Memphis

It's too much. I can't even conceive of what it all means. I've supported the club since I was much younger, and I've been one of the thousands who has fallen out of love with it because of Mike Ashley. I don't know if I can just turn it all back on right away but I'm so happy and proud to be able to have my children support a club with ambition and with hope. They've never known a time without that piece of shit running the club. I didn't know if I wanted to pass along my love of the club to them as things stood. Now, I feel I can. For that reason alone, it's a beautiful day indeed. But I still feel overwhelmed.

From MOTD. Excellent work.

It's helpful to my sanity for me to remember that there are precisely zero people outside of the Premier League who know anything for sure. All they have said is that the process will end when it ends, no official timetable. This is the most complex takeover in the league's history, done at the most incredibly complex moment in modern sport history. It is not going to be done quickly.

The only thing I know is that the buyers are as confident as they ever were, they have not received any indication that the process will end badly for them. Until that changes, there is no reason to impose my own timetable on things. Could be announced tomorrow or in a month. No way for us to know and no reason for anyone to break confidentiality agreements to tell us.

It is entirely possible that the checks have been completed and that Burt/Caulkin are correct. The delay doesn't necessarily mean they are still checking.

Because it is also entirely possible that the Premier League is trying to find a way to legally interpret that information in such as way as to make certain that they can withstand the inevitable criticism from beIN and other outside parties. The Premier League would welcome Saudi money, the Saudi market, and all the economic benefit that it entails, but to do so enthusiastically would make them look callous and unconcerned about the piracy/human rights issues. It's in their best interests to cover every potential challenge that may emerge.

The Premier League has participated in the WTO report and has known about it for weeks. That they have not already informed the buyers that there are major issues is good news.

Remember - we are getting the news two weeks after the PL did. They did not reject the deal out of hand. I don't think any of this will have been a surprise to the buyers - they would have known about the piracy issues, the WTO report, the human rights abuses, all of it. Nothing unexpected has occurred from their perspective. From ours, it is - we get the information very late. But this has all been taken into account already.

It's clear how legally complex this is and why it would be taking so long. Not that it isn't excruciating.

I've long since stopped trying to figure out what is relevant information, what is new information, etc. Those of us on the outside can never know the real timeline or what specifically the PL has been told.

My working theory is that sound journalists like Caulkin and Burt have their contacts on the buyers' side and that side would have nothing more to add at this point. They will not have been advised in advance of any timing from the PL, so there is nothing concrete for them to say.

On the other side are journalists like Ingle, who seem to be getting their information from someone with PL contacts who is against the deal. They would have found a reporter eager to pass along their side of the story in the most scandalous-sounding way possible.

So you don't have one specific source with contacts on both sides who could bridge the gap between the two sets of stories, which is unfortunate and adds to the confusion. The process was always going to be opaque and glacial and is only more so because of the coronavirus and Project Restart delays.

We are finding things out that have already been known behind the scenes for some time, including the potential WTO report. This is an extremely complex transaction in the best of times and these are not the best of times. The buying side would be happy to take the PL to court should they be unfairly restricted from a legal purchase; the PL is keen to avoid a raft of bad publicity associated with a potential Saudi sale. Each side has reasons to be meticulous.

Personally, I haven't posted in ages. Completely disenchanted by the current state of the club. A sale would change that. But this process has been maddening, a microcosm of the club itself. I guess we should have known that we could only escape Ashley in the most painfully drawn-out way possible.

Immensely saddened.

Not only because we have lost one of the finest managers we've ever had, though that is - to be sure - a big loss. It's because this club is so poisoned, so diseased, that it cannot support good people doing fine work who demand the best from the club. Rafa was always going to be rejected, like an organ transplant gone wrong, because he was too good for what this club has become under Ashley. It is confirmation, not that we needed any more of it, that whatever support we throw behind the club is wasted, whatever desire we have for the club to move forward is irrelevant. There is no ambition or spirit. We are supporting a ghost. Or were, in many of our cases. There is nothing left. As long as he is in charge, we are dead as a sporting institution.

Cheers, Rafa. Thank you. You did all you could.

I had forgotten what it was like to be proud of the team, and, more importantly, proud of the manager.

I'm beyond words as to the way he's gotten Mo Diame to turn into vintage Makelele over the course of just a few months. I'm amazed at the way he's made Lascelles into a genuine rock at the back. Virtually every player he's worked with this season has just gotten better and better, which is great on an individual level. However, the most extraordinary thing he's done is to make the whole of Newcastle far, far greater than the sum of its parts. Starting XI, bench, staff, supporters, truly everyone is working together under a man who you can't help but respect and admire.

We are a team and it's all down to him. I'm not the type who would normally say that, but it is. It's pretty much all him.

Imagine how thrilling it must be to be a player under our regime, with the ambition and desire we show. Could we dream of finishing 12th? 11th? Every player loves to dream of such heights.

This was so predictable. Even more infuriating because of the incredible opportunity we are squandering.

There is no purpose to supporting a club that doesn't care to try.

Exciting stuff guys. We're a real forward-thinking, fun club to follow.

Shelvey is a fraud. Give him a little responsibility and he will let you down every time. Merino has a chance to slide right in and take his job over the next three games.

We were well organized and were set up well to neutralise a very dangerous team of much more quality than ours. Very much in the game prior to the red.

We are now desperately in need of spending money but we'll fuck around and waste time and points trying to save a few million here and there.

Lose two defenders and the captain. Lejeune looks like a serious injury. Owner tight as a mosquito's asshole. This is not going to be much fun. Next three fixtures are vital and theoretically winnable but not like this.

Joselu is Spanish for Sibierski

So sad. Never forget him bossing Rooney in the 3-0. Always seemed like a lovely guy. Can't imagine what his wife must feel. RIP

Still adjusting to actually giving a shit about transfer rumours

I trust Rafa completely. He made it clear exactly what he wanted at every stage of his appointment - upon arrival, when deciding to remain in the Championship, when deciding to remain after a farcical January, and now. If he's satisfied with Ashley's commitment and response, then I certainly can't help but be. He's an unbelievable professional and a brilliant manager - and seems to truly get the club and the fans in a very special way.

Add to that the money, the elimination of fucking Wonga, the promotion, I can't help but be incredibly excited. I'm sick of being cynical. I don't care if it makes me an idiot. I want to believe again, so I'm going to.

Yeah, his shitness stands out more but matters less, if that makes sense. So I consider that a net positive, all in all.

Just seems to me that he's so disciplined about seeing us as a long-term project. What we're seeing now are the first few steps, getting the basics of defending drilled in, making sure that the entire squad - even the fringe players - understand their roles and understand that we have to be solid and compact throughout the side. Considering how mentally fragile we've been, that's no easy task.  You can see the growth in Gouffran, Anita, Shelvey (to an extent), Lascelles, even Colback isn't quite as horrible as usual these days.

I think we'll see this sort of match a lot over the first few months. Ideally once we're more comfortable and confident, there'll be a bit more flair. For now, this is exactly what we need. Settle the team down, get used to controlling matches and winning. We haven't had a mentality like that for a long, long time.

I guess especially since we've had such clowns in charge for so long, to see a boss with a genuinely earned air of authority is reassuring.

"I was so excited to find out I had the chance to fulfill my ambitions by joining one of Europe's elite clubs...

/looks at contract

/looks at agent

/sighs deeply

"...Everton."

Two big issues in any Sissoko transfer:

1. Clubs don't really want to buy him

2. We don't really have to sell him

Rafa's stance has been the same all along. He doesn't want to sell him for cheap, and doesn't have to. Either Sissoko knuckles down and tries - and he'll destroy this division if he does - or he sulks and is banished to the reserves, damaging his own career for the sake of his pride. And if he's banished, I don't think that will have much if any impact of the rest of what appears to be a very motivated squad. It's pretty much a win-win.

Skinned Colback completely and played a brilliant ball to Barkley for Everton's third against us a couple of seasons ago...

Looked good for Malaga in stretches, scored one and had some very promising dribbling/passing v Mauritius in his last international match. Has some pedigree, at least.

Structure of the deal works well, too, I like a good "prove yourself" loan.

The old saying is "you have to earn the right to play" and I think we're still in the earning phase in Rafa's mind.

We are drilling down all the details, still have a lot of work to do in continually dominating the middle of the pitch. We didn't have our two best forwards, we're still developing chemistry within the squad, yet we had a comfortable win against one of the better sides in the division. I don't think Rafa wanted to push forward in huge numbers, he wants the team to learn how to control games. By that standard, it was a good and promising performance.

He's slowly lifting a moribund, sloppy group into higher levels of professionalism.

:whistle:

Whoops, sorry!

Making plays ?