Unbelievable

Whoa, haven't checked this thread since late afternoon and suddenly everybody is convinced it's happening and it's just a question of will we do a Man City or not... What's happened in the meantime? Anything concrete, or has somebody slipped LSD in the water supply in the North East tonight?

Imagine a Championship club spending more than double our record signing amount

How much!?

Again, what do Staveley and PCP get by going along with this? Other then potentially ruining there brand? Who says Stavely and PCP have to be "in" on it for Ashley to be fooling around without any real intention of selling up though? It's not like Ashley hasn't done this before.

You mean buy us in time to make their own signings and keep us up? Yeah, so reports are that the valuation is apart and there were issues over relegation clauses. Ashley will want maximum sale price and no relegation clause. If he refuses to allow PCP to 'help' in January he essentially puts pressure on PCP to quickly agree to his value and waive relegation clauses so that they can provide funds for investment to reduce the risk of relegation. I understand the argument but only a buffoon would come up with it in a serious negotiation: "I will offer you 5k for your car" "8k" "Maximum I can do is 6k. Take it or leave it" "8k or I'll f***ing crash it against that brick wall" "..." The analogy is understandable but doesn't really apply. No/minimal investment in January is risky but it is not akin to smashing the car into the wall. If it is a mechanism to force PCP to terms it may be that investment follows if PCP walk away. At the moment the January window is potentially leverage for Ashley and this may well be a bit of brinksmanship. I think the analogy works as it is. The club getting relegated will not hurt PCP as they would just walk and buy Southampton or some other club. They don't have a vested, real interest in NUFC yet, like Ashley has. Ashley stands to lose a fortune by not strengthening. Threatening to run the club into the ground to attempt to force someone else to buy it at a higher price is not leverage in my book, it's idiocy.

You mean buy us in time to make their own signings and keep us up? Yeah, so reports are that the valuation is apart and there were issues over relegation clauses. Ashley will want maximum sale price and no relegation clause. If he refuses to allow PCP to 'help' in January he essentially puts pressure on PCP to quickly agree to his value and waive relegation clauses so that they can provide funds for investment to reduce the risk of relegation. I understand the argument but only a buffoon would come up with it in a serious negotiation: "I will offer you 5k for your car" "8k" "Maximum I can do is 6k. Take it or leave it" "8k or I'll fucking crash it against that brick wall" "..."

Harsh. We were told previously they were "open to the idea of helping the manager".

I think we all know full well what’s going on, sadly.

"Legality and complexity" (i.e. bickering over specific contract terms) is the majority of the work in any M&A project. The actual valuation/bickering over price stuff doesn't take as long as you'd think. I don’t doubt it. The point is never has it been reported that a price had been agreed in principle and we all know how Ashley operates. He’s not a rational, professional human being who can be trusted to behave in a predictable fashion. He’s previously stood up potential buyers after flying over to the middle east to meet them. I genuinely believe it’s more about how any deal makes him feel powerful and like he’s “won” than even strictly a magic number he has in mind as a minimum price he can agree to. People have focused mainly on there being an apparantly eager buyer who could transform the coub’s fortunes rather than on the man child at the other side of the table who’s just out to push people around at his behest like he always does. I for one wouldn’t be at all surprised if Ashley calls this off out of the blue if PCP don’t bend over backwards far enough to accomodate his idiocies.

Meh, I really don’t think the legality or complexity is causing this holdup anymore, not after what’s effectively been weeks and weeks of waiting. A deal has simply not been agreed, and my money based on his previous is on Ashley being an akward if not downright unwilling seller (unless he gets what he peceives as a gold plated offer).

Ashley can do whatever the fuck he wants in terms of his asking price until a deal is agreed, and he probably will if the new overseas TV deal comes in higher than expected and/or the club is guaranteed another year in the PL. I loathe the man, but not sure I could even begrudge him doing it. Whilst it’s true that Amanda’s due dilligence may have given her a good indication of the club’s “fair value”, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s what the club is worth to Ashley, or what it’s worth irrespective of uncertainty surrounding future revenue. If Amanda and her investors are serious about this takeover they better trash out a deal while talks are still ongoing based on the same premise as when they started, or I can see them getting frustrated at moving goal posts before long. Time is very much of the essence here I’m afraid and if this January window shows us anything it’s that Ashley is once again more than happy twiddle his thumbs and gamble on the club’s future rather than going out to secure its future and get this sale done and dusted.

Curious. They were linked with Luuk de Jong a few days ago.

Wonder what all the wannebe-Pardews on here make of that

Rafa can send as many messages to mike as he wants but he’s not listening, don’t think he has been since he’s had an offer for the club. Before then he was, even if it was just to tell Rafa to shut it (moaning over budget in the summer for example) It looks like mike is completely switched off, if the takeover doesn’t happen and we’re stuck with him I’m expecting and even worse version of him than what we’ve dealt with so far. You're right that Ashley won't take any notice of Rafa's messages, but Rafa won't shut up regardless. That's where he's different from other servants Mike has employed in the past, he's too big in the game to have to doff his cap to Ashley. He'll get on with the job with whatever he's got available, hopefully it will be enough to keep us up and he can go to work properly under a new owner if and when that happens. Oh it will. Only question is here or elsewhere. If the takeover falls through he’s off. If there wasn’t the prospect of a takeover I doubt he’d still be here now. Everything hinges on Ashley finally packing it in or not.

Dear God no

Not giving him any money to spend, but we do feel a bit sorry for him and in another universe there may have been some funds available, so it's not all bad

Sorry, but f*** that, would like to actually have a go at the cup and try and win it. Win a cup or get relegated which leads to Rafa leaving and no takeover. I feel some don't understand the importance of staying up this season, i wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if we went down and a takeover got scrapped and Rafa left. It's an extremely possible scenario if we were to go down, in any other season i'm with you 100% but this year is an outlier and i don't think we should jeopardise the potential future. Where as if we stay up, Rafa is obviously going nowhere and a new takeover presents many different opportunities which weren't there before. I'm not saying completely throw games, in fact Lascelles is the only one i'd even consider resting in these games but we all saw how s**** we were during his period out of the team and if another period takes place like that relegation is very likely as is the impending scenario i described. Sure a cup would be fantastic, but honestly i'd take an actual future over it where cups are a lot more likely anyway. Frankly very far fetched to link the minimal risk of a serious injury to a key player in a cup game to the likelihood of Ashley’s willingness to sell up or even Rafa staying. Ashley selling up is dependent on one man and one man only. As is Rafa staying really. I also think that if such a relationship between playing your most influential player in a cup game and the long term future prospects of the club exists, you’ve got the causality wrong. As soon as the club is mathematically safe Ashley will up his asking price again, making a sale less likely rather than more likely in my opinion. Rafa played his strongest team in a cup game. We avoided a replay, worked on our growing confidence in front of goal, are through to the next round and seemingly have come out unscathed. Can’t ask for more really. Much prefer this to another third round exit because we prioritise the league where we are equally shit.

Sorry, but f*** that, would like to actually have a go at the cup and try and win it. I want to have a go at the cup as well. But feel that there needs to be balance with the decisions. You'd think we could beat Luton without Lascelles and one or two others. Erm, have you seen our cup record over the past decade mate? Also, what if these players actually want to play the cup games as they themselves would like to progress and perhaps win something in their careers? I know I would look back to being in a cup final or actually winning a cup with more fondness after my career was done than at having finished just above the relegation zone a few seasons going.

I'd rather a club that actually tried to compete and be the best it can than a club that prioritises "safety" over everything else. We've had the latter for ten years and look where it's got us. We need rid of Ashley and his entire "philosophy" for the club as soon as possible. I feel genuinely frustrated and flabbergasted that so many of our own fans would happily see a considerably weakened side out for a winnable cup game for a slightly better chance of getting something against fucking Swansea at home a full week later. What have we become, seriously?

People were ridiculing Hughes for fielding a weak side prior to playing us thinking he stood a better chance of taking three points from us didn’t they? These things always bite you in the ass. Winnable cup game, 60 year trophy drought, 47k attendance, playing your strongest team is entirely the right thing to do. So many Pardews-in-disguise on here

Who would people have played at centre back in his place, considering Lejeune and Mbemba are out injured and we had to replace him with a defensive mid as we didn’t have a centre back on the bench? That’s if you subscribe to the notion that a club that hasn’t won anything in most fans’ lifetime shouldn’t play its best players in a winnable cup game, which I don’t. Tbf, that's one reason to not play him if the other 2 aren't available for next week at the same time. Who would you have played?

Who would people have played at centre back in his place, considering Lejeune and Mbemba are out injured and we had to replace him with a defensive mid as we didn’t have a centre back on the bench? That’s if you subscribe to the notion that a club that hasn’t won anything in most fans’ lifetime shouldn’t play its best players in a winnable cup game, which I don’t.

Can’t believe people are throwing a hissy fit at us playing a strong team after years of early cup exits playing dead wood