Unbelievable

Of course, but at Ajax it goes a bit further than that. Strategy and style of play is non-negotiable, and you’re pretty much guaranteed a never ending supply of wonderkids and by far the biggest transfer kitty in the country. They can shine in Europe because they only play one or two really tough games a month as opposed to per week. i don’t know, he’s done a very good job, but I just don’t trust him to fail badly when he takes a high profile job abroad. I’d rather someone with more experience at this level and someone who can build all aspects of the club simultaneously, what with where we are as a club currently.

Just feel the Ajax squad is flattering him like it flattered Bosz and De Boer before him. Also doesn’t strike me as the type of character who would shine abroad for some reason.

Absolutely no chance he’s coming, and I wouldn’t want him to either.

Looks like Rafa might be available soon

Urgh

22% win probability? Like fuck am I ever using Oracle data analytics products

Take away ASM and Wilson and you’d put good money on the subs beating that abomination of a first team. Urgh

That's fine and if it is put to a vote you will get your say. If however the majority of fans agree with selling the stadium naming rights in return for increased commercial income and an ability to compete at a higher level, would you still oppose or would it stop you from supporting the club?

They built a new one and they haven't named it after a sponsor in return for money... yet. The fact of the matter is that we need to grow commercial revenue and the freedom for owners to simply pump money into the club is fairly limited. I appreciate the fact that the new owners are seemingly willing to engage in a conversation about how to do this and let the fans have a say.

I don't see it man. The Glazers are horrible owners in much the same way as Ashley was, with the difference that they understand that they need to grow the club in order to compete. If they continue to drop behind other clubs (like us) they won't think twice about renaming Old Trafford to save their sorry asses. I've heard stories that Barcelona would never sell their shirt sponsorship, until they did. I'd much prefer Newcastle United grow organically even if that means increasing commercial revenue through selling the stadium naming rights, than have the Saudi's drop a few billion on Mbappe and Haaland and compete through financial doping by getting around financial fair play by abusing loopholes, but that's maybe just me.

Exactly. Also, those means would be skirting around the edges of fair play by definition. You could argue that so is selling the stadium naming rights or shirt sponsorship to "related companies", but I'd personally argue that our commercial revenue should be on a par with the likes of Spurs, City and the likes. It was 15 years ago before a man child decided to buy us and plaster his own company all over us without providing anything in return. Our commercial revenue should be a multitude higher than it currently is. See for example here where it says: "Newcastle’s commercial revenue for the 2019-20 season was £29million, only £1m more than 2007, which was Mike Ashley’s first year as owner. By way of comparison, Tottenham’s annual commercial revenue over the same period increased from £39m to £162m." Over the 14 years we've "lost" half a billion pounds worth of commercial revenue. At the moment our competitors earn over 100m a year more than us. We need to catch up, simple as. The damage Mike Ashley has done is almost unrepairable and football's authorities have put measures in place to prevent "financial doping", so I don't think the new owners can afford to not tap into the unused potential here.

I personally don't see the connection. My main gripe with Ashley was always that he did not allow Newcastle United to compete at the level it was capable of. He willfully took commercial space without paying a dime for it, instructed managers to ignore cup competitions because there was no money in it and always just did the bare minimum to keep us clinging on to the gravy train. Meaningful investment only ever came when that place came under threat. As such, and with the FFP rules being as they currently are to prevent the exact scenario where a PIF come in and plough a few billion in to blow the competition away, I understand that new owners need to look at increasing all revenue streams, including commercial revenue. Heck, it's what Mike Ashley should have been doing all these years. "We don't demand a tam that wins, we demand a club that tries" for me is all about the owners of the club doing what's best for the club first and foremost. I don't think introducing new sponsorship deals contradicts this, quite the contrary in fact.

i understand the point you’re making Guv, but to me there are major differences between what happened ten years ago and what’s potentially happening here: - in 2011 we had already suffered years of Keegan being messed around with and unfairly dismissed, relegation and protest. The renaming back then was motivated by spite from a petty owner - there was no renumeration. As Llambias said at the time: "Naming the stadium the Sports Direct Arena helps up to showcase the opportunity to interested parties. We are now actively seeking a long-term sponsor wishing to acquire full naming rights for the stadium.” Right.. - we have FFP to contend with now. If the new owners want to make the club the best it can be, they need to grow revenue streams. - they’ve communicated this much better than Ashley ever could, putting feelers out and suggesting the fans will get a say in whether it happens or not. Having said that, I’d rather they keep the name as is and sell the naming rights to a new built if it ever comes to that, provided it will not hamper the execution of their plans. If however it is imperative to their plans and the majority of fans get behind it I think that’s still a respectful way to handle the situation. We all want change. If this is the price to pay than so be it.

Nothing much if that’s the case. I was just going of the caption that he was KSA minister of finance. i doubt separation will come back to bite, but it’s abundantly clear the 18 clubs minus City will keep digging.

Didn’t PL say they could take measures if it ever proved to be the case that KSA was in effect running NUFC?

Not sure it’s a good idea to have the Finance minister of the country make such comments if they are intent of keeping the separation charade going

Aye, probably. Time to do some reading up on Paulo it seems edit: first need to get his name right ffs

I’ve just found out Fonseca is not who I thought he was. Somehow had him down as an Argentinian midfield player who had a long career in Italy, possibly with Lazio. Who am I confusing him with?

Yay! The wheels are in motion.

All the other owners will have secured long term deals before voting through this new rule man. They’re so pathetically transparent. Can’t wait until our owners take the PL and the 18 clubs who voted in favour to court for anti-competitive behaviour and see them all slapped with multi million pound penalties. There’s absolutely no way this will stand any legal challenge at all. What are they even thinking?

I doubt a competition law judge would even entertain it for a minute if it came before them. Can anyone imagine such a thing happening in any other field of business? The EU for example would be slapping million euro fines left, right and center. In fact, I would love it if the club went after those 18 clubs hard in court. They wouldn't stand a chance defending this decision.

I still hold out hope that we will be able to compete by the club finally being run competently and ambitiously rather than by outspending everybody else. Those so-called big 6 will all remember what this club is capable of when it gathers steam and it's pathetic that they are absolutely bricking it already before even a single pound has been spent in anger. Oh how they loved having a sleeping giant being kept sedated by the fat mess that owned us before and not have to worry about us challenging for "their" CL places. Our starting position is that of a club with a shit manager, shit facilities, shit players, etc. so realistically what have they even got to fear? It will be years before we are anywhere near their level and it's not like most of them are scrapped for cash anyway. They are light years ahead of us, but clearly they're already panicking at the prospect of having to compete against us again. Personally all I wish for is that we start moving in the right direction with good appointments and clever player recruitment and build ourselves up gradually to reach our undoubted potential and ensure we can stay there under our own steam eventually.

Isn’t Lampard supposed to be genuinely really intelligent, as in proper high IQ smart? Doesn’t mean he’s a good manager obviously, but coupled with a pedigree of performing at the highest level and experiencing the likes of Mourinho, Ancelotti, Hiddink, etc. it can’t hurt I’d imagine.

Oh, NOW they want him out..?

More effective than Almiron in his time here? Give your head a shake man