Whitley mag

The extra information they wanted was for the state to be subjected to test, whether that was just MBS or the whole govt is open to debate. The consortium argue PIF is a separate entity and should be treated as so. A stand off then ensues for around a month. The consortium maintain they have provided all info as required, however instead of rejecting the takeover the PL find a way of not making any decision by offering arbitration on this one single point of ownership. Now if you believe the PL this was a previously unheralded move and they gave the consortium an olive branch. All very reasonable at face value, however the sting in the tale is this arbitration may have taken 12 months who knows, and they would still have had to take test after this. This is where accusations of them being disingenuous come into play, the consortium at this point had every right to expect PL to make decision based on info they provided. However, the PL allegedly just said where not going to either approve or reject, and where happy to sit here month after month. If the last sentence is true they basically left them with no alternative but to walk away, and as far as I’m concerned this is still the key unanswered question by the PL and why many believe they manipulated this outcome from the start. If the PL have requested somebody be named and the consortium haven't done that, then they haven't complied with the PL's requests, at all. So reject the takeover on insufficient information received ? I'm sure I saw a list of rules [in relation to timeframes, the only timeframes] in which it stated that any request for information should be responded to in 5 days, and if no response is received, a new 5 day period commences. If that is correct, I'm not sure they could do that. If the consortium has provided all the information they believe can physically be provided, I would suggest that rule is simply being used as an out then if it is correct. Which again in my view would play into the PL being disingenuous. In relation to this rule I’m sure there’s a couple of resident experts on PL rule book on here who could give their take. But my analogy is if the Duchy wanted to buy us, would the PL be happy with the CEO / Governor and board of directors to be subjected to test, or would they insist on Prince Charles also being subjected to it ? In my view no they wouldn’t, as quite rightly he would have no involvement in the day to day running of the club. And furthermore their is absolutely no way they would insult a member of our own royal family.

The extra information they wanted was for the state to be subjected to test, whether that was just MBS or the whole govt is open to debate. The consortium argue PIF is a separate entity and should be treated as so. A stand off then ensues for around a month. The consortium maintain they have provided all info as required, however instead of rejecting the takeover the PL find a way of not making any decision by offering arbitration on this one single point of ownership. Now if you believe the PL this was a previously unheralded move and they gave the consortium an olive branch. All very reasonable at face value, however the sting in the tale is this arbitration may have taken 12 months who knows, and they would still have had to take test after this. This is where accusations of them being disingenuous come into play, the consortium at this point had every right to expect PL to make decision based on info they provided. However, the PL allegedly just said where not going to either approve or reject, and where happy to sit here month after month. If the last sentence is true they basically left them with no alternative but to walk away, and as far as I’m concerned this is still the key unanswered question by the PL and why many believe they manipulated this outcome from the start. If the PL have requested somebody be named and the consortium haven't done that, then they haven't complied with the PL's requests, at all. So reject the takeover on insufficient information received ?

The extra information they wanted was for the state to be subjected to test, whether that was just MBS or the whole govt is open to debate. The consortium argue PIF is a separate entity and should be treated as so. A stand off then ensues for around a month. The consortium maintain they have provided all info as required, however instead of rejecting the takeover the PL find a way of not making any decision by offering arbitration on this one single point of ownership. Now if you believe the PL this was a previously unheralded move and they gave the consortium an olive branch. All very reasonable at face value, however the sting in the tale is this arbitration may have taken 12 months who knows, and they would still have had to take test after this. This is where accusations of them being disingenuous come into play, the consortium at this point had every right to expect PL to make decision based on info they provided. However, the PL allegedly just said where not going to either approve or reject, and where happy to sit here month after month. If the last sentence is true they basically left them with no alternative but to walk away, and as far as I’m concerned this is still the key unanswered question by the PL and why many believe they manipulated this outcome from the start.

Your first sentence is the whole point though, if the consortium do not believe MBS should be subjected to test then the PL should just reject it. Instead they refused to make a decision and left them with no option but to pull out. The PL then on the day the deal expired allegedly made a belated offer of arbitration. This is before we even get into the realms of leaks and outside influences. Members of the NUST on a podcast basically accused Bill Bush of briefing certain members of the media. There are people on here who believe conspiracy theories make us look stupid and paranoid, that’s their opinion and to be honest I can no longer be arsed to argue the toss. However, I will never believe the s*** Masters and co have come out with in relation to this takeover, and I 100% agree with Staveley where she accuses them of being disingenuous. I do agree with most of this. Premier league should have flat out said not in current form come back later if you want to fix it rather than th eneless wait. I do think Staverley was well intentioned and mostly honest, a little bit of me though wonders if they did play dumb about it to get fans riled up in hope that pressure would change master's mind. Still, it all leaves a sour taste in my mouth. However I do want to go back to my point, that the consipracy everything against us narrative just helps ashley curry undeserved sympathy. Until someone buys us, and frankly we would have probably been bought by now if he wasn't such a famous c*** to deal with, our misery is on him. In no way by blaming the PL should it be seen as condoning how Ashley is running the club. Almost lost in all this is the fact he wanted to renegotiate the deal once it had expired, even though Staveley didn’t blame him, he must have known how precarious the deal was at this point. The fact he was even willing to jeopardise the deal tells us all we need to know, and my current anger at the PL in no way diminishes my hatred for the man.

Your first sentence is the whole point though, if the consortium do not believe MBS should be subjected to test then the PL should just reject it. Instead they refused to make a decision and left them with no option but to pull out. The PL then on the day the deal expired allegedly made a belated offer of arbitration. This is before we even get into the realms of leaks and outside influences. Members of the NUST on a podcast basically accused Bill Bush of briefing certain members of the media. There are people on here who believe conspiracy theories make us look stupid and paranoid, and that’s their opinion and to be honest I can no longer be arsed to argue the toss. However, I will never believe the s*** Masters and co have come out with in relation to this takeover, and I 100% agree with Staveley where she accuses them of being disingenuous. Even knowing all that, you still think there is a chance? Funnily enough I do but I’m not going to bang that drum anymore either, time will tell and I’m more than happy to let it just play out.

Your first sentence is the whole point though, if the consortium do not believe MBS should be subjected to test then the PL should just reject it. Instead they refused to make a decision and left them with no option but to pull out. The PL then on the day the deal expired allegedly made a belated offer of arbitration. This is before we even get into the realms of leaks and outside influences. Members of the NUST on a podcast basically accused Bill Bush of briefing certain members of the media. There are people on here who believe conspiracy theories make us look stupid and paranoid, that’s their opinion and to be honest I can no longer be arsed to argue the toss. However, I will never believe the s*** Masters and co have come out with in relation to this takeover, and I 100% agree with Staveley where she accuses them of being disingenuous.

They didn’t block it though, they put their heads in the sand and ignored it until it went away. Was f***ing pathetic handling and in no way them trying to pass it. Exactly if they rejected it and provided a reason there would be no conspiracy theories. The allegation that they didn’t reject it because they weren’t confident of making that decision will always remain. Anyone who believes the offer of arbitration was them offering an olive branch to prevent rejection, needs to give their fucking head a shake.

What a load of rubbish, they blocked it in the most calculated and cleverest method they could. I don’t rate Masters but the PL’s lawyers played a blinder. We’ll not accept or reject you, but we’ll just leave it in limbo. However we’ll let you go to arbitration on one aspect of the test only which will probably take 12 months. You’ve even got to admire Masters for dressing it up as an olive branch, it’s clearly fooled some.

Yeah they’ve ticked a box and f*** all else, however Jamie Driscoll and Newcastle City Council are responsible for driving investment in our city. This takeover presented investment on a plate and they haven’t even stirred themselves. It’s an absolute disgrace which should be duly noted by thousands of voters who are desperate for this to happen. Like Driscoll would ever get involved. The guy is on another planet and is there because the cranks in his wing of the Labour Party put him there. He'll be too busy writing another essay that barely anyone who doesn't already think he's great will read. Yeah without getting political this bloke should not be in such a key role, labour maybe the party of choice for many up here, but this bloke is not fit for purpose in my view. As a region which is desperate for economic investment the lack of any kind of plan or vision is criminal. After looking at the companies which are setting up in Manchester and jobs being created, we are light years behind and as the capital city of a large region we can be so much better. With a plank like this in a key role, we are truly fucked.

Yeah they’ve ticked a box and fuck all else, however Jamie Driscoll and Newcastle City Council are responsible for driving investment in our city. This takeover presented investment on a plate and they haven’t even stirred themselves. It’s an absolute disgrace which should be duly noted by thousands of voters who are desperate for this to happen.

Watched a bit of that bbc documentary on the billion pound property boom in Manchester. In episode 2 this swampy, tree hugging style character was doing a tour of some housing redevelopment in the city and complaining about it, turns out the development was by Abhu Dhabi. Anyway this older woman chipped in and shot him down, correctly pointing out the area was wasteland and nobody else would have ploughed any money into it. When looking at the investment in Manchester it rams home what we’ve potentially lost out on. Apart from Pat Ritchie from Newcastle City Council, I’m unaware of any councillor who has stepped forward to raise this issue. Jamie Driscoll the mayor for North of the Tyne hasn’t made one utterance on this lost investment, and appears he is a complete waste of f***ing space in driving any inward investment, which is a major part of his mayoral duties. The city was offered a gift horse that was ripped away, and our local politicians as a whole stand accused of doing f*** all apart from a few notable exceptions. Though there may be a political balance to be struck with Saudi involvement due to human rights, in this current climate the lack of any kick back is staggering and basically negligence. The lack of any vision or passion from some local politicians in respect of this takeover, should not go unnoticed by the people of Newcastle when the next round of elections come round.

It's zero chance mate - the only thing I am looking forward to is the chance of Messi playing in the PL. I am hoping fans aren't allowed back at all season so I can get my money back - yes I am idiot renewing. Not being funny mate but the thought of Messi playing in the PL for the likes of Man City does f*** all for me. It’ll just merely reinforce the divide between the have’s and have not’s, whilst listening to pundits on Sky bore the rest of us talking about it. Maybe I just don’t like football anymore but each to their own i suppose.

All the faux outrage over the Saudis has died away now, nobody gives a shit where stuck with Ashley. All these national journalists would have been fearing they’d have to travel past Manchester on a more regular basis if we became a threat. As for the local journalists the least said the better, Lee Ryder and co are almost an enabler for this regime, spouting shite about the cost of Calum Wilson today just beggars belief when newly promoted clubs will spend more. As others have said best to just wash your hands, and hope it burns until something happens.

The league have certainly provided a version of events, I would suggest it’s very questionable about whether they’re true.

From the Chronicle, maybe the rumours of clear tv’s dealings with Qatar weren’t that far fetched. Wannabe Newcastle United owner Henry Mauriss is believed to have left Mike Ashley baffled after running up a legal bill of over £500,000, writes Lee Ryder. Negotiations between the Clear TV CEO and Ashley's lawyers were ongoing over the summer but the Toon owner is mystified by the snail-paced nature of the talks since Amanda Staveley's Middle East consortium withdrew from discussions after revealing their frustration with the Premier League. Why would anybody so far and then step back when there was a clear shot at a takeover deal? It is the question that Ashley and Co are asking themselves ahead of a new season, one they will have to finance after a summer of frustration.

Man City are irrelevant to this takeover, the test back then was different. Doesnt the O&D test have to be done every season ? Sure someone said it was. It does, or a director can be disqualified at any time upon the PL board becoming aware of them being liable for disqualification. Also, the 'immunity' in the rules for directors who underwent the test pre-2009 only applies to conviction of an offence that would not have led to disqualification at that time, not the circumstance here where a director hasn't been disclosed. However, I don't think that anyone outside of the PL and Man City would know whether Sheikh Mansour has been subject to the O&D test or not. Him not being listed as a director of the company doesn't mean that he hasn't been subject to the O&D test. It’s also key to remember that Sheik Mansour bought the club through his own investment fund and not Abhu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund. I would imagine Staveley having been very close to this deal will know if Mansour was subjected to test. But the fact that basically the test should be applied every year, would this bring the shadow director element in to play if Mansour hadn’t been subjected to test at time ? Though the Man City test was different at time, if Saudi were able to somehow mirror this model it would be surely difficult based on their own rules for them to defend a rejection if it went to arbitration. Of course this is ignoring the piracy element, but according to PL that has not even come in to it yet, despite it taking 17 weeks to realise there was a problem.

It all depends on why you ultimately believe the deal stalled, if it is just ownership structure at this point as PL would have us believe, then there’ll be a way round that. Man City are not owned by the ultimate ruler of Abhu Dhabi yet their model is allowed. The key to structure may be something along the lines of City. However, we all know the ownership structure is bull shit, it’s all about piracy and pay back after the PL were fucked about for 3 years. There were more anti piracy measures announced last week, and who’s to say bein won’t be reinstated, the Saudis are certainly unpredictable. Most people should bail out for their own sanity, but my belief is silence is now golden and if it’s completely dead we’ll know soon enough via Caulkin.

Man City really should have their approval rescinded in light of the PL's about turn with Newcastle. By all means the bin Zayeds can continue to own the club, just don't allow City to play in the Premier. If PIF try and mirror the city model, taking piracy out of the equation it would be very difficult for them to justify blocking it on ownership structure alone. I wouldn’t be surprised if they working on something like this now, or changing percentages. I think PIF have long forgotten about Newcastle. As Mark Douglas has confirmed they’ll be back like a shot if the deal can proceed. Isn't the ball in their court though? It'll therefore only proceed if they actively do something. As far as I can see, the PL have concluded that MBS has ultimate control and influence over PIF so they wanted him to go through the O&D test. As de facto head of state of Saudi Arabia he understandably didn’t want to go through that as its not befitting of a monarch to be put to a test. The result is an impasse and PIF withdrew. Nothing will happen unless either the PL or MBS change their stance. Which they won’t. I retain hope that these expensively assembled legal teams will find an inventive solution to this. As in Staveley’s 1st bid which had sovereign wealth behind it, whats to stop PIF becoming an investor in PCP, and purely becoming a silent investor. PCP would be technically 90% owners of the club with Staveley at the helm. PIF would expect a return at some point clearly as in any investment fund, but they’re clearly all happy working together, and this may be a short term solution to get deal done. PIF would have no seat on the board, and we may not get the level of investment as originally planned this way. Basically your right with your assessment and that is just something off the top of my head, but there’ll be some very highly paid people currently working on a way round the MBS issue and working on various ownership models.

Man City really should have their approval rescinded in light of the PL's about turn with Newcastle. By all means the bin Zayeds can continue to own the club, just don't allow City to play in the Premier. If PIF try and mirror the city model, taking piracy out of the equation it would be very difficult for them to justify blocking it on ownership structure alone. I wouldn’t be surprised if they working on something like this now, or changing percentages. I think PIF have long forgotten about Newcastle. As Mark Douglas has confirmed they’ll be back like a shot if the deal can proceed. I'm going to tell myself this 'it's gonna happen' thing is just your shtick now or I'd be worried about your sanity. I’m merely weighing everything up I‘ve read, and have come to the conclusion this isn’t dead yet. A raft of journalists have now confirmed that talks remain ongoing in background, and I’m convinced Staveley won’t let this go now. All parties want the deal to happen and have PR people and lawyers working on it. I absolutely believe Staveley will have the club by xmas with or without PIF, however I don’t rule out PIF also being part of this yet. I’m also not naive to the point I don’t understand the problems with the deal and have all along as I’ve previously posted, however it’s a long game and the deal is not dead as some experts on here would have us believe.

Man City really should have their approval rescinded in light of the PL's about turn with Newcastle. By all means the bin Zayeds can continue to own the club, just don't allow City to play in the Premier. If PIF try and mirror the city model, taking piracy out of the equation it would be very difficult for them to justify blocking it on ownership structure alone. I wouldn’t be surprised if they working on something like this now, or changing percentages. I think PIF have long forgotten about Newcastle. As Mark Douglas has confirmed they’ll be back like a shot if the deal can proceed.

Liam Kennedy still mentioning possible legal action, and work continuing in background. https://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/mike-ashleys-business-power-play-highlights-newcastle-united-takeover-intentions-2951420

Man City really should have their approval rescinded in light of the PL's about turn with Newcastle. By all means the bin Zayeds can continue to own the club, just don't allow City to play in the Premier. If PIF try and mirror the city model, taking piracy out of the equation it would be very difficult for them to justify blocking it on ownership structure alone. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re working on something like this now, or changing percentages.

Aye sickening about the only person who is.

It would seem Mr Hoffman couldn’t even progress a bid of his own for his beloved Coventry City. It’s nice to know the decision regarding our future and prosperity of the region was made by such capable and trust worthy people. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgKiW_sWsAA0AZr?format=jpg&name=medium

Reubens own part of QPR so cant own us as far as I’m aware. No they don’t Jamie is only a director, which he was going to relinquish had takeover gone through.