TheBrownBottle

And being South Korean, probably doesn’t actually recognise North Korean sovereignty …

If I told you, I'd have to shoot myself. And them. And you too. It would be a bloodbath. But it is definitely, definitely happening. Scout's honour. Nelson's Column is being swapped for Grey's Monument as part of the exchange, though the deal is being held up on account of it being unclear as to which party pays the installation costs.

I’ve had it on good authority that we’re swapping Howe for Southgate. Straight up, nee lies. Don’t shoot the messenger though.

Christ man that’s Bob Stokoe you’re talking about.

Bob Stokoe was 100% a mag. Boyhood fan. They’ve got a statue of a Newcastle fan outside their ground, and we’ve got a stand named after a boyhood Sunderland fan. Odd how it works out.

‘Ah don’t even know what the people of Saudi Arabia want for themselves, particularly their women’ Of course you won’t - that is because they haven’t got a vote, you dopey cunt

It’s a fucking dictatorship with an appalling human rights record. Who gives a shit if someone who makes money there has a different opinion? Fucking hell man.

Sorry you’re absolutely right, the anonymous anecdotal wafflings of a bloke on the internet trumps all other facts. Especially as you’re not the one who’d be directly affected by it, in fact you’re over there coining it while others suffer. Good lad. Good old MBS, three cheers for him.

Tbf Pope not being selected is pretty reasonable. I wouldn’t have either based on form. Some of the other selections are bat shit, mind.

Yeah, I read Peter Zeihan’s book. Yep, they are fucking awful - the House of Saud is right up there with the worst of the worst when it comes to govts. There is no real reform coming, either. There is no rule of law, only feudal application of ‘order’ and Bronze Age morality. The funders and purveyors of Wahhabist lunacy (for everyone else at least - the House of Saud doesn’t need to follow the sharia code that they set for everyone else).

I didn’t label the full support - I said there are some thick cunts in our support. Some, not all.

Yep, there are some thick cunts in our support

I’ve said it on here before, but you sell any player of the price is right and you’ve identified replacements. Every club on the planet sells players. We’ll need to sell players for sizeable profits in order to play catch up. A large portion of our support does think that the players we’re signing now will be here for many years. I doubt that will be the case - most will be stepping stones. But at least it is the players who are the stepping stones now, and not the club - the reverse was true under Ashley. Every single one of our current players is replaceable, ultimately.

Sorry yes - typo on my part - I meant to say that the PL were stupid enough to go with the ‘separation proved’ like the club gave them. All because the piracy issue was resolved

TBF the club were stupid enough to give it the 'separation proved' crap. Being owned by a nation state isn't against PL rules.

No, because we’re not comparable to Chelsea in terms of size at the moment. This isn’t a ploy to allow us more sponsorship money - this is just our owners sponsoring a rival club to the tune of £60m.

But it seems a reasonable assumption that the chairman has a say in what it is doing. I’m struggling to see how this isn’t a problem - if true.

Our chairman is also the chairman of Riyadh Air. It’s definitely weird. At some point some of support might actually start questioning some of this stuff - do they seriously need to be sponsoring Chelsea? If Sports Direct were giving another club three times as much as our sponsorship deal when Ashley was here, I can guess what the response would be.

It’s really odd when you think about it. I remember reading once (think it might have been David Conn) it being said that Newcastle has a ‘cap-doffing air’; that there is almost a feudalistic desire to love those with money and power. The owners aren’t in charge of the club because they have a sense of noblesse oblige - they’re there to make money, with a nice dollop of ‘cleaning’ it on top.

Tbf I don’t think they’re doing it deliberately - but we are suffering from a negative externality as a result. I also think it would be reasonable for them to prioritise the KSA league - it’s their money, after all. That doesn’t mean that they’re actively seeking to harm us - I don’t doubt that they want this to be a success.

They haven’t ploughed £350m into the first team, though. The club brings in money, too. I’m sure the numbers will be out there re cash put in, but it won’t be close to £350m.

You’re comparing market figures for those players with the inflated fees and wages being offered by clubs in KSA. No European club is going to offer anything like what is being offered for Salah, given his age

They’re prioritising because clearly those ludicrously inflated fees have a negative effect on NUFC, given they’re handing money to our rivals. It’s their money and it makes sense they’d prioritise their own teams, tbf.

I had to look it up after reading this I didn’t have a clue who we were playing either. I hate the international breaks - especially this one, always just as the season gets going.