Dr Jinx

My guess is the PL will load the judge with "evidence" to support their claim. The more the better as far as they are concerned. Delay tactics again. No idea how the judge will side with it. If it gets thrown out the game is up but if it continues they'll see another delay as a win, especially if arbitration is going their way. We need to tip the balance in our favour soon.

I'd say him and Dummett reek of whiskey and piss when they turn up to training.

Agreed. He's put together some of the best football this league has ever seen. The very rare occasion they can't score against a team defending well they look vulnerable at the back but it's always tiny margins.

Chelsea are a good side like.. If they had replaced their keeper sooner they would have been in with a chance in the league. Seems they have City's number. Havertz has been class tonight

Both options have their merits. Giving a team an incentive to go away from home and look to score is important but then it can backfire too for second leg matches. It should probably be left alone on reflection. Or maybe use it to level the playing fields a bit.. away goals rule doesn't count for seeded teams?

Watched it, well much of it. I found Keith to be quite belittling in his attitude towards Ben, who made his points quite well, but then he is an experienced journalist/pundit so he should be making his points better. Keith seemed so desperate to be right that he just sort of kept rephrasing the same questions over and over again without ever getting anywhere. I suppose if he was actually being accused of leaking info that clears up things but it doesn't prove anything one way or the other that the PL did something illegal. Things get leaked to journalists all the time, that's how stories break. We didn't learn anything really, well maybe to be wary of breaking news next week.. The point remains, it's all on how the judge rules in the jurisdiction claim. We're not winning arbitration. Even if the CAT case is weak, the PL won't want any sensitive info coming out that makes them look bad. This is why they could settle. We lose the jurisdiction and the whole thing is dead in the water.

Every Premier League club signs up to the PL's rules and regulations. Including the owners and directors test. The section about who should be a director or more specifically a person with a controlling interest is quite clear, including the information a party looking to purchase a club should provide. They didn't approve the takeover because the consortium would not agree that the KSA should be a director. That's where it stopped. The only way we win this case is if they can prove emphatically that KSA would have no controlling interest in the running of the club, and by extension that they don't have autonomy over the PIF. Which is absurd. The back door to this is if they can provide evidence that the PL were conspiring with others against the interests of the club. That's the only grey area where we could get them to back down. Time will tell if they have a smoking gun.

That's actually not what we want. One of the reasons of bringing about an expedited CAT case was for disclosure and evidence that they could use in the arbitration case and to put them under massive pressure. It suits the PL to have the arbitration go first as it's all behind closed doors. Plus it's also the case they are more likely to win.

I absolutely agree, it's why I think those who are just waiting, expecting it to happen will be devastated if things go the other way, which they very easily could. The CAT rules have a provision for challenging jurisdiction, so I'd be interested to know how many times this has happened and how many times its been successful. Either way it's going to to be a very slow month or two for news regarding this so this thread and the other is going to become a quite toxic

Not entirely true. We know enough to know it's either going to go for us or against us. And we know by what mechanisms each path will be achieved. It's all on the judges ruling regarding jurisdiction in the CAT case. If that argument is being submitted on the 11th June, we should hopefully have an answer by July.

Confidence is something people have before they fully understand that situation. Right now it's heads or tails. Heads - the judge rules against the PL in their jurisdiction claim. Shit then gets real for them. They settle. We get our takeover. Tails - the judge rules with the PL and the CAT case gets stopped in it's tracks. It then goes to arbitration and they also make a judgement that the PL were correct in insisting KSA be a director. What's left of the takeover just fizzles away and we carry on with our living nightmare of Mike Ashley owning the club.

Not sure, I think he jumped too soon. He was in a prime spot to learn from one of the best but he did what he thought he had to and it hasn't really worked out for whatever reason.

I'd say he's more than happy to play a bit part role behind the scenes and then take the credit for others work, like he's doing now. I don't really have a massive problem with that, Alex Ferguson (I'm not directly comparing them before anyone starts) was a delegator, they went through several different evolutions in play depending on who was his assistant manager. Nobody ever really questioned his input, so what I mean by that is, it's not an unheard of situation to be the figurehead of a setup where others are doing the donkey work. Even Rafa suffered a bit when Cathro left. I guess what am trying to say is that I can live with Bruce for another season if there's going to be a takeover at some stage as it'll be Jones doing the work for the most part.

Well, the process would normally take a lot longer but the courts are less busy at the moment so it can be fast tracked. But yes I agree, the requested delays are setting that back a bit. My opinion on it right now is that the delays in the arbitration case are no bad thing but a longer delay in the CAT doesn't help us. We want disclosure, we want that evidence so it can be used in the arbitration case. June 11th is when they submit their challenge for jurisdiction. If we lose that I think the game is up. Don't expect a quick decision, they're going to hand over a mountain of crap for the judge to mull over, taking up as much time as possible as if they can get this starting after the arbitration case begins properly, they'll see that as a win too. If the judge rules in our favour and it begins quickly, that will be good for us. They could settle ASAP.

Jesus that last bit is fairly black and white. But then, that's just the PL's rules. Which court holds more weight?

This is the rule that the PL are challenging. Disputing the Tribunal’s jurisdiction 34.—(1) A defendant who wishes to— (a) dispute the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to hear the claim; or (b) argue that the Tribunal should not exercise its jurisdiction, may apply to the Tribunal for an order declaring that it has no such jurisdiction or should not exercise any jurisdiction which it might have. (2) A defendant who wishes to make such an application shall first file an acknowledgment of service in accordance with rule 33. (3) A defendant who files an acknowledgment of service does not by doing so lose any right it may have to dispute the Tribunal’s jurisdiction and does not need to file a defence before the hearing of its application under this rule. (4) An application under this rule shall— (a) be made within 14 days after filing an acknowledgment of service; and (b) be supported by evidence. (5) If the defendant— (a) files an acknowledgment of service; and (b) does not make an application within the period specified in paragraph (4), the defendant is to be treated as having accepted that the Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the claim. (6) An order containing a declaration that the Tribunal has no jurisdiction or will not exercise its jurisdiction may also make further provision as to the disposal or stay of the proceedings. (7) If on an application under this rule the Tribunal does not make a declaration under paragraph (6), the Tribunal shall give directions regarding the future conduct of the proceedings. Any legal buffs got any idea why the judge might side with them?

That game against Everton was direct from his copy book, they weren't prepared or expecting it and we won well. Teams soon adjusted and we reverted back to a counter attacking style. Play to your strengths and all that. Something he's brought in has been a quicker tempo of passing on the counter, decisive link ups to create space etc, no way that was Bruce. The thing is though, ASM and Wilson were creating most of the chances, the latter getting most of the goals. So the resulting patchy form without them wasn't Jones fault, it was Bruce's. He had the team for a season already, he should have known there was fuck all goals in this side if you take out aforementioned players. There was nothing to work with. If we don't replace Willock's goals we're going to be in the same mess next season, Jones or not. ASM even if we keep him will pick up injuries, Wilson has his issues too.

The Wall Street Journal posted the whole thing in January and said it was highly likely to happen. It was April when the bid was accepted so they (Qatar, Ben, Khashoggi widow, Amnesty, rival clubs etc) had plenty of time to do their lobbying. Perhaps if that article had never come out, the campaign to stop the takeover would not have been as organised.

Kennedy was never "that good" even in his first stint with us. We were just total gash down that side of the pitch. Willock just suits our counter attack style perfectly. We have a better squad now going forward. At the back we're ok. Murphy has been a revelation. I even think Lewis might come good eventually. Lejeune coming back will be important as Lascelles has question marks now and Schär is too reckless to depend on.

Interesting, it will all depend on what the court says in relation to their jurisdiction challenge. June 9th I believe is when they (the PL) submit their case for this. If the judge rules against them which I expect him to (basically the argument that arbitration is dealing with all of this can't cover Mike Ashley's loss of earnings and damages claim imo as arbitration doesn't cover this) If the same trend applies then the PL should want to settle early in this regard. It's not unrealistic that we could have a takeover by end of July.

If we can keep ASM, sign Willock and replace Shelvey with someone decent I don't mind if Bruce is still there until a takeover happens. We should have enough to be just in the top 10, maybe higher. The issue though is that he can't cope with injuries. There are no goals in this team if Wilson and ASM don't play. Willock balanced this out a bit but if we don't sign him the same problems will arise.

I can envisage a scenario where we get taken over, they stick with him out of loyalty for a season and he lucks into some class signings and we win the league. The thread on here for him will still be calling him a fat useless cunt ? See the thing is, last season.. I didn’t want him here but as we started picking up wins, especially after the first lockdown.. I thought.. ok, I don’t like him but I’ll give him a chance.. think many on here also had that point of view. This season though, he’s made it personal.. having a go at the supporters for having “expectations”, telling us we should be expecting to be in a relegation struggle when just months earlier he was speaking about top 10.. he’s brought the hatred on himself. Some obviously needed no encouragement to give it to him but those on the fence were pulled in too. He’ll never turn that around. Ever. What’s done is done. If he was truly smart he’ll use that good press to shift on to another club.

Remains to be seen how Arsenal will treat him once pre season starts, he’s definitely good enough to get in most PL teams though. As I said before, some players (and managers) just click with a certain club. It’s lightning in a bottle and doesn’t come around too often, well not like this. He’s perfect for this club. 25-30 million should see Arsenal snap our hands off. Before his goal scoring exploits I’d have said under 20 million but it is what it is now. The issue is our budget.

He can’t be worth very much and I suppose he still has international aspirations so he’ll want to be playing regularly somewhere. I can see a situation where he just leaves the club by mutual consent. This season is as good as it’s going to get for him here.