Shadow Puppets

Absolutely fucking horrendous performance saved by an absolutely horrendous decision.

Well this is shambolic.

Few key bits from that Athletic article...

This is great like!

You’re a moron.

I actually feel more optimistic after that statement. A break to the stalemate. It’s going to get messy and maybe this is what we need to force something through.

? He's missed 11 PL games in the last 2 years. Hardly injury prone.

Pure guess work but Ashley hasn’t taken bid off table and it’s still with PL, we know for definite all communication must go through club. It’s rumoured Ashley is working to save deal, I suspect he’s still in dialogue with consortium and PL to find a way to get this through. Will it happen who knows, but the point being there is a glimmer and certainly discussions are still happening. It’s been reported PIF will return if green light is assured, how they get to that point is for far more skilled people in this sphere than ourselves to work out. Also it’s still worth recalling the Southampton takeover, they initially knocked it back but found a way to restructure it. I still retain hope that Rick Astley will be belting out over the tannoy before Xmas to herald Staveley’s arrival (sorry for the last sentence Shaun). The actual deal expired and no longer exists. In reality, despite what Amanda Staveley said, Ashley probably fucked the consortium right off, by trying to get more money out of them. Careful now, you don't want the usual suspects claiming you hate women by saying things like that. I wasn't looking to point the finger at her. It was right for her to be nice to Ashley as they are/were trying to conduct a business deal, but I'm at a loss as to what is now being discussed if the deal has expired and the PIF have publicly pulled out. I do want to be wrong, I really do, but I don't want to spend any more energy waiting and hoping for positive news. Who says the deal has expired? Publicly pulling out is different to privately as well. I’ve been pretty sure for the last month that things will almost certainly be happening behind the scenes in an effort to get the deal / OD test passed quietly. I really feel that the whole public withdrawal is a ploy to throw Bein, Amnesty etc off the scent, keep it out of the public eye, and get it passed without further public scrutiny. It only became public last time because of the companies house stuff. That doesn’t need to happen this time. In theory the next we would likely hear (providing there are no leaks) is if the deal goes through or not.

Saturday night drinking again HTT?

HTT is editor!

I’m pretty much convinced that the takeover is still being worked on like, and have been quietly confident since PIF pulled out and the subsequent statements / leaks from all involved. I believe it was a power play / a good way to reduce the scrutiny surrounding the deal. As far as I’m aware there is no need for any formal acknowledgment that a deal is back on / the owners test has resumed, therefore the parties can get on with getting the deal through without BEIN, Amnesty and co even realising that it is back on. Remember, we only found out that the owners test had started because of some leaks at companies house. They won’t happen if a deal is resurrected, therefore we’ll not find out if and when the tests resume. Basically, “let’s tell everyone it’s off so we stop getting letters / scrutiny from all angles, and let’s push it through quietly”. That’s what I’m choosing to believe is happening at the moment. They’re working to get it done as quietly as possible with zero leaks. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Like GC and the other journalists have said, if it was completely dead, Stavely and co would have drawn a line under it publicly. I don’t think they would leave us hanging without closure.

Not thick at all. Looking at the situation with critical eyes Nothing to stop him doing some actual journalism and checking to see if what he's been told is actually based in any kind of factual world. Unless it was just an interview and reported as one, rather than taking a single source as gospel That's fine in most scenarios, but with one source (we are assuming) involved in a highly confidential process, I'm not sure how feasible that is. In that case a decent journalist wouldn't report as fact, and would write as an opinion piece. Probably not feasible to report with checks, but that should have been made clear. You are literally spouting complete and utter gibberish like. I don't know how thick people have to be to see it the way you do, but George has made it abundantly clear every time he's shared his bits of info that "the buyer's believe...", "it's from the buyer's", "the buyer's have been told there are no red flags". All of those things are true, or were true at the time of reporting. As far as I'm aware, as someone who knows George a little bit, he hasn't once said that "THE TAKEOVER WILL BE APPROVED ON DAY XYZ".

I'm not convinced at all that this deal is dead like. Within the next couple of weeks we'll hear more I'm sure.

100% definitely not. It's gone quiet, but there's no way Staveley, Reuben's and PIF have completely walked away. Not a chance. My personal belief is this PR exercise regarding the new takeover rumours is an attempt to push PIF to get back to the table and offer the PL what they want.

Feel like this bid is quite possibly designed to give the PIF a kick up the arse to get back to the table.

I think it's pretty clear from the murmerings from all involved that we haven't heard the end of it. The statements from all of the buyers for a start, plus little tidbits of information coming from relatively well placed journalists. its sounding like desperation from Stavely specifically, theres nothing to indicate PIF are in any way interested in restarting this. Except for both Stavely and the Reuben's releasing statements that "ALL PARTIES" still want it to happen?

I think it's pretty clear from the murmerings from all involved that we haven't heard the end of it. The statements from all of the buyers for a start, plus little tidbits of information coming from relatively well placed journalists.

Go on, I'll bite... why exactly does it look ridiculous? If they are being made to jump through hoops that they believe are completely out of line?

Don't share people's pessimism after reading that. It's just an explanation of what has happened up until now, and nothing that we didn't really know. The question is, and has always been, whether the consortium and PL can come to some arrangement moving forward. There is a telling line at the end regarding "continuing" to keep NUFC up to date. I don't think it's over, but it's clearly not close.

I think it's possible to say that you like the 3rd kit, without saying you'd WEAR the third kit, like ? I think it'll look good on the pitch... wouldn't be caught dead wearing it.

Like the third kit. Not keen on the away.

He got my letter then!