Hughesy

Still think Tuchel would be a great shout. Obviously dependent on PSG sacking him as I can't see the Qataris wanting him to come to us.

Yep - extend the Gallowgate and add 8-10,000 seats and refurb the stadium. 60-62,000 would be enough. 62,000 would be pretty much the second biggest stadium behind Old Trafford.

Great post. Only quibble is that I'm getting fed up of the term "whataboutery". I understand that whataboutery can deflect from the underlying issues, but pointing out inconsistencies in people's analysis of a situation doesn't seem to me to irrelevant, yet now always appears to be dismissed as such.

Would love Rafa back. But if we couldn't get him, I'd love to see us go after Nagelsmann or, if PSG ditch him, Tuchel would be amazing.

I don't give a shite about human rights abuses within the context of a sport Thanks bud. Good to get the moral depravity out in the open. Saudis have their fingers in many services we use everyday. I don’t see why when all of a sudden football is involved people start finding a moral compass. Well, a long time ago football clubs were meant to mean something in terms of cities, people and maybe values. Yeah - but that was quite a long time ago. Not sure we've even had that in recent memory, given the way the Halls and the Shepherds treated the club.

If the press have this £150m number based on the papers filed this morning, they are jumping to conclusions. The reports are ignoring the credit facility provided to Cantervale by the Reubens and Ashley has no recourse over the shares he is selling, only over Staveley's claims against Barclays and other assets of PCP Capital Partners (the UK entity of which, had assets of zero per last accounts). Ashley would be insane to lend £150m secured against £150m of legal claims plus £13m cash. Totally agree with this. The £150m figure is confusing a lot of journalists.

That Simon Chadwick is definitely briefing on Twitter that the Saudi involvement will be limited.

Why would the Saudis and the Reubens need to pay over 5 years? Maybe Ashley wouldn’t sell up unless he was guaranteed advertising or income for a set period, and therefore Staveley etc obviously wouldn’t pay the whole amount until that period was up? Who knows? Could also be performance related payments or linked to the HMRC investigation. Loads of reasons to withhold some of the purchase price.

I just can't see a world in which this doesn't happen. Admittedly we only have a snapshot of everything that's going on, but everything points to this happening and it being confirmed imminently (albeit I don't know exactly how the PL processes work). You don't grant security and enter into loan agreements for bantz.

Just plain wrong to say "none of the documents filed make any sense".

Agreed - I mean usually any security is dated the same date as completion in my world, so this is all a bit odd.

I don't think the 150m reference means anything in particular. It's simply a representation relating to the value of the security.

Granting security is way way more important than setting up a company. This is a whole new level. In fact, it'd be very strange to give security over assets unless a deal has actually occurred.

Isn't that exactly whats in Dokko's post, something from PCP to St James Holdings? I dunno much about companies house stuff tbf. Yes, some of the one's associated with the club have changed, although why St James Holdings is lending money is a strange one. Could it be a charge for some kind of Deposit? Someone on twitter has said it means Ashley takes the club back if they default on the loan? Wouldn't surprise me for him to insert something like that. That would be correct given my experience IF the loan is defaulted. Or at least it's a possibility. The secured asset under the PCP security is her claim (or the proceeds thereof) against Barclays.

This is absolutely happening.

The second Robert goal vs Spurs in the 4-0. The volley was amazing, but the second one was almost more audacious. Amazing hit.

This -

I'm intrigued to know what people think Staveley (or the Reuben brothers or PIF) gain from this, if they are all in on a conspiracy with Fat Mike. Having multiple attempts to buy a business fail doesn't tend to help.

Agreed. The stats revealed in Miguel Delaney's first piece, where he showed how points totals are much higher in the top 4 than previously, are obviously undisputable, but I don't believe they really point to a reduction in competition. They're saying you have to be better, these days, to get there - but then teams generally are better thanks to better resources across the board. Sheffield United, Wolves and Leicester will all finish between 3rd and 8th this season. That doesn't point to a closed shop, imo. Not sure I totally agree with that. If you take our last decent period under Robson, we had a chance of winning the league for 3 seasons or so. It might have been a small chance, but we were involved in the title race until March on a couple of occasions. And the same could be said for at least 5-6 clubs over that period. In addition, making the leap from mid table to CL qualification was possible and something that could be sustained if you were a well run club. Sheffield United could finish in the top 4 this season - although extremely unlikely - but they sure as hell won't be doing it the season after or the season after that.

Always feel Remy gets a bit overlooked in the list of our decent strikers over the years. Had a real effortlessness about the way he played - wish he'd hung around for a bit longer.

I feel slightly uneasy as well, but I always find it a bit odd that a different standard is applied to football fans. I mean the Saudis invest in all kinds of stuff that people still consume, yet we don’t upbraid people for using Uber.

Kind of feel that if it doesn't happen this time, it just isn't ever going to happen.

Genuinely can't believe people were writing this guy off for a few errors. Fucking bizarre.

Linked with Piatek as well. Not sure that would be a great move. Nor would he come.