Wandy

So this could all just be bollocks ? 

If it is, then you need to think about what is is that Nick de Marco is trying to do.

I don't believe it's just to get compensation for Ashley and nothing else.

 

It most likely is just about Ashley compo, but if they string the fans along it keeps them off his back and makes him look like he’s doing what he can to leave.

 

It will get interesting if we go down. Ashley will want the loss of asking price or costs to get us back up. He won’t let that go and I don’t blame him. We go down it’s because we’ve become more of a zombie club than ever before, and we have the PL to thank for that.

 

He'd get laughed out of court for blaming relegation on the PL, and rightly so. This relegation is solely on him and nobody else.

 

As far as I am concerned this takeover is dead and buried now. DeMarco is there to get compensation and embarrass the PL. Nothing more in it than that.

 

Based on what? All the best sources we have - Keith, Caulkin, Kennedy, Jacobs - think that Amanda is still trying to buy the club and they all agree that the legal proceedings are not limited to Fat Mike getting compensation. Even De Marco's own comments the other day suggest that this is not about compensation. He said, speaking in general terms, "Arbitration is risky so it's best to try and reach a deal without the need for it".

 

Which seems more likely to you?:

 

1) George and Keith have contact with the buyers, albeit limited, and they know enough to know the deal is alive.

 

or

 

2) George Caulkin is a pathological liar and is willing to destroy his well-earned reputation as the #1 NUFC journalist for twitter likes. Keith is also flat out lying and is willing to destroy his credibility as a local businessman.

 

I don't think either of them are lying. I think they are being fed lies by Ashley and the buyers.

 

What do you think Amanda's motivation for lying about this would be? Personally, I'd do Keith and George the favour of saying I don't think either of them are that stupid.

 

However, if you think everyone who knows something has been lied to, then I'm afraid I've no comeback. I'm not in a position to disprove a speculative conspiracy theory.

The whole takeover saga has been one gigantic conspiracy theory man.

Caulkin was blatantly suckered by the buyers last summer. Which is why he has wislely said almost nothing ever since.

I feel almost feel sorry for the Keith fella tbh. He is now coming across as someone who had no idea what he was getting into and it's all now way above his head.

So this could all just be bollocks ? 

If it is, then you need to think about what is is that Nick de Marco is trying to do.

I don't believe it's just to get compensation for Ashley and nothing else.

 

It most likely is just about Ashley compo, but if they string the fans along it keeps them off his back and makes him look like he’s doing what he can to leave.

 

It will get interesting if we go down. Ashley will want the loss of asking price or costs to get us back up. He won’t let that go and I don’t blame him. We go down it’s because we’ve become more of a zombie club than ever before, and we have the PL to thank for that.

 

He'd get laughed out of court for blaming relegation on the PL, and rightly so. This relegation is solely on him and nobody else.

 

As far as I am concerned this takeover is dead and buried now. DeMarco is there to get compensation and embarrass the PL. Nothing more in it than that.

 

Based on what? All the best sources we have - Keith, Caulkin, Kennedy, Jacobs - think that Amanda is still trying to buy the club and they all agree that the legal proceedings are not limited to Fat Mike getting compensation. Even De Marco's own comments the other day suggest that this is not about compensation. He said, speaking in general terms, "Arbitration is risky so it's best to try and reach a deal without the need for it".

 

Which seems more likely to you?:

 

1) George and Keith have contact with the buyers, albeit limited, and they know enough to know the deal is alive.

 

or

 

2) George Caulkin is a pathological liar and is willing to destroy his well-earned reputation as the #1 NUFC journalist for twitter likes. Keith is also flat out lying and is willing to destroy his credibility as a local businessman.

 

I don't think either of them are lying. I think they are being fed lies by Ashley and the buyers.

 

What's the motive?

To hide the fact that DeMarco is there simply to get compensation for Ashley. I wouldn't be surprised if Ashley has also struck up an arrangement to give Staveley her deposit back if he wins. The fans and media get used in order to keep the spotlight on the PL whilst distracting attention from the neglect to the playing side.

So this could all just be bollocks ? 

If it is, then you need to think about what is is that Nick de Marco is trying to do.

I don't believe it's just to get compensation for Ashley and nothing else.

 

It most likely is just about Ashley compo, but if they string the fans along it keeps them off his back and makes him look like he’s doing what he can to leave.

 

It will get interesting if we go down. Ashley will want the loss of asking price or costs to get us back up. He won’t let that go and I don’t blame him. We go down it’s because we’ve become more of a zombie club than ever before, and we have the PL to thank for that.

 

He'd get laughed out of court for blaming relegation on the PL, and rightly so. This relegation is solely on him and nobody else.

 

As far as I am concerned this takeover is dead and buried now. DeMarco is there to get compensation and embarrass the PL. Nothing more in it than that.

 

Based on what? All the best sources we have - Keith, Caulkin, Kennedy, Jacobs - think that Amanda is still trying to buy the club and they all agree that the legal proceedings are not limited to Fat Mike getting compensation. Even De Marco's own comments the other day suggest that this is not about compensation. He said, speaking in general terms, "Arbitration is risky so it's best to try and reach a deal without the need for it".

 

Which seems more likely to you?:

 

1) George and Keith have contact with the buyers, albeit limited, and they know enough to know the deal is alive.

 

or

 

2) George Caulkin is a pathological liar and is willing to destroy his well-earned reputation as the #1 NUFC journalist for twitter likes. Keith is also flat out lying and is willing to destroy his credibility as a local businessman.

I don't think either of them are lying. I think they are being fed lies by Ashley and the buyers.

So this could all just be bollocks ? 

If it is, then you need to think about what is is that Nick de Marco is trying to do.

I don't believe it's just to get compensation for Ashley and nothing else.

 

It most likely is just about Ashley compo, but if they string the fans along it keeps them off his back and makes him look like he’s doing what he can to leave.

 

It will get interesting if we go down. Ashley will want the loss of asking price or costs to get us back up. He won’t let that go and I don’t blame him. We go down it’s because we’ve become more of a zombie club than ever before, and we have the PL to thank for that.

 

He'd get laughed out of court for blaming relegation on the PL, and rightly so. This relegation is solely on him and nobody else.

 

As far as I am concerned this takeover is dead and buried now. DeMarco is there to get compensation and embarrass the PL. Nothing more in it than that.

 

Based on what? All the best sources we have - Keith, Caulkin, Kennedy, Jacobs - think that Amanda is still trying to buy the club and they all agree that the legal proceedings are not limited to Fat Mike getting compensation. Even De Marco's own comments the other day suggest that this is not about compensation. He said, speaking in general terms, "Arbitration is risky so it's best to try and reach a deal without the need for it".

Based on the reality of what is happening in front of our eyes. Ashley is allowing the club to slide into the bottom three without any urgency to halt the problem. There's no money coming into the club so he's not going to fork out even more in compensation packages for sacked managers and coaches.

I think that the Keith fella has been led a merry dance by Ashley actually. He's probably being used by Ashley as a pawn to secure his compo deal. Journalists are being strung along to feed the fans with takeover hope to ensure there is little heat applied regarding the club's performances on the pitch.

Benitez going to another club will be the next nail hammered into the coffin.

If this deal was anywhere near close to reality as we have been led to believe the buyers would have been working in conjunction with Ashley to keep a relegation battle at bay.

So this could all just be bollocks ? 

If it is, then you need to think about what is is that Nick de Marco is trying to do.

I don't believe it's just to get compensation for Ashley and nothing else.

 

It most likely is just about Ashley compo, but if they string the fans along it keeps them off his back and makes him look like he’s doing what he can to leave.

 

It will get interesting if we go down. Ashley will want the loss of asking price or costs to get us back up. He won’t let that go and I don’t blame him. We go down it’s because we’ve become more of a zombie club than ever before, and we have the PL to thank for that.

He'd get laughed out of court for blaming relegation on the PL, and rightly so. This relegation is solely on him and nobody else.

As far as I am concerned this takeover is dead and buried now. DeMarco is there to get compensation and embarrass the PL. Nothing more in it than that.

This is from Nick De Marco’s interview with Kieran McGuire that is re hashed In the Chronicle today. It tells you exactly where we are at the minute in my opinion. The arbitration hearing has not yet begun and we’re clearly in the negotiating phase. I believe De Marco sees a road map to do a deal with the PL and he will be absolutely aligned with their thinking and what is required to get it done. Obviously during arbitration and even afterwards they can come to an agreement, but broadly speaking this is a good insight of the main mans thinking.

 

And no that’s not Ryan Maine before anyone asks.

 

From De Marco

 

"Despite appearances I can tell you I rarely encourage my clients to go to court or arbitration.

 

"I usually tell them it's very risky, it's very costly, it takes a lot of time, however strong you think your case is things can go wrong and if there is a way of dealing with it commercially or by a deal with the regulator in some way - which there can be before charges are brought - you should explore that.

 

"It's a much better use of your time or resources than paying lawyers and often that is the case. Often we are able to do deals.

 

"That's usually my advice to clients. It's usually only when it's impossible that you have to go through and fight."

That reads like he doesnt have a lot of confidence in it going through if it does go to arbitration.

I am on the fence with regards to what I want to happen in this one. If we lose I think Bruce will finally be bulleted but a win puts us closer to safety and should raise morale for the following winnable games.

Absolute negativity in the other thread and I’ll remind people of this paragraph from Caulkin’s recent article. Absolutely nothing has changed if we stay up and win arbitration PIF will be involved. If the worst case happens, I’m absolutely now convinced Staveley and Rueben’s will assume control. Ashley is done with the club now and this is the reason he is loathe to spend anything on replacing Bruce. However, should all go wrong this week on the pitch the bullet will be fired. Ashley is spending millions on legal fees and make no mistake will move to protect his investment in next week should he need to.

 

From athletic

 

‘Far from being put off, they say, pushing through the deal is now a matter of national pride to PIF. “They want to keep their distance until it can be resolved,” one source says. “They’re not going to waste time on it unless it can be done. But if the Premier League think they’ve given up, they’re wrong.’

 

You are a mad man there isn’t a chance Staveley & Ruebens will buy the club without PIF if they wanted to they’d have done so by now

 

You’re absolutely wrong Staveley attempted to buy the club in the May prior and thought she could. This was an attempt to keep Benitez before he left, the Saudi’s only came on board in the November. She will own the club regardless. The price will be at a reduced level and I’ll gladly accept you’re apology in a couple of months when i’m right.

 

She had backers then too wasn’t just her and ruebens. f*** all apology due

 

Did she who were they ? That’s guesswork on you’re part I’m afraid. We’ll both know who’ll be right in a few months and that will be enough for me ?

Mate, I like you as a poster, and I can tell by your posts that you are from the same era as me and have had the same NUFC experiences. Your positivity has been refreshing but you are starting to sound a bit in denial now. If this club is relegated in May there will be no takeover. It also sounds like you are changing your previous stance of "if there is no takeover this season then time to walk away from NUFC".

The next carrot to be dangled when we are relegated will be "the PL have cleared the way for a Saudi takeover, now all that has to happen is promotion". And it sounds like you (and many others) will fall for it.

For me, I dont care what bullshit comes out. If we are relegated in May and Ashley still owns NUFC I am done, and I hope they stay down until he is gone. Even if that takes 20 years.

My opinion is that this is not a priority for KSA anymore (due to COVID and other political factors). This takeover could've been completed in a week through some clean random Saudi individual. And maybe work on transferring ownership to PIF and dick-measuring with Qatar afterwards..

 

I have no doubt that Ashley's lawyers will squeeze some compensation and Masters/the PL board might end up resigning in the aftermath but we will be a championship club in freefall by then.

Agree with this. Compensation for Ashley will be the end result of this farce. He will use the money to buy players to try to get us promoted from the Championship once again and then load that debt onto the club once more.

I have been hating all of the "hope we lose" posts of late but I now think it will be beneficial to lose the Wolves game. And obviously we will lose tomorrow. We can't afford to just drift along anymore under Bruce, picking up the odd point here and there. This needs to be brought to a head, not just to address relegation but also the takeover situation. If we lose to Wolves and Bruce still isnt peddled then we can forget about any takeover, accept relegation and then everyone can decide if they want to follow this football club anymore.

Castles got it quite accurate last summer, to be fair. He started off talking positively about the deal going through then as it dragged on he got ever more pessimistic. So who knows?

The thing is, at the moment the Saudis are not in the picture for buying us as they were blocked last year. It's only if that block is lifted and the club remains in the PL would there be a chance of them being at the table again.

I thought people said in the other thread that Rafa had too much principles to come back and work for Ashley? 

The only way this happens is if the takeover has been sealed and is watertight.

Exile1968 giving it large over there again I see. Easily the most bitter cunt I've witnessed over there, the bloke needs help.

Going back to what I said earlier about great away days at grounds with cowshed roofs, this is one of my best memories of the 92/93 promotion season. A beautiful early Autumn day, drinking in the beer gardens of the local pubs and just totally taking over the town before walking up to the ground. I was in almost the exact same spot that this was filmed from, albeit a bit lower down the terrace. I didnt even see the ball hit the net when Sheedy scored, so packed was the terrace, and just celebrated because everyone else was. lol. Think we were about 8 games into that 11 game winning run at the start of the season.

My memory is definitely on the wane. How could I forget Venison & Bracewell. Doh.

Have to say I loved Venison's passion, especially for an ex-Mackem.

On what planet does someone who is “desperate” to sell his football club for 300m and needs it to retain PL status to do so appoint Steve fucking Bruce then standby and do nothing when relegation looms. Incredible really is and makes zero sense.

In his eyes he has already done something.... getting the rescue manager (Jones)'s feet under the table if a sacking is required. Therefore, in his eyes, alleviating any required transitional phase of getting players used to the new manager's methods.

Just looking at the results again for that 91/92 season and I completely forgot that, prior to the crucial Portsmouth home win, we lost 5 games in a row. Just shows the miracle that KK performed in eventually reversing the negative momentum & rescuing us as we would have dropped without him, no doubt about it. Even more miraculous how we started the following season so blisteringly well with what was more or less the same team. Someone remind me who we bought that summer of 92 though to bolster the team? Obviously we bought Rob Lee early into the season (September?), but who came in the summer apart from John Beresford? Was Kevin Sheedy another?

:lol:

 

Brilliant.

I was up above you in the Gallowgate wing of the Milburn Stand seats.

 

The Leazes wing of the Milburn Stand was the place to be back then. Full of absolute nutcases but they narve made a hell of a racket!

It was great in there back then. IIRC in KKs playing days the away fans would be in the end section of the Leazes, on the other side of the vehicle access bit? Sure i can remember a particularly lively atmosphere v Leeds one day. Think we won 2-1. I later got my 1st S/T in the Milburn centre paddock when Ossie was in charge, Around 1991. Not sure if there still was an East and centre paddock by then or it had been made into one big paddock?

 

Back in 1991 the Milburn Paddocks were lettered from A to E. A and B were towards the Gallowgate End and D and E were the other side of the players tunnel towards the Leazes End. C Paddock straddled either side of the tunnel I think. Then the Leazes End was split into 3 Paddocks ( F, G and H, away fans were allocated H Paddock by 1991) and then the Gallowgate was 4 Paddocks (J which was "the corner", K which was "the Scoreboard", L and M, M was known as "the old man's corner").

 

It was a dump tbh but I just loved the place!

The one and only thing that I really envied the Mackems for in the 80s was that they had a roof over their home end. If the Gallowgate had a roof in those days the noise coming from it would have been unreal. Thats one of the main reasons I loved going to all of the away games back then as the away end would usually have a cowshed-style roof and the noise we generated in all those games was off the scale.

I still remember being in the Gallowgate corner when David Kelly's shot hit the net in that Portsmouth game. Not sure if I have ever celebrated a NUFC goal as much as that. It came at a point in the game when I had all but accepted that we were heading for the 3rd divison.

Prior to Keegan arriving in the February, that 91/92 season was incredibly grim. A different kind of grim to that which we are currently experiencing, but exceptionally grim all the same.

If Ashley does sack Bruce, who do we think he will appoint as his replacement.  Is it possible he would go to Rafa and say look I know we don't see eye to eye, but I'm going to be gone from this club soon.  Will you accept a contract to the end of the season to keep the club in the EPL.  If the takeover falls through, or we get relegated, and you cannot work with me, you can walk away at the end of the season.  Keep us up and you get a bonus, and if the takeover goes through I know the consortium want you as manager so you will already be in situ for them.  A possibility or just a dream!!!

 

If he was given enough financial incentive, then of course he would.

He won't. Jones will take over.

Agree with that. But the reason Benitez wouldn't end up here again under Ashley has more to do with Fat Mike rather than Rafa. It's Ashley who would not consider under any circumstances asking Rafa to come back.

He’s motivated by money because he went to China?

He is motivated by money because everyone is motivated by money, no matter their status. And the package offered by the Chinese was a very significant part of why he took the job.

Benitez is more motivated by money than some on here would like to believe. He went to China for the coin, pure and simple, and good on him for doing so too.

I don't think it is that outlandish to suggest he would work for Ashley again, in conjunction with the consortium.

If Ashley does sack Bruce, who do we think he will appoint as his replacement.  Is it possible he would go to Rafa and say look I know we don't see eye to eye, but I'm going to be gone from this club soon.  Will you accept a contract to the end of the season to keep the club in the EPL.  If the takeover falls through, or we get relegated, and you cannot work with me, you can walk away at the end of the season.  Keep us up and you get a bonus, and if the takeover goes through I know the consortium want you as manager so you will already be in situ for them.  A possibility or just a dream!!!

 

If he was given enough financial incentive, then of course he would.

 

Eh? Not a chance.

Why wouldn't he? A three month contract worth a fortune with no ties. It's a no brainer.

If Ashley does sack Bruce, who do we think he will appoint as his replacement.  Is it possible he would go to Rafa and say look I know we don't see eye to eye, but I'm going to be gone from this club soon.  Will you accept a contract to the end of the season to keep the club in the EPL.  If the takeover falls through, or we get relegated, and you cannot work with me, you can walk away at the end of the season.  Keep us up and you get a bonus, and if the takeover goes through I know the consortium want you as manager so you will already be in situ for them.  A possibility or just a dream!!!

If he was given enough financial incentive, then of course he would.