St1pe

Aye it’s mental. He’s clearly had a line to Stavely and was relaying what she knew or thought she knew. I don’t think he’s tried to pretend anything else. People now having a go at him is weird. He’s one of the good guys without an agenda like a lot out there.

My gut feeling based on what had been said from his info and what’s followed is for whatever reason pif have changed there mind. Maybe they’ve been required to bend too far and decided to pull the plug. It’s clear the other investors and Ashley were on board to sell.

Fuck off with that hope

Are we likely to get a club statement today? Because we deserve one. If it is officially dead we also need some sort of indication what is happening moving forward. Not just for us but for the players as well. Is there actually going to be funds available this window? I know there’ll be tons of people who don’t care after it’s collapsed but there needs to be some sort of plan to move forward. I bet for the first time in this ownership process Mike is just as fed up as us ?

Fair play to the number of posters on here who predicted that only to be shot down. I guess it’s proven to be massive naivety on my part but I just didn’t foresee an entity like the PIF walking away in response to something like that.

This feels a bit like when Keegan walked out the second time and there were murmurs from sources he could be talked around. It’s false hope.

Are we expecting any action from the NUST or are the board going to be meeting to discuss next steps?

I don’t think they have though. They’ve been given an out. They don’t have to do or say anything bar likely a few non-specific words about a confidential process. Then everything will just rumble on.

I’m also confused why they were due to release a statement to put pressure on the Premier League but decided to withdraw instead. Staveley’s comments about it being up to the fans to put pressure on the Premier League are massively unfair also. The fan base is broken by the whole process. Im sure the same journalists that have attacked the process with such gusto will be putting in the same effort to get some answers for us though. I’m sure they’ll be putting the same scrutiny on the clubs direction come the start of the season too.

I was thinking down a similar thought process but surely this would have been discussed privately with the parties involved? With the information that’s come out and the consortium seemingly putting the entire blame on the Premier League it doesn’t really add up for me. They seem to be claiming the issue isn’t with Ashley or a second bidder. Fine. They’re claiming they’ve answered every question posed and the withdrawal is directly related to the Premier League not making a decision or putting a date on the decision. So why pull out then in this big toys out of the pram style of demonstration. I’m absolutely no business expert here but if they’ve been involved this long and we’re truly winding down to the last stages here what’s another couple of weeks? All parties agreed to pull out, why? I think I agree with most here it’s a formal withdrawal, there’s nothing for the Premier League to do anymore. They’ve made the process so obtuse and beyond the realms of the O&D test that the buyers have backed off without putting them into a situation where they’ve had to make a decision upsetting a sponsor. I don’t think enough of the focus is on why they’ve pulled out though. The dangling of the unlikely carrot is frustrating by them and another party involved in this with a complete disregard for the fan base. No one has lost more than us during this whole process and when this takeover disappears out of the news by the new season we’ll be expected to lap up the shit football and know our place.

It’s my wedding anniversary today and we’re just about to head out for food and I’m in a proper mood. I’m either going to forget about this or get properly wrong off the Mrs while we’re out ?

Told you so’s and the didn’t want it to happen lot are really boiling my piss on twitter.

Imagine how virtually impossible it’s going to be to believe or get behind another bid. You couldn’t get any closer to competition and it’s still fucked up. 3 months back we wore out refresh buttons expecting announcements. Given the gravity of the bid and the potential financial clout this is going to be a what could have been story for every one of us for probably the rest of our lives.

£15m summer warchest

I wonder how fast this credible second bid from Mauris goes completely to pieces then?

I hope we actually get some information for once

Forget the whys and what happened for now. This really really stings doesn’t it. Hope of a better club was in clutching distance.

Reads like #cans again

I can’t be the only one that thought there’d been a takeover decision when the forum was down before? ?

I know they’ve made some expensive transfers over the past few seasons but they’ve had the PL money coming in. How have they managed to amount £81m in owed transfer fees? Seems like it could be a bit of a Leeds type of situation if they go down.

The response would have been similar to what Ian Mearns got yesterday. As for dialogue, as per the conditions of O and D test they wouldn't be able to! Oh I get that. I don’t expect they’re now part of the process or even that they’re being kept informed. This reason given for not releasing the letter was to establish a dialogue or something a long those lines and was wondering whether it had been of benefit to the group.

So have the NUST established any sort of dialogue with the Premier League? Again, this isn’t a being an arsehole type question, just interested if there actions have been of benefit.

The letter that wasn't a publicity stunt, but they felt the need to publicly announce they sent it? Well yes - you don't engage a leading football law barrister to make legal arguments on your behalf in favour of something - and then when he tells you that releasing copies of letters would undermine his correspondence and their impact rendering the exercise pointless- just ignore him and release it all for a few likes on Twitter. It was a serious question though. Has it been of benefit?