn't point out Saudi Arabia on a map.
Newcastle aren't going to see a rise like Man City, we're light years away from the clubs chasing for European spots, let alone those gunning for the title. Not just on the pitch, but our facilities, our academy, hell our stadium has barely had a paint job in Ashley's 13 years. I'm hoping for the kind of regeneration Manchester City's owners gave that area of Manchester; a shiny new training ground, a high quality academy, a stadium that doesn't look like it's been mothballed.
I would love to see us win a trophy, there's 65yr old fans who've seen us win nothing that was taken off a dot matrix printer and laminated. It won't be the title, but a League Cup, an FA cup would be amazing.
Hi Fishy nice to see you back mate!
I disagree but understand what you said about the role of the fans. The way I see it is "you" the fan will now become defenders of the sports-washing because of your love for the Club, the two will become merged and by doing so you are in effect supporting your owners. Sports washing has existed for many years now, first by sponsorship and hosting of Sporting events, showcasing the regime for what it isn't. But with football, it's on steroids, it uses the passion of the fans for their Club to defend the actions of their owners.
Man City fans have banners of the owner's name at the Stadium, a song for him too. But the biggest support they rely on is online and the "whataboutery". So when you say it's up to the journalists, when they do write a negative comment about the owners income the fans piling in on said journalist with "you didn't say that about City" or "you're just biased against Newcastle" or "when Ashley was in charge you didn't call him a murderer"! This is the power of football sports-washing that Horse Racing or F1 can't bring.
As fans you legitimize the regime, you defend the regime and because of how shite Ashley run your Club you accept it with open arms whilst burying your head in the sand to the human rights violations of punishing rape victims, openly torturing its citizens and ban human rights groups, committing genocide in the Yemen, murdering a high profile journalist Koshogi and chopping him up into pieces for attempting to investigate the regime.
No doubt not all fans will do this but if you can protest against Ashley, the irony will be on your fanbase for not doing so with your new owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), a fund of Saudi sovereign wealth. The governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan is the man who will most likely be your Chairman, who is the face of one of the most vile regimes on this planet.
When the Saudi Arabian regime has been welcomed into Britain by the government, the business world and by the football authorities, it's hardly reasonable to go after the fans. Is it?
We didn't pursue, or convince the Saudi's to invest in our club. We didn't lobby the governing body to permit it.
I get what you're saying that football fans have the power to protest their owner to make a stand, but we tried that for pretty much the entirety of Ashley tenure and it did the square root of fuck all.
To be clear, I'm not defending the Saudi regime, at all. I think global governments should punish them for their crimes. I just don't think it should fall on fans of Newcastle United to do it. Also, what should we do? Abandon our club? Why? It's ours, regardless of who owns it.
think Daniel Storey gets it right here.
Newcastle's Saudi takeover symbolic of a broken game reliant on super-wealthy
Mike Ashley's 13-year tenure as Newcastle's owner has finally come to an end, but at what cost?
inews.co.uk
I actually agree with that Fishy. It puts the fans of any club in a real dilemma.When the Saudi Arabian regime has been welcomed into Britain by the government, the business world and by the football authorities, it's hardly reasonable to go after the fans. Is it?
We didn't pursue, or convince the Saudi's to invest in our club. We didn't lobby the governing body to permit it.
I get what you're saying that football fans have the power to protest their owner to make a stand, but we tried that for pretty much the entirety of Ashley tenure and it did the square root of fuck all.
To be clear, I'm not defending the Saudi regime, at all. I think global governments should punish them for their crimes. I just don't think it should fall on fans of Newcastle United to do it. Also, what should we do? Abandon our club? Why? It's ours, regardless of who owns it.
think Daniel Storey gets it right here.
Newcastle's Saudi takeover symbolic of a broken game reliant on super-wealthy
Mike Ashley's 13-year tenure as Newcastle's owner has finally come to an end, but at what cost?
Afterall if the Government is happy to deal with the Saudi's by selling them billions of arms etc and the Leagues are happy to sign off such owners under "fit and proper person" test then it shouldn't be up to the supporters to become the torchbearers.
I do think however they/you should. I do think it's better than becoming their lapdogs and doing their PR for them. As you said your protests didn't do anything for getting Ashley out and fell on deaf ears for a decade, so why don't your fans start by protesting against this scum ownership from day 1? It won't change anything right and it will probably make you lot as supporters moral bastions and maybe even show up the authorities and Government in the process. It will also clean your own consciousness when watching your team play on a weekend.
They've spent nothing in the most recent FFP period so could easily spend up to £300 million in the next transfer window. The price for Danny Rose has just doubled!
Well, I think that's unrealistic. Fans have watched Newcastle United become a nothing zombie club, existing to exist. These new owners will pump a load of money into the club and the area, they'll show ambition and may well deliver a trophy to Newcastle United for the first time in over half a century. But you'd want us to jeopardise all of that for some backslaps and approval from other fans?
Were we to oust the Saudi owners would they change their ways? Course not, they'd just buy another club. The governing bodies will do nowt and we get, what? The joy of telling everyone how moral we are? Doesn't put trophies in cabinets, doesn't put bums on seats, or points on the board. It wouldn't put millions in the region and it wouldn't stop fans of other clubs having a pop about something else.
I was here before Hall, before Ashley, and I'll be here after the Saudis.
FFP Wage increase rules knacker us.
I wouldn't describe Newcastle as "becoming" a zombie club, you haven't won a top-flight trophy for 65yrs! So, think this is the reality of what you are rather than what you've become.
It's not about ousting the Saudi's though, that's the point. You can't do it, you didn't manage it with Ashley, you won't with the Saudi's. You didn't like/accept Ashley because he was a cockney but seem very accepting already of murder's, torturers and human rights abusers.
You see, your defence/excuses of them has already started be it deliberate or not.
All I'm saying is you don't have to accept them as a fanbase. Do you honestly think if you didn't accept them they wouldn't sports-wash Newcastle? They would not put money in, developed a new training ground, upgrade the stadium etc, you honestly think as fans if you protested they would stop doing what they set out to do?
Maybe I wasn't clear, wanting to win stuff and falling short is one thing (The Halls), simply wanting to exist in the Premier League is a Zombie club. A club with no ambition of even trying to improve on safety and actively avoiding European competition. (Ashley).
We didn't dislike Ashley because he was a cockney, that's patently lazy and ill-informed. There dozens of reasons why we dislike Ashley, being from the same part of the world as legends like Malcolm Macdonald, Sir Les, Rob Lee, Chris Hughton is not one of them. Our glee at the news of the takeover is because we've had zero hope of progress, and now we might be taken over by people who could make us a genuine force. You'd be bonkers not to be excited. Rightly or wrongly the average Newcastle fan cares more about their club than the actions of a foreign power. Just the same for Man City fans, Sheffield Utd fans and, if you're honest with yourself, all fans of all clubs. I can't think of fans from a single English club who wouldn't get excited about the prospect of being taken over by some of the richest people on the planet. Only after that excitement has quietend a little will they question the morality of the situation.
It's unrealistic to expect, or ask for anything different.
I think they'd be less interested in investing in the area, the club if the fans protested their ownership, yes.
I think the core support will have reservations about the owners, and will defend any perceived attack on the club. Because lets be clear, the criticism won't be directed at the owners, it will be the club. People won't demand answers from the Saudi Arabian regime, they'll demand it from the manager, the fans, whichever Director they roll out in front of the press.
Oh and if the press do get a sit down with the Saudi Prince, they won't ask about Kashoggi or the Yemen, they'll ask about the shade of paint on the new training ground.
Sorry Fishy I think you are totally wrong here.
We have a thread on this very forum debating such issues of a murderous regime taking over our club and whilst it would appear the PlayStation generation (the ones that only seem to support a club for silverware, despite us having some and regularly competing for them we have a fair few who can't abide the fact we haven't won anything for two decades so would welcome a murderous regime) come out in support of the idea, the overwhelming majority (on here at least) wouldn't welcome a sports-washing regime at Spurs.
I get all the reasons you hatted Ashley, most valid and I agree with but he was also vilified for being a cockney, denying that is ridiculous.........
And the other point I was trying to make was that because of Ashley being so inept in his role of your owner, you are now willing to accept the lowest form of human become your new owner. Ashley has pushed all of you so far down that you are now prepared to accept murderers and genocide operators as your new owners, not just with a shrug of the shoulders but with open arms.
Now they have (assuming that the contract is inked) stumped up £300m to buy the club they will proceed with their plans. They don't need you the fan for them to stop their investment, this isn't about you the fan, this is about sports-washing their image and there's no better place in doing it than with the most-watched game in the World, in the most-watched league in the Wolrd. They aren't doing this for you the fans. They aren't doing it for the love of Newcastle City, or the surrounding area, they don't give a fuck about the City, the area, Geordie's. It's not about the fans.
Football writers will attack the owners, I've already read a couple of pieces and along with them have been scores of Newcastle fans attacking the piece, proves the point I was making earlier. Your love for your Club gets caught up in defending your Club AND it's owners.
When the Saudi Arabian regime has been welcomed into Britain by the government, the business world and by the football authorities, it's hardly reasonable to go after the fans. Is it?
We didn't pursue, or convince the Saudi's to invest in our club. We didn't lobby the governing body to permit it.
I get what you're saying that football fans have the power to protest their owner to make a stand, but we tried that for pretty much the entirety of Ashley tenure and it did the square root of fuck all.
To be clear, I'm not defending the Saudi regime, at all. I think global governments should punish them for their crimes. I just don't think it should fall on fans of Newcastle United to do it. Also, what should we do? Abandon our club? Why? It's ours, regardless of who owns it.
think Daniel Storey gets it right here.
Newcastle's Saudi takeover symbolic of a broken game reliant on super-wealthy
Mike Ashley's 13-year tenure as Newcastle's owner has finally come to an end, but at what cost?
I honestly get your moral dichotomy, if the UK government are happy to put aside their moral compass and do billions of pounds worth of business (most of it arms) with the Saudis, why should football fans be the guardians of morality etc
But you say you didn't have any influence over Ashley, but you did, you pretty much made life uncomfortable enough for him that you forced him to try and sell the club, which is how you have got to this point.
I do believe if you demonstrated and took to social media now, you could actually make the Saudis think twice. The last thing they want is bad publicity, that is the whole point of this exorcise for them, the buying of European institutions to help rinse their reputations.
But it's easy for us, as opposing fans to deride you for not taking a moral stand, when as opposing fans, we don't even take a stand ourselves, unlike we often see in countries like Germany, where opposing fans will demonstrate and make huge banners to make social, moral or political points about ownership.
Away fans happily buy tickets for away games at ManC, and do and say very little to register our outcry whilst there. We don't block or picket the away end at our grounds with chants and banners about the Abu Dhabi regime when ManC visit us. We just mostly bitch and mumble amongst ourselves about their success being bought through sport washing etc.
And we say very little publicly at all about the morally dubious ways our owners acquired their wealth or maintained it.
The most curious aspect of this, is that according to the charge registered against PCP Capital Partners (Stavely's vehicle) St James Holdings (Ashley) are prepared to lend PCP 150m.
Which means Ashley has/is leant Staveley 150m so she can complete the purchase of his own Club - or she is taking on the 110m interest free loan that Ashley has given to NUFC.
But if the buyer is Mohammed Bin Salman and the Saudi PIF (Public Investment Fund) they are worth a few billion and a couple of hundred billion respectively.
Why he fuck would they not just buy everything, including buying off Ashley's loan?
Which means Ashley has/is leant Staveley 150m so she can complete the purchase of his own Club - or she is taking on the 110m interest free loan that Ashley has given to NUFC.
But if the buyer is Mohammed Bin Salman and the Saudi PIF (Public Investment Fund) they are worth a few billion and a couple of hundred billion respectively.
Why he fuck would they not just buy everything, including buying off Ashley's loan?
I remember the same discussions happening on Newcastle message boards and in pubs. The majority then said they'd not want some despot owning their club.
If this takeover goes through, there'll be conflicted fans and I know of at least two close friends of mine who say they can't stomach it and fair play to them. But It's easy to say what you will and will not tolerate when it's a hypothetical.
I get all the reasons you hatted Ashley, most valid and I agree with but he was also vilified for being a cockney, denying that is ridiculous.........
I think the nuance of the argument was maybe insufficiently pithy to daub on a bedsheet. The "Cockney mafia" were the owner, Llambias, Dennis Wise, and Joe Kinnear. Men who shared one thing in common; being from the south. They weren't hated because they were cockneys, hell I doubt any of them actuall are actual cockneys, they were just lumped together by that handy term. We don't hate cockneys, there've been loads we've adored, and plenty we've treated with indifference.
That's partly true, but I do think there's more going on than twitter or phone-ins would have you believe. Newcastle fans aren't going stop supporting their club because of an owner, nor should we. There will be some who see the criticisms of the potential new owners as criticisms of the club and leap to it's defence. Especially as they've had no say in it whatsoever. It's the system that's at fault, not Newcastle United, or it's fans.
Then why criticise the fans at all? We're bystanders in all of this.
Of course we'll defend our club. As would you yours. As do Man City fans, or Sheffield Utd fans, and so on. We're not special in that regard, nor should there be expectations that we should.
These potential new owners have blood on their hands and should answer for that. But our government should make them answer for that, rather than sell them arms. The FA and PL should resist their approaches, instead of welcoming their money. Mike Ashley should have sold to someone else.
Asking Newcastle fans to protest these new owners is unrealistic and kind of missing the point. It's like punishing the coke addict for buying cocaine, instead of going after the dealer, or the supplier, or the cartel.