Armchair Pundit

F*ck sake, this cycle's getting tedious. It's at the stage now for me where it just feels like the FA are stalling until someone gives them a decent enough reason to reject the takeover. How's it gone from being unofficially approved last week to this sh*t yet again?!

Fucking wanky titbags

To be fair, a spurs mate of mine did tell me that Poch got very involved with the fans and community there, he's that sort of manager. Perhaps he's just a younger Rafa

Rafa has more class in his little finger than the entirety of Mike Ashley's staff of cronies and arse-lickers, he needs to come home to us and finish what he started.

Do you honestly think he would be going home each day after finishing training etc. He would be based up here most of the time as again Rafa was, do you really think Rafa made that trip home each day? It's not a 5 hour commute by plane either. Lol, don't be daft, but even a couple of trips home a week messes with the old bodyclock.

I hate London, to be fair I hate most cities.

Got fond memories of the Adidas kits, plus I'm not sure the Nike kits are that suited to someone without the build of a footballer... allegedly.

I don't know, London just seems like that much more of a trek, plus how knackered would someone be that lives 5 hours away from their job? They'd never have a decent sleeping pattern!!!

Rafa's full time base wasn't here either (his family never moved up here also), so I would imagine it would be something of a similar arrangement if it was him. Think Rafa's main home was nearer Liverpool actually, have a feeling his family stayed there when he worked in Italy because he didn't want to uproot his kids.

Poch is still second choice for me, if he's now saying he'd be staying in London as well then that just moves him further down the list for me. With the amount of money that's being talked about and the scope of what the Saudis want NUFC to become, any manager coming in needs to have the club at the centre of their interests. London is a shitehole, it's a place that believes it's own hype, it's a dirty, stinking, overcrowded dungheap and I'm afraid celebs fawning over it just because of said hype means they can keep it for all I care - there's a reason the commuter belt is so popular, anyone with half a brain doesn't want to live in the smoke. ... plus I'd rather have Rafa

I'd be more inclined to believe it if the reporter didn't look like some teenage college kid with a fake pair of glasses on to make him look serious!

This takeover man, I can't help feeling that the excitement I had weeks ago (when they first said a deposit was paid and the FA were doing ownership tests) has waned just a bit, drained out of me by the waiting. It's almost like the original excitement has been replaced by a dull acceptance that something is happening and will just be greeted with relief when it's done - I know I'll be as overjoyed as the next Toon fan when the final announcement is made and Ashley gets to f*ck, I'm just not sure I still have it in me to be as OTT excited as I would have been, like a bloke who's shot his bolt and is in the stage afterwards or recovering for another round! ... could just be that I'm feeling knackered today as well mind

Get back in that armchair Lol, I'll go back to sleep

Anyone mentioned that Sheffield United have updated their Companies House details to remove any involvement of MBS' cousin? Presumably to cover the conflict of issue bother: https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/were-going-right-track-cans-newcastle-united-fans-react-sheffield-united-companies-house-update-2860653

Acquisition made hours ago and announcement either today or tomorrow (Thursday) - though it does appear to imply that the UK press is reporting it and I've not seen anything concrete...

You're right there, that is just disgusting, simply no need to attack her like that at all. All that does is confirm to the rest of the world that a portion of our supporters are scumbags. Social media well and truly threw out the whole "if you've not got anything nice to say, don't day anything at all".

How? All eyes are on her husbands killers? I’d say that is pretty good? And, not be contrary, but playing devil's advocate, that's assuming the people involved did actively participate in the killing of her husband. It could be said that outcome is just opinion based on an unproven possibility, however likely or unlikely.

Truly the pits. Awful post. Only when she takes it up with Uber, Disney and Facebook then she can have the green light for a go at us. Whole thing stinks of Qatari influence tbqh. I have to agree with this, it's getting sad and desperate on her part now. It feels, for me, like she's overly focusing on one area of Saudi investment to the point of fanaticism, possibly on behalf of someone else's agenda. Sending repeated requests to the FA isn't on, the first should have been enough for them to consider it. That said, I guess I'm a bit black and white (if you'll excuse the pun), in that my thinking is while her plight may be upsetting for her, it doesn't concern me. I'm honest enough to admit that and I'd rather have all the pluses of the Saudis buying the Toon and investing in the area than worry about whether a guy whose background nobody knows fully, who may or may not have been killed on a direct order from a national head of state, to which there isn't actually any proven, hard evidence (perhaps for obvious reasons). Sorry, but that's just how I feel about it, does it make me a bad person? I don't think so, maybe in the eyes of some and that's their prerogative. In the mean time, this takeover is being drawn out for no good reason.

To be fair, Ashley should buy this Twitter account once he's got his cash, it's more like him than his own PR team! Anyways, I've just popped a bottle of broon ale in the fridge that's been sat in my garage since the first takeover rumours started years ago, hope it's still alright, it says best before 2015

Booooooooooooooored bored boredity bored bored bored booooooooooooooooooored! Repetitively checking back to here and newsnow every time my work grinds to a halt or I get distracted is getting crazy tedious.

So true

I'm fed up with the jostling of the e-penises in this thread, how did you lot end up being more focused on bickering about crap political/ethical opinion rather than the takeover itself? Must have been the boredom setting in with it all taking so long

And how is tied to the PIF which is a separate legal entity. Unless there is a proven link, not heresay but actual legal proof that the PIF is part of the piracy, then what has that got to do with the takeover of NUFC? The legal proof can only be collected by Saudi authorities so that might explain why there's a lack of it. I guess the complexities arise because PIF is not just some company. It is by definition state-owned, just like the Saudi National Bank for example - a sovereign wealth fund chaired by the crown prince of an absolute monarchy that practices Sharia Law. This combination opens up various possibilities for influence of power. For example, MBS's dad - King Salman - can order to kill the Sheff U owner if he feels like it and that would not be against Saudi law. As with every other issue with Saudi Arabia, it's not really a question of what can be proven, it's how determined people are to say no to their money. Which is why, I'm ultimately optimistic that it will go through.. Convenient then for anyone who wants to throw aspersions, if all they have to do is say something happened rather than prove it.

And how is tied to the PIF which is a separate legal entity. Unless there is a proven link, not heresay but actual legal proof that the PIF is part of the piracy, then what has that got to do with the takeover of NUFC? And is there actual physical evidence for this? Or is it, again, purely opinionated articles based on what someone thinks is likely or not? If there was any hard, proven evidence it would surely have resulted in a conviction, either with the French case or elsewhere? It seems to be just a lot of people spouting what they 'think' might have happened so far, I've not seen anything solid.