Thumbheed

5 minutes ago, Colos Short and Curlies said:

Any attempted takeover of any other PL club by PIF would get caught up in so many legal challenges that it's a non starter.

MA would rightly sue the Premier League for more than the £350m and it would not be inconceivable for the government to get involved under anti-competition law.

There is too much floating around in terms of big 6 interference, and partner blocking through the piracy challenge / MBS link for any challenge by us to not cause enough strife for it not to be worth the hassle.

You've also got the 'side hustle' on the city development and what this will also mean for Saudi Arabia. Manchester is already tied up with Gulf money, it's just not an attractive option at the price with all of the baggage involved  

I don't think there's anything in the law that could force PIF to purchase us though, which means any subsequent legal case would be nothing to do with them.

Can only hope that there's some agreement with Ashley in place in light of the efforts he's going to to force through this takeover which makes PIF investing in another club unviable but even then I'd imagine there's a limit on that. 

Agree, investment in the city is a big plus point in our favour, but again, I think there's more value in what Man Utd brings to their image. 

15 minutes ago, HTT II said:

They did, but 4bn for Man Utd will double in cost quickly over say 300m plus 700m investment to bring NUFC upto a similar valued ‘brand’. If they wanted Man Utd, they could easily buy the club. They want NUFC to showcase among lots of other things that their investment, their expertise, their vision, can turn a tin pot sports store owner owned football club into a super elite club. There is bigger value in doing that then continuing spunking billions on Man Utd to do what they’ve done these last 30 years, win some trophies every other year. I have good friends who are from SA and it’s not simply about money, it’s about pride and showcasing how SA can transform and bring huge value to any project, sporting or otherwise. 

Financially it obviously makes perfect sense to purchase us over Man Utd, but you have to offset this with what they're trying to achieve with Vision2030 which appears to be about diversifying their economy as well as reestablishing their image on the world stage. 

Sadly, you only need to look at this very board to see how easily their less savoury antics are forgotten at the slightest hint of investment in a football club, now multiply that impact by the substantially larger Man Utd fanbase. 

That's where the real value is. 

19 minutes ago, HTT II said:

I can’t see SA paying 4bn for Man Utd...

4bn is nothing to PIF. They paid $3.5bn for a 4.3% stake in Uber. 

1 hour ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

A major part of it is sportswashing though right? Which isn’t related to the purchase price or the future value. 

Agree with this, not sure making money sits as high up on their agenda as having a centrepiece for vision2030 does. 

I would have genuine concerns that they would switch their attentions to Man U given the opportunity.

20 minutes ago, DurhamMag said:

Yes your right, I read the page wrong!! Oh bloody hell sorry guys.

I thought the part underneath the tweet was how had liked it.. 

 

 

Lock the thread again.

4 minutes ago, huss9 said:

in a year's time?

 

You know something I don't?

26 minutes ago, huss9 said:

if ashley doesnt gets his £350m from PIF - he aint selling. 

If Ashley doesn't get his £350m, then we protest. 

19 hours ago, Shearergol said:

Right dog, get yourself out there and run around a bit.

"Let's play"

17 minutes ago, gdm said:

This is why there has to be discussion and not all this whinging about people disagreeing because the people disagreeing aren’t being positive 

Over and over and over and over again. 

We get it, you don't beleive it, why do you keep telling us? 

5 minutes ago, gdm said:

I’m 100% for positive posts but if it’s essentially lies and made up it serves the opposite purpose. I haven’t actually said anything about people posting positive posts I’ve said there should’ve be two threads and people should’ve be dictating what & where other people post.

Thanks for completely misunderstanding 

But it's only the "realists" who've been mostly wrong about whether the takeover was on or off who get to decide what's a lie and what's not? 

Righto.

Not sure why it's so hard to understand that if your views align with Luke Edwards, then this is probably not the thread for you. 

But then again if your views did align with him, then it makes sense why you struggle understand that in the first place. 

15 minutes ago, Dokko said:

This sounds promising, really hope he’s on the level. It does sound like he’s got something against the PL and it’s actually good news that it’s on hold. It really does seem this account is an extension of the legal team on our side. Basically doing the dirty work they can’t seem to get involved with. If so then it probably is something big and is being used as leverage against the PL. if it comes out though you can probably kiss goodbye for any cooperation from the PL and for them to double down on the takeover. 

To be honest, if it's something the PL are desperate to keep from the public, then fuck them and release it anyway.

No way should we be providing shade for them cunts, let them burn. 

36 minutes ago, Jackie Broon said:

Well, its all just speculation right now because we don't actually know what the story is, never mind what it is based on, but the Saudis had Jeff Bezos's phone hacked for months without him knowing, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Saudi security service have been surveilling Masters and Hoffman and the results have fallen into Keith's hands.

What to release to the Sheilds Gazette via Keith from Whitley Bay?

12 minutes ago, Jackie Broon said:

I think if the messages have been have been acquired by nefarious means they would be inadmissible.

Also, I'm not sure it's actually relevant to the case in hand. 

5 minutes ago, Shearergol said:

Personally I feel it's the opposite.

Thought you might

4 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

Will that mean all of a sudden it’s going to be waved through?

I can't see why not. If Masters and Hoffman were shown to be complicit in a conspired effort to delay the takeover without just cause (which does seem to be the case) then perhaps the roadblocks go away with their removal. 

14 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

How does this help the takeover?

Removal of Masters and Hoffman? 

15 minutes ago, neesy111 said:

Both wrong.

Ashley and Colocinni, no?

Aye, I'm basing my guess on the fact he basically says as much in tweet above...pretty significant if true.

Calling it.

Reckon it'll be something about proof that Masters and Hoffman were supportive of the ESL, they'll be forced to resign in the uproar, which will hopefully clear the way for our Takeover. 

14 minutes ago, Candi_Hills said:

VAR cuts the greedy 6 refereeing bias in half. Now they can only give the borderline decisions to Liverpool and Man U.

Maybe I have a more romantic view of the game than others, but football is more than the result to me.

I love that football can make you go through about 20 emotions in about 5 minutes, and I will always love that more than scraping a 1-1 draw with a team who've had a 95 minutes winner disallowed because their striker had a stray pube in an offside position. 

10 minutes ago, HTT II said:

It’s fucking shocking, takes away so much from the game, moment and legitimate goals which Wilson’s was! 

It honestly is, just another step in making the game more and more plastic. 

Designed for people who love the result more than the game itself. 

Don't understand anyone defending VAR. 

Literally the best part of the game is celebrating a goal and VAR completely takes that moment away. 

1 hour ago, Yorkie said:

If the hitch is still separation between PIF/the state then I don't see how the events of the last 72 hours has any sway on the takeover at all, tbh. 

Worst case scenario - nothing

Best case scenario- perspective 

17 minutes ago, Stifler said:

No, it’s £3.5bn between them all.

I wonder if this is contingency money in case they get kicked out the leagues.