Wandy

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.

That statement reads like a warning to me. Get this over the line or the whole shit show will end up in the public domain. Notice how government intervention and the recent handling of the ESL is prominently mentioned. Reads to me like Ashley saying he has the ear of the government.

Yep, he is showing his true colours now. I will admit, his tweets have left me feeling demoralised in the past but now I just ignore them, safe in the knowledge that he is nothing more than a WUM. He's the professional equivalent of Burnsie.

Edwards is such a wanker. He's actually upset that NUFC fans are staying level headed and not complaining about a lack of spending money on new players. Why? Because it's giving him nothing to write about, that's why.

He knows as much as that Burnsie character. Notice he has gone from "it's dead and not happening" to "it wont happen before transfer window closes". He's a completely discredited bullshitter.

And that is why he should be fondly remembered. Nowhere near legendary status though. I will remember him for standing up to Ashley's bullshit, recognising the club's huge potential and openly talking about it in public. I will also remember going into every game being fully confident that no team would ever give us a hiding, such was the defensive strength he'd instilled in the side. It's just a shame he never got to build on that.

I'm not conflicted at all. I hope he fails spectacularly. Nothing against him but I cannot stand Everton fans and it will be galling to see them succeed, bearing in mind how much contempt they have for us. Benitez is simply another part of NUFC history now and should be fondly remembered but absolutely not revered. An excellent manager for us but nowhere near being a legend. Legendary status is reserved for a very select few. Kevin Keegan, Joe Harvey, Jackie Milburn are NUFC legends. Rafa Benitez isn't.

Rafa went to China, probably in the full knowledge in the back of his mind that it wouldn't work out and he wouldn't be there for long, but would make a fortune in the process. There was also no obvious job available in the UK that would match his ambitions at that time so it was a no brainer. The Everton job is on another level altogether. A consistently big English club that has ambition, money to spend, a new super-stadium on the horizon and in his home city. As long as he gets off to a decent start his LFC connections will be quickly forgotten. Football fans are massively fickle and Benitez knows this.

There's also the very real chance that Benitez would still have taken the Everton job over the Saudi-owned NUFC job. Let's not forget that even if the takeover goes through it's not going to be another Man City situation so the Everton job would still be every bit as attractive to him. They are currently are a bigger club, have money to spend, have a better squad and are in his home city. There's every chance he would have still rejected us if both positions had been available at the same time. The idea that he "loved" NUFC is sentimental tosh, he simply recognised the potential of the club. But that potential is also there at Everton, unfortunately.

It is. 100%.

Someone has posted this screenshot on 606...seems to show "Contest Jurisdiction Result"...dated today. Could be photoshop bollox but.... Edit : Ignore...aye, it's bollox.

Exactly. It's not difficult to see why Benitez is sticking his fingers in his ears to all of the outrage.

The worst part about this for us NUFC fans is that, despite all of this abuse, Benitez will be great for EFC. And when he has them properly challenging for a top four place, and maybe wins them a trophy, all of this harassment will be conveniently forgotten about...."never happened" etc.

I can't deny that I'm feeling dangerously hopeful about this right now. Could be misplaced, but might as well indulge in positivity for what must surely be the final straight. If it collapses for good this time I really don't think it could sting as much as it did last July.

Again I agree. I never had a problem with Benitez's pragmatic approach and would be happy to see us be like that again. Not sure if the entire fanbase would though. Depends on what the new owners' approach to transfers and short-term targets are.

I agree. But if he does end up back here I don't think he will be held on a pedestal like he was the first time around.

The more I think about it the less I think it's a good idea for Benitez to come back tbh. It's never the same the second time around and if we have strong financial backing I think a lot of our support would get antsy about the conservative football. I think Rafa got a lot of leeway from the support because of Ashley's penny pinching, together with the fact that he was a big name who was prepared to come to the club, despite the owner.