Tiresias

Gayle is constantly mentioned as if he's a proven goal scorer. He is in the championship, every time he is given a run in premier league he's a 1 in 10 striker at best. Shocking miss

Bit unfair barely had a chance

what a free kick

It's mreo that after winning with this last season Rafa got a lot of flack and Bruce will get nothing but praise for pragmatism

Imagine the stick that Rafa would get for this Oh wait he won against Man City with this and got so much stick

FSG had to go to court though didn't they?

Maybe the press couldnt have predicted it (though actually think they probably should have done, this was all ongoing as was) but PCP could have predicted it. The sudden attempt to clean up just looks disingenuous now and should have been done in advance.

Don't disagree

Oh yeah no doubt, but Caulkins sources were very confident it wouldnt take too long and it has. They were always going to be very confident, they could hardly say 'hmmm we may get shafted by our piracy". Edwards got lucky ofc and yes in long run Caulkins lot will likely be right but can't pretend this is what they envisioned either

Hmmm he is often very annoying but he's not wrong. Caulkin (who is a one of the best writers on us) clearly got led along by the over confidence of the buying side. They were never going to say it may be difficult. Of course they may well have good reason to believe they had every chance of being waved through, and Edwards has got lucky to say i told you so but honestly we all got a bit too excited based on one side of the deal getting ahead of themselves.

Great goal

Great counter but awful defending

Is Leeds' keeper 12 years old?

Football administration not being totally transparent and above board? Seriously though, yes it is all a bit dubious, but it's not like Saudi Arabia have their hands clean either. I am surprised it wasn't waved through due to how much money on offer tbh. I just think everyone acting like Bein sports thing being an issue is a) surprising, and b) completely unreasonable. Sorry any major broadcasting partner is always going to have a lot of sway, officially or unofficially and the premier league is not going to totally ignore Saudi Arabia's fairly brazen piracy for years. And to repeat. I hope it'll pass, I think it's just stupid power games between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and it's silly it's bleeding into football and all and no I'm not taking sides, I just don't accept Saudi Arabia as innocent victims (not are Qatar innocent victims) of a much more savvy Qatar campaign. Yes they are lobbying against us, yes they maybe are wielding an outsize influence (though again they ARE a major broadcasting partner) and they are doing what Saudi Arabia should have been well prepared for them to do. They have to have known that Bein would object, they could have prepared for this all by tidying up the piracy in well in advance considering how long this takeover has been in preparation.

I mean it's a stupid situation all round no doubt, but I do think that some people have talked themselves completely into this saudi arabia are 100% in the right and there is no justification at all for Bein to be involved. Bein pay for TV rights from the league. They are engaged with this long standing squabble with Saudi Arabia for power in the region i guess but feels pretty childish all round. I don't really care who started it, but lot on here seem to think it's black and white etc. Say you were handsomely paying another business for a service when your arch nemesis signs up to be a stakeholder in that business of course you would kick up a fuss, especially when your arch nemesis has been using lets say less than ethical and above the board methods of gaining an advantage over you. Once they own Newcastle lets not forget the league is essentially owned by the clubs in it, it gives them sway and of course SA would then be seeking to dismiss any Qatari influence from the league at all. All silly stuff really. And then they did have the gall to suggest they only had to be asked to stop the piracy. That is not something that will make the premier league happy cos it's obvious total bullshit. I had hoped that the anti piracy stuff was an explicit deal to be allowed in rather than just a show of good faith, but they may have blown that good faith with that bs. I'm not saying the league should be taking this bloody long, it is ridiculous, and I'm not saying the league should care what Bein has to say, but Qatar are acting as anyone would expect them to act in the circumstances, the league can't flat out ignore the concerns of one of their major customers and are entitled too to feel a bit concerned they are about to become pawns in a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Even if you ignore all the sportwashing etc it should also be of some concern to everyone, as short term fun the saudi ownership will be, if one of the main motivations of buying the club is to one up Qatar, what are the long term motivations? What if something changes geopolitically and the Qatar squabble is pushed aside, and they decide actually Newcastle United is an expensive folly? Of course all this mega wealth coming in the league is totally vulnerable to this but it still seems like people should be a little more concerned. Ultimately, in my opinion, it is obscene for nation states to own football clubs. Now it is ridiculous to single us out while Man City etc are all funded ridiculously, but I do fear for the clubs in the premier league in decades to come when this financial bubble bursts and the billionaire investors suddenly lose interest. Anyway, sorry to clarify, I am very much excited to see the back of Ashley and god feel this club needs some ambition. the flaws in it are systemic and not the fault of the fans or even club or buyers themselves so I am going to enjoy it. I am a little more worried than some that it will be rejected I think, and I also think maybe there is no absolute right in this and no cartoon villains. Qatar are almost certainly right in thinking that if SA take over NUFC they will lose broadcast rights. Do people expect them to just roll over? All this talk of dodgy influence etc? Where have you been for the last few decades? Football and all sport is completely run by gangsters and chancers, why do people have any expectation of fair open transparency? That's why we need fan owned clubs etc. The thing of it is, you can have sustainable ownership of clubs with transparency and fans having proper say and safeguards, but then you don't get Trillionaires parachuting in and buying all the best players etc. The former is not the world we live in.

obvs cos their favourites won the league lol

Honestly its on a friday at 3pm or bust for me

the new positive noises, the question is if SA have taken action against piracy because they hope that will appease the league, or if the league have said do this and we'll rubber stamp it. Both would bring positive noises from the SA side (whom has to be said the ones who seem to be talking incessantly to journos), hopefully it's the latter of course.

Must be shite for a winner like Ancelotti having to put up with a cheer leading idiot like Ferguson just because he's part of the furniture. My everton mate claims they once did try and sack him from the coaching staff but noone was brave enough to say it to his face and he just stayed

Carlo Ancelloti and Duncan Ferguson are like some good cop bad cop detective duo on ITV, Carlo loves fine wine opera and loves the intellectual game with the serial killer. Ferguson is the tough ex bobby with a shady past who does all the dirty work. Carlo and Duncan in MerseyBeat 2 coming to ITV4 this autumn

Kevin Philips font of all knowledge

:lol: :lol:

Who was guarding our precious statues while Brucie was at the game tho???

This derby is always rubbish but this takes the biscuit.

Eh? the bid was accepted ages ago...just waiting for premier league approval not FA