ExiledGeordie

All over this. It's an exceptional post. midds[/member] Midds is spot on with everything he says there. I love the idea of him doing all that but also with the option to actually buy proper players to suit a system he wants. Not simply make do.

Rafa seems ideal to get the ship sailing, get the academy rolling and get everything in place. Get the foundations sorted then in a few years they can look at taking a punt on a different manager. That’s the best fit imo

That’s a very good point. The thing is too, corporations surely will get wind of whether they’ll pass the fit and proper persons test prior to it happening otherwise they would put through deposits of cash etc. Sue the last phase is the official point of takeover but organisations wouldn’t hand over millions if they weren’t pretty convinced they’d had a nod of approval. As you say it’s in these earlier stages you’d expect opposition. Mind I wouldn’t be surprised if they had already had opposition behind the scenes

The premier league can’t stop a deal because of advice/request from someone surely. That would open up a potential shit storm with this situation and set a precedent for future deals (and a litany of problems) and potential court cases. The deal has to be judged on the buyers specific criteria as set by the fit and proper persons test regardless of how effective this is seen as.

If they see Rafa as key to overseeing the whole operation and given the fact he knows exactly what’s needed and has the link with the fans and area then surely 20m is a small price to pay? I’m not saying it’ll definitely i don’t think 20m is an absurd amount in the wider context.

??

Culkin is probably the only one to take notice of when there’s any takeover story circulating

Bruce’s problem is he contradicts himself all the time. Talking up the squad and August window as being the best ever and then saying in January they couldn’t find a better striking option than what we have. Now he says the final 3rd has always been our Achilles heel ffs?

A poor loss to Burnley next weekend and the panic will really start to set in

How come Hayden can’t get a game ahead of him? ?‍♂️

Better clubs will surely be circling this summer

Has Luke Edwards tweeted yet

I can imagine the offer being there, everything ready to go but then Ashley saying “nah it’s not for me sorry” just to be a total cunt......because he can

That sounded utterly dire, what I heard on the radio ?

Something isn’t right if he can’t make an impact against a league 1 side

Signed a striker yet ??

What’s this Lazaro player like then?

Total bugger that if it’s his ACL, 6 months minimum realistically

Same here, might actually go to the pub to watch.

I was at Tynemouth market yesterday chatting to a bloke at one of the stalls - he sells old Newcastle match programmes among other things. He was laughing that my mate who was up from London looks a bit like Mike Ashley (he does amusingly). We then got onto Mike Ashley........and he offered a staunch defence of him, saved the club financially, shouldn’t be down to him to put millions in. Then proceeded to tell me that I wasn’t a supporter given I’ve decided to stop going because I don’t believe there’s any true ambition nor do I want to put money into it. I politely disagreed and put my point across and he’s obviously entitled to his opinion but it was astonishing really.

Caulkin is on point with almost all of his comments and analysis whereas Edwards seems to just push his own agenda. The WUM nature on Twitter now is pretty embarrassing and annoying too. I used to like some of his articles a while ago but he’s nosedived in recent times and I don’t read anything of his anymore.

This is truly desperate, giving out season tickets :lol:

I’m going round my sisters in laws to watch this in part just for a catch up. The last time I saw them they were shocked that I hadn’t been to any matches given I’ve finally moved back to Newcastle after 4 years. They were half giving it the “support the team not the regime” angle though neither of them goes that regularly. I just reeled off the list of things that have happened under Ashley and the complete lack of ambition finally encompassed by Rafas departure. I’ll have a beer and watch the match, cheer if they score but it’s all half-hearted stuff and I have absolutely no intention of going down St James. My Chelsea mate summed it up on the phone yesterday “there’s probably 3 teams worse than you which is way you’ll stay up”. That’s where we are Jesu. I actually think Saint-Maximan might score for some daft reason.

He's not interested in selling. We could be as attractive as you want, he won't sell. That's the issue. This is sadly the truth, he’s not going anywhere unless it goes completely belly up or someone offers him ludicrous money that blows everything out of the water.

If Saint-Maximin and Almiron ever start finding the net and they sign a striker for some desperately needed goals in Jan they’ll probably stay up. But really what’s the point? I guess the hope that someone buys us but that’s not happening is it.