Wandy

I don't understand why anyone would be clinging on to the hope of when the club is eventually sold to someone else. Simple fact is that we would still ultimately be under the jurisdiction of the corrupt organisation who denied the club and the city a once in a lifetime opportunity to progress. It doesnt matter what happens from here on. I wont be able to forget the events of the last 4 months so the game is now forever tainted. Having a classless, penny pinching owner is one thing that can eventually be moved on from. But the PL organisation will always be there to remind us of what they did to us in 2020. The Premier League have done something that even Ashley could not achieve - permanently remove all hope for the future.

The point is being missed in all of this anyway, as this saga has somehow shown that Ashley isn't the real villain when you get down to brass tacks. So it doesnt matter if or when another buyer comes along, the simple fact is that this buyer was prevented from making the purchase due to corruption in the Premier League. NUFC have just had their final chance to join the elite denied them due to corruption. And from here on no takeover will offer more potential than the one just denied, or be able to erase the memory of what happened when the club was stopped from becoming the richest in the game due to the establishment clubs fearing they will be usurped. Like many, I am done with football now in all of its forms. I will hang around on here for a little while as part of the grieving process over the events of yesterday and to observe the fallout of it all. But once I have got over it then thats it for me. I read someone say earlier that Ashley's NUFC will now quickly fall apart. I disagree - this is the true beginning of his NUFC because the old one that died yesterday was the lingering remnants of the Keegan/SBR era. Those years between 1992 and 2004 have sustained the idea that NUFC could still break the elite given the right break. Well yesterday confirmed that this will never happen. And from today NUFC just moved down the rankings a few pegs, into the bracket of clubs like Sunderland & West Brom - clubs who have the odd day in the sun but generally yoyo between the top two leagues, and will never, ever challenge the establishment clubs. I also suspect they will now become a club that has a stadium that is too big for them, because they wont average anywhere near 50k crowds for a very long time, if ever. At least the sale of Strawberry Place is no longer anything to get upset about.

If this somehow falls through because of Ashley and SJP is still even half full when crowds return this club deserves to die. Drop through the leagues and never return.

I imagine the Saudis would be able to legally block the sale of the club to any other party until their own dispute with the PL has been resolved. The Mauriss thing is utter bollocks IMO.

Without a doubt. It's right there staring people in the face now. Anyone who thinks the establishment of the PL are not having any influence in this are just downright naive. If this gets rejected I hope SA have amassed enough evidence to bring the entire PL crashing down and finally bursting the bubble properly.

Fair to say now too its bollocks to suggest that Newcastle fans are just "paranoid" that the deal hasnt happened because its not an establishment club at the centre of a takeover bid. It's as clear as day that this a major factor, if not THE defining reason that this being blocked. Piracy my arse.

Then there'd be the argument about the club's valuation. They would use the funds acquired from suing the PL to cover the loss of income due to relegation.

At this rate I can actually see PIF acquiring NUFC as a Championship club. Not even kidding. That's how long this could rumble on for.

Man City were a nothing club until recently. The PL is a product, they want the investment. They don't give a fuck who the recipient is as long as it's one of their members. When City were bought it looked like it was going to put them on a par with the elite, not completely obliterate that elite financially like this takeover will (in theory) do. I mean, City themselves will look like paupers compared to NUFC. No doubt in my mind whatsoever now that the elite are doing everything they can do scupper this. And the PL have always been looking to block this deal rather than push it through.

To me this just smacks of the PL not liking how much financial muscle NUFC will have under the Saudis, hence them not liking the "management structure". Can't have those Geordies having ten times more wealth than Man City and even more so than Man Utd and Liverpool. I'm sure they'd pass it if they can somehow place the PIF in a financial straightjacket that allows the PL to remain "competitive", ie allows the established elite to continue their dominance for the foreseeable. If there is no decision this week then the Saudis should start court proceedings for blatant obstruction of trade. Ironically they would probably have more chance of legal success in this way, rather than contesting an outright rejection.

I did the exact same thing. Sacked it off last week.

Can't wait to hear Penn's thoughts on this latest development.

Absolutely no way it fizzles out with the current state of play between Qatar and Saudi. Whoever gets the outcome they favour will immediately spin it as a victory. I was referring to the fact that it will fizzle out for us as fans who hoped for a takeover. Political tensions will rumble on between SA and Qatar but that will no longer have any relevance for us.

People need to give it a rest with the "there will be a legal battle if it fails" bollocks. There will be no legal repercussions. All parties will say nothing and try to pretend that the whole farce never happened, allowing it to fizzle out with barely a murmur of complant. Meanwhile we will be left to pick up the pieces once again. I get why people keep peddling the legal action line. Its because they feel that someone, somewhere needs to pay a price for making us fans suffer like this. But its not going to happen. Unfortunately we are the ones who will be in bits about this and all of the other parties will just walk away with a shrug.

There is every chance that this was rejected weeks ago and all parties have now got their heads down, hoping that everyone just forgets that it ever happened.

I really, really hope new owners bring Rafa back next month. Not only because of how good it will be for the health of the club, but also for how much it will upset this prick and his supporters.

Yeah he didn't set the place on fire when managing us but, in his defence, he had the unenviable task of being the first manager after Arthur Cox and the original Keegan Era. When Keegan left in 1984 their was a vaccum at the club and you could feel it. And to be fair to Big Jack, if I remember right, he did have us top of the league after the first 3 games.

Very classy tribute that from Clive Tyldesley.

If the takeover falls through then it's unlilkely to mean a significant decrease in home attendances from those pre-Covid. However that also means that the club is still in a position where it now needs to give away 10K free season tickets to fill SJP. And what that also means is that those 10K who walked away last summer will be those who are now saying if the takeover collapses they are done with football altogether. Which means that the club has a long term problem of having to fill 10k seats with full-paying customers. Whereas before a departing Ashley may have seen the 10K return it will now be the case that not even that happening will get them back. For those people their grievances will now run even deeper than just getting rid of Mike Ashley.

It will be an absolutely horrendous waste of time and money if he is here next season under new owners. Having said that, as much as I love Rafa I also moving away from the idea of wanting him to come back too as it is simply never the same the second time around. We need a fresh start...no idea who that might be at the moment but this is where I am at now.

He's going to be kept in the job, even in the event of a takeover, isn't he?

Ashley wouldn't have signed a deal with those kind of conditions attached.

If the PL somehow have the audacity to still block this then I hope Ashley lives up to his "you have no idea how nasty we can be" reputation and takes them to the absolute cleaners. For the first time ever I'd be rooting for him. Would love it if they had the triple whammy of Ashley, Staveley and PIF going for them at the same time and stripping them of a few hundred million.

You say that, but I worry that new owners would listen to this relentless media bullshit and start being influenced by it. Especially if they start taking a microphone on the streets and radio phone-ins to the most dim-witted element of our support who will give it the "Brucie is a Geordie" bollocks.

Danny Murphy and Phil Neville desperately trying to get Bruce the gig if the takeover happens. These cunts from the establishment are gong to try every trick in the book to throw a spanner in our works. "Newcastle need a manager who knows the area" ...they are absolutely desperate to keep the stereotype alive and kicking and keep NUFC "in their box".