steve_69

I've only seen him play once, but given the positions he can apparently play and the fact we already have a few wingers, I think he might be looking to play 5-3-2 a lot more and deploying Kenedy as our left wing back. Would be interesting to see Yedlin on the right side of that setup. Reckon Dummet would be decent on the left in a back three too It would make sense as well because he's tried Ritchie there, Dummett is too slow and defensive to be a wing-back and Manquillo needs to be sent to the glue factory. A bit of pace on either wing, with a solid back 3 and a new striker is quite an enticing prospect (as long as the striker isn't Deeney or Ashley fucking Barnes)

I can barely contain myself!! Surely they must be some £18m foreign strikers that are better than that bag of knackers?!

I've only seen him play once, but given the positions he can apparently play and the fact we already have a few wingers, I think he might be looking to play 5-3-2 a lot more and deploying Kenedy as our left wing back.

Just any fucker who can finish would probably see us safe. We’ve already chucked away plenty of points through not being able to hit a barn door. The other positions are important but I reckon we can muddle through the rest of the season with what we have, but if we don’t get someone up top we’ll be in the squeaky bum zone.

You ok Hun?

Rafa clearly sees it as a vital position. I was talking to a lad at football last night who said he played a few games with an ex-pro GK who was on his way down the leagues. He said he's never experienced anything like it - constant talking, shouting, organising, encouragement etc. Different to any other keeper he'd ever played in front of. I haven't played much 11 a side but I guess a really intelligent, vocal goalkeeper can be invaluable.

I thought this guy was supposed to be rubbish?! He seemed like a bit of a twat but from that performance, he’s definitely not rubbish.

Rather Hughes than Pardew

Did they not say that their offer is still on the table? That suggest they're not increasing it. Surely if someone outright rejects your offer, it's no longer on the table?

Ashley hasn't said he's not prepared to sell to PCP, just that negotiations over the current offer are off. Within 5 minutes they could fax through an offer for £300m and it's all back on again.

Need to get rid of Colback before Rafa walks, otherwise our new shit manager will bring him back into the first team. He's a favourite of all awful English managers and that's undoubtedly what we'll have next.

Seem to remember (and happy be corrected on the figures) that the club cost was £134m (ish), then about £70m of debt to be paid off in change of ownership and stuff. So that £204m (ish). Then, I'm sure he had to put about £40m (as an 'interest free loan') in to help keep the club running after the first relegation. Then another £30m was put in (as another 'interest free loan') to help keep the club running after the last relegation? So thats £274m (ish) he's personally put into the club bu way of Purchase price, paying off debt, and then new loans. However, he has also been taking some money out to pay himself back, but not sure on how much - but that could bring the outlay price closer to £250m, which would be him getting his outlay back with no profit. As has been stated previously, the £250m was the price with possible relegation hanging over us. They allegedly bid £300m, but with clauses in event we go down. Basically, the offers and counter-offers are all guesswork, based upon 'sources'. Perhaps we'll never know. Can only hope the deal isn't as dead as Ashley's 'source' initially made out, and that with a bit of compromise (on both sides), it can be done by the end of the season. However, for Ashley to complain of the sale process with PCP being 'exhaustive' and accusing them of wasting his time, is just laughable. If anyone has 'previous' for messing people around, its Ashley! If that's right, that's £274m for a club that were a consistent PL fixture, with a squad that in today's market would probably be worth £200m+ on their own. We're now a club that's been relegated twice in what, 8 years? and battled relegation in 2-3 of the seasons inbetween. Our current squad is probably worth £100m absolute tops and our academy is a joke. Ashley has reduced the value and standing of NUFC significantly. If it wasn't for the new TV deal he would have absolutely no right to demand even what he paid for the club, let alone a profit on top.

250m is low. That is what the club was worth a decade ago. With the new PL money top tier clubs can become decent investment vehicles if managed correctly. IMO Newcastle has other advantages over run of the mill PL clubs as well. You have to factor in the value of the playing squad though, and they're arguably worth less than every other team in the league. The stadium, training ground, commercial opportunities, general infrastructure etc. have a lot of value but ultimately any new owner will have to make up for Ashley's shortcomings in the transfer market and that needs to be taken into account. £250m isn't cheap when you need to invest £100m+ in the first team just to stabilise things. If we had 2-3 world class players then £300-£350m is probably about right

If Staveley was/is serious about buying the club then this isn't over. Business negotiations of this size often go on for ages, with two skilled negotiators (backed by experienced teams of other skilled negotiators) using every trick in the book until they get what they want. Staveley tried to get the club on the cheap and it didn't work. If she still wants it she'll have to come back to the negotiating table with a better offer. It's no different to you or I making an offer on a car and when it's turned down you walk away. Then when you get home you decide you really want it so you phone back and up your offer. It doesn't make a jot of difference if the guy labelled your original offer 'insulting' and called you a 'joker'. He's never going to be your best friend, you just want his car for a good price. The only different is the media don't give a shit about your car buying activity so they don't report every detail and make a load of shit up. I've said for a couple of weeks now, it makes far more sense for Stavo to make an improved (or otherwise) offer at the end of the season or if/when we reach 40 points.

A lot of people seem convinced that Ashley's comments will have put Staveley and her backers off. This is a £300m business deal, not some chump buying a bike off ebay. Most of the deal would be done through solicitors anyway so they're not going to sit over the table and tell each other about their hurt feelings. More importantly, if an investor with multiple £billions behind them really wants to buy something, they wouldn't give a shit what the incumbent owner says about them. It's not the playing school playground!

You don't see how much has changed? The language used was pretty insulting to someone who brokers big deals for a living People like Staveley are not in business to make friends. I don’t actually know what language you’re referring to, but if you think an investor like Staveley would walk away from a £300m deal because someone said something a little bit mean, I’d call that a bit niaive (with all due respect).

I don’t see how anything has changed. PCP submitted an offer that Ashley didn’t want to accept and that’s it. Neither is prepared to budge a great deal so they’ll either find a compromise or PCP will walk away. That was always the case. The only problem is now Fat Mike might up his price because of the new TV deal. PCP will probably be prepared to pay more though if our PL status is assured for next season. Same same.

My concern is that the fat shithead has sanctioned three low cost permanent signings and maintains his stance on loans. We could potentially recruit much higher quality in the loan market right now than with permanent signings. As usual we’ll be looking to pay a pittance in fees and league 2 wages, so who could we realistically get?

Obviously we know Ashley is a massive cunt and he takes stupid gambles but this one is the biggest and worst yet. I can't believe he is prepared to put us in such a perilous position, the man is insane!

Both CBs were marking him and neither did a fucking thing. Criminal defending!

Liverpool, Stoke, Brighton, Palace, Hudds, Leicester. Doesn't account for bad managerial decisions though. And yet Liverpool fans want rid of FSG for some reason. Liverpool fans love a moan. It's not in their nature to be happy with stuff

On this day in 2017 Mike Ashley was a cunt. and every day before and since

My take on this (based on nothing but my own speculation) is that the takeover will go through when our PL safety is confirmed. Ashley allegedly wasn't prepared to agree to the relegation clause so it doesn't make sense for things to be pushed through now. I reckon a deal is probably agreed in principle based on us retaining our PL status. Problem for us is that we know Ashley will gamble on not doing much in the transfer window in order to maximise his profit.

Miralles would be perfect for our #10 role but isn't his attitude a bit questionable?

I'd disagree with this if I could be sure the fat man would re-invest the money but......