Wandy

Why have the club stated that the PL want the CAT behind closed doors then? Its not on record on any of the CAT website notes is it?

So what next. The PL appeal against the appeal? Then we appeal against the appeal of the appeal?

So by submitting evidence, we gave the PL an opportunity to delay the process even further. Marvellous.

So what the hell did NUFC send on the 28th? The levels of farce just keep getting stronger.

So the PL didnt actually meet the deadline of the 28th did they? They applied for an extension two days late.

"AND UPON the Claimant filing its evidence in response to the Jurisdiction Application on 28 June 2021" That's what it says in the update.

I dont get it. They filed their evidence on June 28th. Then asked for another extension for the "filing and service" of its evidence on June 30th. What the hell does that even mean?

I thought that they had to submit by June 25th? So that is an extension of 17 days?

Again, which begs the question...why did Staveley and co write to her? Surely De Marco and co were behind it too? It can only have been about raising the profile of the case and a spot of posturing before it starts.

It's quite possible that Staveley and the club wrote to Crouch simply to make an impression on her, with the message being "remember all of this shit when you come to do your review later this year". Simply another way of nudging the PL by saying "your not getting away with this and you are going to pay a price for it". That's why it has made no sense to think they could get the terms of the arb changed at the last moment. This is just more gesturing ahead of the event.

Why have they left it so late in the game to do this though? They should have been on Tracey Crouch's case about this months ago. It makes no sense to leave it this late to get them to fold before arbitration starts. It seems fairly obvious too that the club think Michael Beloff is going to side with the PL.

I need someone to explain to me how having arbitration played out in the public eye improves our chances of winning. Are Staveley and co implying that the three people doing the arbitrating are capable of being influenced by public opinion?

This is probably the most encouraging thing I have seen related to NUST.

That seems to be the narrative now being pushed. Except the two statements completely contradict each other. It's a total farce.

Agree, and I'd be up for some of that. This email your MP stuff is a nonsense though.

With days to go until the legal stuff starts too. I mean, why now? Utterly farcical.

Did you watch the show? I mean, I'm no fan of him, but he definitely took a call off someone just before 8pm.

Just watched the Wraith show and Patterson did seemingly take the call from the club about 5 mins before the statement was released. However he then came back to go on a rant about how fans need to "rally" again because "if the PL manage to stop the case from going public then the takeover might not happen". Backtracking again from just a few days ago when he told people to "let the legals handle it". I hope this guy is just being used by the club because as soon as he opens his mouth I instantly feel less confident. Because if victory somehow depends on a public hearing then that doesn't really say much about what Ashley has in terms of evidence. The Wraith show really is a bit of a shambles. They just let Patterson ramble on and never really pull him up on anything he says.

It doesn't matter that much if the CAT case goes ahead in private because all that matters is the result. Let's face it, the national media don't want the takeover to happen so even the most scandalous of revelations will barely get a mention by them.

Exactly what I thought. The last paragraph was a completely unnecessary bit of point scoring. All it shows to the PL is the chinks in our armour.

It was noticeable that De Marco tweeted about the statement last night. Remember, it was him a few months ago who said he always advises clients to come to an arrangement before arbitration goes ahead because it can be a lottery. I think the statement was a call to the PL to accept an arrangement that has been offered to them by the club. The main reason I think the PL are resisting is that they have come too far down the line to be seen losing face by backing down before legal proceedings. More importantly though, if they lose then they can go back to their six overlords and say "we tried lads, but the law took it out of our hands".

Yep, now is the time for this lot to show that they are actually capable of making a difference.

Agreed. The statement glaringly references the government, transparency and the ESL.

To me the statement reads as one of frustration rather than desperation. For a few weeks now I have been of the belief that Ashley has offered the PL a deal to make the legal stuff go away and it looks like, so far, the PL have resisted this. Ashley seems exasperated at this as he obviously thinks he has his tanks surrounding them with no way out. This statement is another message to them to think of the consequences of going all the way down the legal path. He just wants the deal done now, without having to wait for a resolution potentially for another 8 months down the line.

I don't give a fuck how much of a prick Ashley is, or how hypocritical the statement was. The fact remains that the real villains here are the Premier League, and the only reason that people like Ashley exist in football is because of how these fuckers run the league. Lets not lose sight of who the enemy is here.