Wullie

Guardian is Manchester-based, isn't it? Probably both clubs there now collectively shitting themselves. FFS man. Hasn't been the Manchester Guardian since 1959 and Squires lives in Australia but yeah, definitely a Manc running scared!!!

There's no way the PL will veto it, I don't see that they'd have grounds given Man City's very similar set-up. Pretty obvious to me that nation states shouldn't own football clubs but too late for that now.

Mack-amnesty! https://twitter.com/NUFC_Leazes/status/1252598067800481792

Aye it's decent like. Assuming neither of them are Newcastle fans? They have good knowledge of our players and the current fans view if not. I think Seb Stafford Bloor supports Spurs iirc, but he's written some great stuff on us in the last year or two. https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/newcastle-fa-cup-steve-bruce-mike-ashley-sorry-stasis

Hey I like Benitez as much as the next guy, but unless agreements are already in place with him, I think they'd be mad not to go to Pochettino first. Elite clubs will be sniffing around him, no disrespect to Rafa but I think those days have probably gone for him.

Think the idea that pleases me most is the ground potentially looking like that again.

I feel the same, I'm surprised by the current poll results.

We aren't painting ourselves as victims as a fanbase. You will get some who will whinge about the media, but I would imagine there are plenty like me who think it will be nice to compete for stuff as a football club again. There's no victimhood in that. You've got Rafa as your avatar there, do you think he should refuse to come back because of the Saudi link? That is a totally reasonable point of view to take but believe me there are a LOT of our fans who have immediately gone to bat for the Saudis, many convinced that it's all an anti-NUFC conspiracy. The position being taken by some of our fans is actually the thing I'm struggling most with, not on here I should add, I think there's more sense here than on Twitter. I should stop reading it tbf. I have infinitely more respect for "I don't care, I don't want to think about politics, I just want to support my team" than "You just hate NUFC and anyway, you can't complain about Saudi bombings because you enjoyed the smell of petrol once when walking past Esso".

Think I see a bit of a fatal flaw in that plan. Who's going to buy rights for a stadium that's not being used or attended?

My wages are paid by the UK government who I think are total cunts. I'm away to hand in my notice.

Do you perform your job to differing standards based on what football team you support, or your customer supports? Have you heard yourself?

Whilst accepting wages through their Saudi funded newspapers. So he's using a Saudi funded newspaper to... criticise Saudi Arabia? Isn't that like the definition of integrity?

Richard Keys is not a journalist, he's a television presenter. I think the other two are idiots. That's not the same as this relentless paranoia that everyone's out to get Newcastle. Last summer it was the refs. People on here were convinced VAR would see NUFC surge to the title because the refs, who all despised Newcastle, would no longer to be able to hide it. Absolutely demented.

I think it's much more daft to think that professional journalists for respectable publications are writing articles about human rights abuses because they hate YOUR team. Man City fans have been at this for years. Every journalist hates them because they're all big United fans apparently, even ones like David Conn, who has supported City all his life, they think he's a secret United agent out to get them. My advice to them and any Newcastle fan who is already developing such a persecution complex would be to grow up.

It's basically all financial criteria I think. Have they ever been bankrupt, have they got any fraud convictions etc?

Bruce would be like the red and blue signs left standing all over the shop, a lingering reminder of Ashley's stench.

There is no media bias against NUFC other than in your own head. The person who wrote that article, who has been writing about this sort of thing for years, long before Newcastle entered the picture, described a potential Saudi buyout of Man United dozens and dozens of times as a "doomsday for football"

This sort of thing does us no favours. Only a matter of time before we start railing against the institutionalised anti-NUFC agenda at Amnesty.

It's down to $2 a barrel today isn't it?

There's a great passage from a book that Ken reads out about life under Ashley, can't believe I've not heard it before.

66 points in this meaningless shite but doesn't know exactly how many games Dynamo Kiev have played in the Champions League. Cunt. Ahem. Nice one Yorkie, good quiz.

It's not hyperbole to say that the Saudis are one of the closest things on Earth at the moment to the Nazis is it? If you were going to pick the most brutal regime around, is there one worse? North Korea possibly but at least they're not bombing anyone. The UK had pretty good relations with the Nazi regime up until the outbreak of war, Edward VIII was a friend of Hitler. I don't think "our government likes them" is the most robust defence, you could say the same about Assad and Gaddafi, these people are always our "friends" until they're not. You missed the point. Take all that moral s*** stuff to the other thread, not this one. Jeez. This is the main takeover thread. It's going to be discussed whether you like it or not. Jeez. So what do you want to happen, Wullie? Another boycoutt? Not at all. A matter for the individual conscience this one I think. I don't think the FA/PL should be allowing any states to own football clubs but that ship's already sailed. So what will be your personal stance out of interest? Will you continue to support the club and would you go to games? Good question. Honest answer is I don't know. They've not even taken over yet so will just wait and see how things look once their feet are under the table I guess. Could be a long time before a ball is kicked at SJP but I don't have the aversion to giving them money that I had with Ashley. Out of interest, when was the last time you went? Late last season for me but I've not been regularly for several years now, particularly to home games. I must confess I'm desperate to go back, lots driven by sentiment. Telling my old man when Rafa left that I was genuinely done with it all and wouldn't watch or listen anymore was heartbreaking. When he text me about games or asked on the phone, every time he thought I was joking or going to change my mind. I suppose this is another reason why I'm probably also erring on the positives here; Newcastle was our bond and a huge part of my life. I spent several weekends this last year genuinely pleased to have time back, do fun stuff and not worry about the football. But that was because virtually every semblance of hope was lost. Just the idea of having that kernel of hope and those dreams of any form of enjoyment back kicks up all those feelings again. 2014 for me, fucked it off when they made it clear Pardew was staying. I've barely even watched us play this season so I freely admit that at this point, I'm looking at things as much from a neutral POV as I am a supporter. I consider the money issue to be an irrelevance really, I greatly objected to giving Ashley money because I considered it to be keeping him here (and it was, which is why he's now apparently selling up). Using Uber or buying petrol isn't the same as supporting a football club, quite obviously, and it's not them having my money i object to. It's hard to say where the line is without knowing what the Saudis do politically in future. Like, what is going to happen with their war in Yemen? Our club's good name is always going to be tied to whatever they're up to.

Especially the inter Milan players 2002/2003 champions league group stages. Francesco Coco! That’s like from the Lamine Diatta vaults of footnote players. I was going to put Coco, but I stupidly didn't ask whether it included trial players or not. Yorkie said it included friendlies, which was a bit of a clue because why would you say that otherwise? I didn't get it like, wouldn't have come up with that in a million years.

I really needed a good half hour to sit and think about some of those questions.

It's not hyperbole to say that the Saudis are one of the closest things on Earth at the moment to the Nazis is it? If you were going to pick the most brutal regime around, is there one worse? North Korea possibly but at least they're not bombing anyone. The UK had pretty good relations with the Nazi regime up until the outbreak of war, Edward VIII was a friend of Hitler. I don't think "our government likes them" is the most robust defence, you could say the same about Assad and Gaddafi, these people are always our "friends" until they're not. You missed the point. Take all that moral s*** stuff to the other thread, not this one. Jeez. This is the main takeover thread. It's going to be discussed whether you like it or not. Jeez. So what do you want to happen, Wullie? Another boycoutt? Not at all. A matter for the individual conscience this one I think. I don't think the FA/PL should be allowing any states to own football clubs but that ship's already sailed. So what will be your personal stance out of interest? Will you continue to support the club and would you go to games? Good question. Honest answer is I don't know. They've not even taken over yet so will just wait and see how things look once their feet are under the table I guess. Could be a long time before a ball is kicked at SJP but I don't have the aversion to giving them money that I had with Ashley.