Whitley mag

Just curious what these stops are, he said he was idealistic not naive. I would say he’s both to be honest. But nothing wrong with being idealistic I agree.

Some on here would take that rather than be taken over by the Saudis. f*** off. ?

There's a path through this that is anti Ashley and anti Saudi that gets us through the other side with some integrity. The soul of the club is as important as the success of the club. If you don't believe that then what are we doing? What path is that then? Fight Ashley, protest against Saudi involvement in the club. Protect the soul of NUFC. You all keep saying we are special but have rolled over and stuck your legs in the air for the first billionaire that's got a chance of prising us from Ashley's grip. We are special we should be fighting to remain so. If we don't then what's the point? Yes lets have a mock funeral and not eat the pies at half time and oh .... There is no soul left to preserve 13 years of Ashley proved that . Then what's the point? What's your answer then? Fan ownership? There's a plenty of stops between being Saudi or Ashley owned. I'm idealistic not naïve, I want someone with ambition that cares that doesn't have blood on their hands. Is it realistic probably not but does it mean we shouldn't fight for it f*** no. Where have these stops been the last 13 years you talk about ?

Some on here would take that rather than be taken over by the Saudis.

Maybe in your own world, wouldn’t take a genius to know what the result to be.

The fact spurs have had to loan 175 million from the Bank of England should spell alarm bells to the premier league. They market themselves as the best league in the world, but let’s face it football is fu#%ed in the short, and possibly mid term. To turn away potential new owners who will undoubtedly spend money and attract top players would be a massive call, and go against all their marketing of being the biggest and best. I can’t see clubs splashing the cash for a long time. If PIF go and buy a club in Spain or Italy, and start splashing the cash taking our top players it won’t do anything for the leagues status or image. That’s why I think Winter is right, money does talk and that’s why this deal will go through.

You're not in the media headlines and basically just a peasant To be honest I wasn’t even expecting a reply from Tommy.

What I want to know is how Hatice gets a personal reply from Masters, whilst my letter to the prem got a generic response from Tommy the supporters relations blokey.

Brucey takes us down and saves the takeover, he’d go down in Geordie folklore forever.

Wait for it mandoon and kisearch currently drooling over their keyboards right now at this one. Wonder if Masters is taking all of our views into account when he’s going through the process.

is that an option..im in if it gets it over the line It would certainly take bein and the Qatari’s out of the picture.

Obviously f#ck all happening on the takeover front today, not a bad thing though in the grand scheme of things. If that smarmy t%#t masters doesn’t get his finger out shortly, maybe Brucey might take the decision out of his hands. Wouldn’t be hard to imagine a major collapse after the restart. Though unlikely how many would take relegation now, the decision passes to the EFL who are only to happy to have the league flooded with Saudi cash, and they pass the takeover. Or stay up and the premier league block it. I know what I would choose.

As a global enterprise they’ll not like their twitter feed being under siege from thousands of frustrated geordies. The premier league is all about image, whether it has any impact or not. People are desperate for this to happen, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to vent their frustration at min. It may be misguided but nothing about this process appears to take our hopes into account.

I am all in with the Saudis, and have always been since they first pitched in. I am not really interested in American owners, or for that matter most of the other options mentioned. As others have mentioned, they'll probably just load the club with debt Glazer style. I think this is a once in a lifetime chance with Stavely. Reubens and PIF, if it falls through, not really arsed if we get sold or not. Snap this is a tipping point in our history. It could be something very special under this lot.

New information (WHO report) has come to light though which may need to be taken in to account. That was also informal so they may have to wait for the published version (mid-June)? Maybe.... Why would they await the published version when they have already had the draft version for over 3 weeks? And what in your opinion would that suggest as to the reason into waiting for the published version? If there waiting for the published version, that would suggest it maybe is the smoking gun they’ve been waiting for. That will be there excuse to block it, and say to everyone look we had no choice. However, i really don’t think that’s the case. They will have trouble linking this directly to pif or nominated directors. Also I think at worst this report will only say they could have done more to stop piracy, but then couldn’t all governments be accused of that. Bottom line is if they want to pass it they can, and if they don’t I think it’s to do with more than piracy. Agree if they're waiting the published report, then it's to use the report as a reason to knock it back. The football lawyer article from earlier today indicated the links could not be directed to PIF. If this is the case and it's knocked back either due to the piracy (or any other reason) then I can see this being a legal minefield (even with the piracy), which could take a extreme length of time to sort, whilst leaving the club in total limbo. It pretty much takeover or bust for me. I can't bear the thought of going back to 30% possession football and no shots on target after being close to a different future. Ashley was awful before the takeover, can you imagine what he will be like if the takeover falls through? I'll miss match day for the occasion but I can't say I've enjoyed the football on show as most of the time it has been turgid! Walking up the hill just knowing its pretty futile as the toon don't really want to compete, total drains you after a while. I console myself by thinking of the money I’ll save if it falls through. Was looking forward to returning after an 11 year exile. It’s not only that though it’s what this could do for the city and whole area, it’ll be heartbreaking for a lot of people if it falls through. To me this directors test should be purely about who is better for this football club. Forget all the other shit going on around this, that’s all it should boil down to. How can the premier league look themselves in the mirror, and say Mike Ashley is better for this football club.

New information (WHO report) has come to light though which may need to be taken in to account. That was also informal so they may have to wait for the published version (mid-June)? Maybe.... Why would they await the published version when they have already had the draft version for over 3 weeks? And what in your opinion would that suggest as to the reason into waiting for the published version? If there waiting for the published version, that would suggest it maybe is the smoking gun they’ve been waiting for. That will be there excuse to block it, and say to everyone look we had no choice. However, i really don’t think that’s the case. They will have trouble linking this directly to pif or nominated directors. Also I think at worst this report will only say they could have done more to stop piracy, but then couldn’t all governments be accused of that. Bottom line is if they want to pass it they can, and if they don’t I think it’s to do with more than piracy.

No and it’s what Caulkin’s said from the start, it’s a two way discussion. If they were going to fail it they would have by now. They’re ensuring all bases are covered and it’s legally bottomed out. You could also argue after this time that if they were going to pass they would have done by now. Wouldn’t really listen to Caulkin anymore since all along he has said no red flags, when clearly the piracy issue is a big one. Depends on your definition of red flag I suppose. The fact there going back and forth would suggest it’s not a deal breaker, they might well be just seeking certain assurances. Regardless this Matty Longstaff situation just spells out how much we need this, as if we already didn’t know. The thought of being stuck with this lot makes me feel physically sick.

No and it’s what Caulkin’s said from the start, it’s a two way discussion. If they were going to fail it they would have by now. They’re ensuring all bases are covered and it’s legally bottomed out.

He also said they had been told 4 weeks in April. Looks to me what he's being told is probably assumptions made by his sources. It's been quite noticeable that all the bullish media banging the drum on checks completed, no red flags etc. etc. have started to backtrack the last couple of weeks. Didn't I tell you to relax and have a beer? Aye you did to be fair Caulkin has said all along there talking through things, they’ll come to a solution to suit everyone. Also the Premier League have been frustrated trying to take legal action in Saudi previously. There’s a good chance they are just returning the favour here, and making them wait and sweat it out.

*spirit of the forum*

That isn't an acceptable answer to the people involved in the transaction. The answer however was to Dan Roan of the BBC and I think is perfectly acceptable given the NDA's connected to the deal. Yeah I think it's more what he's able to put out there in that interview rather than how they're actually approaching the whole thing behind the scenes. Personally felt he should have just said no comment can't discuss instead of rambling on in both interviews as he did. 3rd choice for the job and it’s starting to show.

Al-Rumayyan is the Chairman of Aramco so if this takeover fails then there is no chance Aramco can complete a takeover, all issues (human rights, piracy etc) would be the same Al-Rumayyan is squeaky clean - he's not even part of the royal family, in fact he's Shi'ite (is that how it's spelled?). Strong recruitment by MBS in any case Imo, the main issue with PIF is that it is by definition state owned. It is funded and regulated by the country. So there will always be a direct link between PIF and the government even if MBS was not explicitly nominated as a Chairman. Was just thinking the other day Stavely’s husband is Iranian, certainly not an expert on the Middle East, but relations between Saudi and Iran never seem the best. Taking into account the hardline rule in Iran, I wonder how common it is for Iranians to deal with Saudis and Israelis. It maybe he just lives in UAE now and never ventures back, but you certainly can’t accuse this consortium of not being diverse.

Well George’s opinion is it will get the green light, safe to say buyers are still confident. Good enough for me.

Another day in takeover world the sun is shining it’s glorious outside, but we just know those scheming Qatari’s will have something up their sleeve today. After the corrupt back hand taking Martin Ziegler’s attempts yesterday, what can we expect today. I would guess Keys and Gray will be down Doha golf course today, after a few sherberts in the club house they’ll be bang up for a new video. So brace yourself for another shoot from keysy’s hotel room later, after a few beers and a bit sun stroke his rage for all things nufc and Saudi will be to much to resist.

Absolutely fu#%ing not, I’m still convinced some people don’t think this is real. If the Premier league knocked it back, I’m sure some would say it was just another fake over conspiracy. 13 years of Ashley has seriously fu#%ed with peoples minds.