Shearergol

Less fantasy points than Joselu, somehow.

You can infer takeover problems from Rafas presser. You can read it a number of ways. He could be putting pressure on to get Ashley to accept. He could be burning all bridges with him knowing he's on his way out, or he could know that the takeover won't happen and he's putting pressure on Ashley to spend in January. However, he knows that tactic doesn't work, so I think it's unlikely. I think he's just sick of waiting on Ashley, full stop. Either way, we'll either be a club under Ashley managed by Gordon Strachan or a club under someone else managed by Rafa in January.

Context man, context. Look at our fucking squad.

Rafa walks if the takeover falls over. Simple.

The negativity is also coming from what's happening on the pitch. The more games we play the more obvious it is that we need the takeover to happen. If we'd won a couple of games recently people would just be talking about the takeover as an excitement. Plus the press know that keeping the negativity going is good for their sales.

He isn't interested in and doesn't want to invest in the club’s future. Not selling the club makes no sense for him, surely. suggest he may not sell us until after the January window just to have the final laugh,and if that's the case then we head back downstairs, on a positive note we may have a couple of Derby's to attend. I almost couldn't care which league we're in as long as Ashley is long gone. I'd be happier in league one under a different owner fighting to get big than in the premier league under Ashley fighting to stay small.

HAS to be, otherwise we're getting nothing.

Ashley must know that the sale won't go through without Rafa. He also knows that we won't stay in the premier league without Rafa. Rafa can basically say what he wants now, so the next few weeks could get interesting.

Missed the boat I would think. He'll never leave London anyway.

Our squad is weak, need a fit Lascelles and Merino playing. Think the leadership of the former and class of the latter should be enough to keep us safe. A couple of big January signings would hopefully make it comfortably so. Lascelles, merino, chancel And Mitro in makes a huge difference imo.

I’d take rivière back over Joselu.

They have yeah.

Rafa's worth £100m to this club tbh.

The problem for both parties is that January is such a crucial time that it's in everyone's interest to get this done quickly. Fuck around negotiating for too long and we lose out on a very important transfer window. That's why I like the relegation clause so much - if Ashley doesn't budge and they're still at the table in January, he's subject to the relegation clause and is almost forced to back Rafa. If he agrees to their offer and fucks off before January, i'm guessing the clause doesn't count. If he really does want out then he's under pressure to accept PCP's offer because they look like the only serious bidder. I think this is where Rafa is going with his quotes though. Remember, there's no real value in January. As much as we're desperate for about 4 new players in, I'd be more worried if we went into the summer transfer window still unsure who owns us. We'll sign a couple in January anyway.

He's brilliant for Man City. He'll never get that form for England though. For England, he's gonna be given the ball and told to take on full backs which he is pretty poor at. It'd be nice if he could just float around finding space like he does for City. Yeah, I'd never blame him. We've seen countless players stuggle for England. Probably not since Paul Gascoigne has anyone truly taken their club form into an England game.

I don't, that's a huge step up from even the reported and disputed £300m. I'm still hopeful a deal will be done though. I don't think the figure (whatever it is) will change much at all. I think the structure and clauses are the key.

Matt Le Tissier was asked this by Josh Widdicombe on his football podcast. Josh basically said that he thought, over the course of a season, he thought he would at least get a scruffy tap in from a corner or something. Le Tissier basically said no chance. In a different episode they had a Welsh comedian (Elis James I think) who had played at youth level against Simon Davies and he said he was on a completely different planet to everyone else. Scored from kick off etc. I used to think similar to a few people on here that I would fancy myself to score one from open play during a season. But, I know someone who has played his entire career in promotion chasing League Two / midtable League One teams. Played 5 a side football against him on a stag do thinking that I wasn't a bad player and it would be interesting to see how good he was. He was ridiculous. Couldn't get near him and he was barely trying. He isn't a particularly quick or physically imposing League One player but he was physically (and technically) miles and miles away from everyone else, despite there being some very fit guys playing. The ball would just be there and then be gone before you even knew it. And this is a League One / Two player playing at half speed. At the top level you just wouldn't touch the ball all game, it would be nicked off you straight away or before it even got to you. wait are people on here non jokingly suggesting they'd score a goal in the PL? Not a chance, I doubt they would be able to in league 1. There was a lad who played for Blues for a while that we played against on Sunday and you couldn't even get near him he was that good, and I don't think he made a first team appearance. There's also a lad who plays on wed with us occasionally who was on Southampton's books and he's ludicrously good. The speed, physicality, technical ability at that level is out of this world. I'm friends with a couple of former scunny united players. Whenever they came for a kickabout with my team they'd pretty much keep it to walking pace and we still couldn't get near them. I have played against Ray Houghton though (he had probably been retired for 10 years) and I completely outplayed him (shit claim to fame)

The value of anything and everything is based on what a buyer is willing to pay. And the amount the buyer is willing to pay is usually based on current value, expected growth yadda yadda yadda. Very simplistic to throw that term around when talking about any businessman apart from MA.

This isn't a news site though, it's a public forum for open debate. I'd suggest you stick to whatever work you do until the fat lady is singing if you have an issue with people speculating. I feel like we have all let him down really. He came back from a hard day at work, only to find us horrible chaps having a discussion. Bunch of thoughtless bastards that we are. No no, even worse, he checked the thread AT work. We literally ruined his working day.

He's brilliant for Man City. He'll never get that form for England though.

This isn't a news site though, it's a public forum for open debate. I'd suggest you stick to whatever work you do until the fat lady is singing if you have an issue with people speculating.

We got a rubbish billionaire though, PCP are in a different league. PCP are only the facilitators no? Just because they have access to a massive fund or whatever doesn't mean we're getting it all Ok all is forgiven fat lad.......please don't go..... I'm merely pointing out that PCP aren't the money holders, they're not spending the £28bn they quoted as their own money. Pull yourself together. Who in their right mind would think PCP would spend all their £28bn funds, or that we would expect them to? Only southern press and mischief makers think we want everything. Why do you state the obvious? £7bn in January, £21bn in summer when we're ready for the CL next season.

"Newcastle fans expect to win the Champions League after being taken over..." I already expect us to win it, even with Ashley in charge. Lose every game 4-3 on the way.

We're not actually linked with anyone at all are we? It's not even the end of January yet.

If we're relegated because of dodgy tax dealings, she'd obviously have a few complaints about that. Sky are reporting it nothing to do with hmrc and dodgy stuff. About Rafa and the playing squad needing to reach targets. She better get her hands in her mates pockets then. Bacause the poor bastard needs about 5 players in January to guarantee no relegation. Factor in losing Key players to injury and suspension,our cover isnt the best. Yeah, sky have all of the details. They're speculating as much as we are man!