Whitley mag

Anyone had this response from NUST whats their take ?

That last sentence is bullshit. That’s why we get called deluded. Come on you don’t think they’ve done this to extract revenge for all those frustrated attempts at taking legal action re piracy ? I mean the bit about nufc. Nothing will ever change my view that if this had been a 3 billion purchase of Salford’s finest, it wouldn’t have gone through. There would have been a resolution worked out re ownership structure and nothing will ever convince me otherwise.

That last sentence is bullshit. That’s why we get called deluded. Come on you don’t think they’ve done this to extract revenge for all those frustrated attempts at taking legal action re piracy ?

Staggered anyone believes the shit Masters has come out with today. No other clubs have had an input, what a load of bollocks respected journalists like Henry Winter have confirmed this. Wanting to make the govt the owner, Staveley had already confirmed that so nothing new. However, this appears nothing more than putting a major obstacle in the way to prevent deal. Why would anyone be surprised PIF have walked away at the thought of waiting 18 months for arbitration, and then they would conduct test after that. There is absolutely no reason the PL couldn’t have treat PIF as a separate entity if they wished, the simple fact is it was a perfect excuse for them. They state they never leaked any info re deal, this goes against what people involved with NUST have said, Bill Bush’s name has cropped up frequently with briefing certain parties. The length of time they’ve taken to manipulate this outcome should tell us all we need to know, they never wanted the Saudis in the league, and most definitely not as owners of NUFC.

Penn I mean Luke Edwards doesn’t like this. https://twitter.com/NUFC360/status/1294258322103820288

Agree and if this is as good as PL have got it’s no surprise they’ve bottled out of rejecting it. Be nice if the consortium came out and tore this article to shreds, but also hoping wheels are turning in background which prevents them at minute.

Samuels has added an opinion piece to article, clearly trying to put blame at consortium’s door. It would appear the PL are unofficially trying to get their side of story out. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8624965/MARTIN-SAMUEL-Newcastles-300m-takeover-died-failure-answer-one-easy-question.html

If true Samuels story suggests the league were trying to wriggle out of any legal comeback by totally absolving themselves of making the decision. But it does make me think if govt or MP’s are trying to facilitate behind the scenes, the PL may still be open to it being resolved.

Just came across this very interesting reply from Liz Truss and deserves some attention. The vast sums at stake here make PL decision completely at odds with govt policy. My only doubt re authenticity is the date on letter so treat with caution.

Most detailed article I’ve read yet on current situation and quite positive in regards to things happening in background. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-takeover-saga-appears-18759829

Country in recession and who knows how many more job losses to come. Whatever the issues are in relation to this deal be it piracy or ownership structure, they are not insurmountable and the PL should be shot to shit for putting millions of pounds worth of investment in this region at risk. The PL’s short sightedness could cost this city for many years to come, this is where the political pressure should be ramping up, its our best angle and hopefully what’s happening now.

Starting to feel as though things are happening in background.

That would be a very clever if unlikely move, it would change the narrative completely in our favour.

Political allegiances aside this bloke seems to get it and is banging our drum well.

If my memory serves me right didn’t Staveley say that they made the offer for the whole board of PIF to be subjected to directors test, but this wasn’t good enough for them. Now as Chairman of PIF is MBS, do we think he was included in this offer or not. We’ve sort of all presumed that he wouldn’t have been, but would be interesting to know if he was or not. If he was it would certainly make the PL look unreasonable and putting obstacles in the way. We can probably safely assume that his name was the one left off. Bottom line is there any chance MBS would allow his name to go down as a director to get the deal done, it would appear not as that’s reported as the reason they walked away. However, if PIF in line with the 2030 vision want to be buying companies, this could potentially rear its head again with other governance of industries not just in this country. Surely PIF might have to accept either he is active chairman who they will need to put up for scrutiny or they just remove his name as a figurehead and appoint a different chairman who can be subjected to scrutiny. Ultimately I can’t see a problem with PIF being treated as a company in its own right, much like the bein example as above, but they could make it easier to unpick themselves from the govt, by removing MBS as the chairman in name.

At this point that boils down to who is more likely to take legal action Ashley or Bein. I've seen this mentioned a few times in here, and I'm a bit confused by it. This is a genuine question, not trying to be a knob or anything but what legal grounds would Bein have to sue the Premier League? I mean obviously they're going to be p*ssed off as rightly or wrongly they blame Saudi for pirating their rights. And clearly they're going to be very shitty with the PL and possibly threaten to bid less money next time the rights are up for grabs or maybe even withold agreed payments for next season. But if the bid passed the O&D test as published and the takeover was approved, is there any legal basis for Bein to try to take action vs the PL? I’m no legal expert but seems common consensus that Bein have legal teams ready. The telegraph and Liam Kennedy has mentioned this tonight, I can only assume they’ll come after the Premier League as the rights holder for their loss of earnings. Apparently Serie A has reimbursed a large sum to bein sports, after the Italian FA agreed to hold a cup game in Saudi Arabia. I guess they’d see it as the PL becoming complicit with the piracy by allowing the Saudis into the league, I’m unsure myself how that argument would stack up legally.

Agreed. Any public sympathy is going to disappear the second the media get a shot of some moron shouting abuse at Masters and his family. What public sympathy? The vast majority of football fans will be on the PL's side if only out of self interest. Agreed, I think most fans of other clubs are missing the distinction between wanting answers from the PL, and wanting the takeover to go through no matter what. The petition is for an explanation and answers. I think the vast majority of us want the takeover to go through no matter what, and I couldn’t give a flying f*** if someone launches a firework at Masters while he’s sat on the bog. Which I guess explains the lack of sympathy from the public or other clubs fans. I think your misjudging the reason why other teams fans have no sympathy with us regarding this. If West Ham or Everton we’re in our position now I’d have no sympathy, it’s called self interest and the tribal nature of football fans. I would also guess the majority of us are not after sympathy we just want the deal completed, and I’d quite happily accept then becoming the most hated club in football.

That is an important statement, makes all the difference. BUT, have they actually said that? We only have a newspaper report that says that, that has then got 'repeated as fact'. Do we know if PIF have actually said that? I started the sentence with sounds like, I can edit it to say according to the telegraph if it helps you sleep more easier. However, my educated guess is yes they would want some guarantee before returning, I doubt there very happy at present about the negative publicity this has caused them. Do I think it’s dead though, no I don’t and wouldn’t be surprised if out the blue it was announced.

Yes you negative bastards one last push.

Are they not sitting back and allowing Mike to do his bit at the minute. I get the impression Ashley is between the PL and PIF trying to get them back talking. Sounds like PIF want cast iron guarantees before returning though. I think this depends on how under pressure the PL genuinely feel at the minute, again I come back to what is the easiest option for them. At this point that boils down to who is more likely to take legal action Ashley or Bein. That’s why I think these veiled threats from Ashley are appearing in papers.

What would he expect legal fees or full balance of deal ? The PL might be getting very twitchy now over this, especially if there’s evidence they were misled.

In all seriousness key lines. The Premier League is vulnerable to legal action from Mike Ashley for effectively derailing the Newcastle United takeover, intermediaries in the collapsed deal believe. Those close to the process believe England's top tier is in an "impossible position" as chief executive Richard Masters comes under sustained pressure to explain why the league's directors and owners' test hit a four-month impasse. The league has consistently maintained privately that it took an "objective" approach to the proposed £300 million deal, but the Saudi sovereign investment fund behind the takeover is said to feel the delay was a thinly-veiled attempt to make the takeover impossible

I was still thinking of fireworks apologies.

Boom !