Minhosa

Oh aye, it would obviously be absolutely fucking horrible, but since when has that ever stopped him?

Not sure but I guess the more ££££'s that go in from his end, the greater control? As I said, it's a theory that makes sense imho, but may be pie in the sky as nobody knows his intentions. It would be a very Ashley thing to do.

Trafford is the jewel in their crown.

I dont think he'd need to sell us to buy intu. Intu own 60% of Eldon Square. Eldon Square probably has about 50% of the retail space in Newcastle. In comparison Ashley a few years ago bought 1 building on Northumberland Street for £30m. Even in administration it would cost billions to buy all of Intu’s properties. As of yesterday it had a market capitalisation of £52million. There is no way you could buy it for £52m. It would be the biggest bargain ever. Maybe not because it also has debts which is why its in the position it is. Yeah, you'd need to pay back the creditors if you bought it at that price. Would you have to pay back the creditors or manage the debt ? I know they've already breached their debt covenants and those they owe money have had the opportunity to take the centres over themselves. They will go into administration today I should think and then it will be a case of best buyer gets them off the administrators. Ashley will be desperate for his £283 million then. Yep - the group will be broken up for sure. £300m is a helluva deposit on one/more of their assets. I seriously think it'd be up his street and potentially a driver behind this whole thing.

I love the little fella. He's my favourite NUFC player. Think he'd be wonderful under a proper coach.

I dont think he'd need to sell us to buy intu. Intu own 60% of Eldon Square. Eldon Square probably has about 50% of the retail space in Newcastle. In comparison Ashley a few years ago bought 1 building on Northumberland Street for £30m. Even in administration it would cost billions to buy all of Intu’s properties. As of yesterday it had a market capitalisation of £52million. There is no way you could buy it for £52m. It would be the biggest bargain ever. Maybe not because it also has debts which is why its in the position it is. Yeah, you'd need to pay back the creditors if you bought it at that price. Would you have to pay back the creditors or manage the debt ? I know they've already breached their debt covenants and those they owe money have had the opportunity to take the centres over themselves. They will go into administration today I should think and then it will be a case of best buyer gets them off the administrators.

Conspiracy Theory Alert! Mike Ashley fucking hates INTU (the shopping centre owner). They were really struggling long before Covid but it has effectively killed them (going into administration today) as a consequence some of their prime assets will be available on the cheap, as it were. Can you think of anybody who likes to buy things on the cheap, out of favour, in bricks and mortar and park his tanks on an enemy's lawn? His £300m from our sale would go a long way to funding the purchase of something like a Trafford Centre/Lakeside/Metro Centre/Eldon Square. It would be a good deposit with the rest funded elsewhere but all ultimately owned by Ashley and his cronies. It's long been rumoured that he intended to buy up retail parks and put all of his brands in one place. This would be that on speed. The INTU asset portfolio is the best in country, bar none, but their debt has killed them. I'll make a prediction, he's been in the know on this for a good while and wanted his money from NUFC to fund his next move, in this direction. If my guesstimate is anywhere near correct, he'll be pressurising the fuck out of the PL to prevent other interested parties (of which there'll be many) from stealing a march.

It's absolute shit, not one thing mentioned concerning the takeover unless I fell asleep during it (maybe). Least said about Taylor Payne's hosting the better. Absolutely. He's diabolical. If the Athletic ever critically review their content then they'll know he has to go.

He's brilliant that guy .

Agreed.

The piss take party is over :lol:

Agree with this .

Agreed.

25 people have timed out already and my prediction of news today looking a bit ambitious :lol:

You wouldn't want Max Arrons in at RB? Don't think Callum Wilson is an improvement on say Carroll? Don't think John McGinn or Cantwell would be an upgrade on Shelvey? Wouldn't even attempt Grealish for example? Genuine Q's by the way. Haven't really seen that much of McGinn or Aarons tbh. Obviously wouldn't say no to Grealish for example. Don't think I'd want Wilson, even though he's pretty decent. Would he come here to be say 3rd choice? You might play him up front in a two potentially if Bacon stays. McGinn is a top top player imho.

I thought Cantwell would work well ahead of Hayden. I think Fornals will become a top player elsewhere, looks very tidy but needs a system built around him. I'd have liked to have seen what Pellegrini would've done with him, rather than the Scottish Bruce. Haller has disappointed me this year. Believe Rafa quite fancied him.

He crossed my mind too tbh.

Yep - similar pages. I think Heaton or Fabianski would be belter back ups to Dubs too. Miles better than Darlow and Elliott and also good to develop young Woodman to be the number 2 if he doesn't go back out on loan.

You wouldn't want Max Arrons in at RB? Don't think Callum Wilson is an improvement on say Carroll? Don't think John McGinn or Cantwell would be an upgrade on Shelvey? Wouldn't even attempt Grealish for example? Genuine Q's by the way.

Agreed on all three counts. Deulofeu just needs a bit more consistency to his game imho.

Who would you drop for Buendia? Doucoure is decent.

So, given the bottom five now looks fairly entrenched, who would you like to steal at the end of the season? And who would they come in for? Then round up with your top three picks and who they replace. Norwich I'll go with Max Aarons for RB instead of Yedlin/JM etc. Cantwell instead of Shelvey too. Think he'd work well with Hayden in the event we are not taken over. Buendia as a squad option also a possibility. Bournemouth If Bournemouth go, I'd take Brooks in midfield, probably replacing Ritchie. Also, I'd take Callum Wilson over any of our striker options right now. Fraser I'd take over Ritchie too. Nathan Ake as part of the CB pool given Lejeune's fitness issues. West Ham Fabianski as a sub keeper instead of both Darlow and Elliot. We're weak at LB too so I'd consider Cresswell. Both Felipe Anderson and Fornals occasionally look top drawer to me but you'd need a proper manager to get a tune of them, which would rule us out if Mr Doubtfire stays. Fornals over Shelvey again for me though. I quite like Fredericks at RB too but he doesn't seem to have got off the ground there for some reason. Watford I'm going to assume Watford will survive but if they didn't, I'd take Sarr and Doucoure for Ritchie and Shelvey. I also like Pereyra and Will Hughes but not sure of their consistency. Villa I'm a big fan of Tyrone Mings too as a CB option but that's probably our strongest position in the squad. Grealish would walk into our team but would be too much unless the takeover happens and, even then, you'd imagine we'd have big competition. I'd take John McGinn over Shelvey every day of the week. Tom Heaton as back up to Dubs also. Top three picks: 1) John McGinn for Shelvey 2) Mings for the CB pool/cover for Lejeune. 3) Callum Wilson for either Gayle, Muto or Carroll.

Yeah - weird though because the year before he looked quality. I can fully appreciate the Moyes argument but you'd think he would've shown more than he has this season regardless.

Piracy has been around for ages and the last TV deals were the biggest yet, no?

Did all the other managers die? :lol: