Takeover Thread - July 1st statement, Staveley letter to Tracey Crouch (and response) in OP

[Kanj]

People having a go at Caulkin and questioning him need to grow the fuck up. You realize you are having anger towards a journalist who was trying to INFORM WE THE FANS in earnest. FFS.

[Rich]

Caulkin's been exemplary. There are times when people seem to confuse what he's saying he's been told with his own opinion. Interestingly (and apologies if this has been covered elsewhere on the thread) he's said on The Athletic's pod that when the exclusivity ran out Ashley DID ask for money and the consortium agreed to it. 

 

He's repeatedly stated he believes his source, that he thought the takeover was happening months ago, and alluded to that s**** "cans" craic constantly. He fell for it completely.

 

Fell for what?

 

The s**** his source fed him.

 

Or was he correct all along and I've missed our successful takeover?

 

Your wording makes it sound like you think the consortium have gained out of this whole sorry episode, though. It's proper weird.

 

I can understand people being wary of Staveley by this point, as I was after the last bids failed to materialise into anything, but I find it hard to accept that she's been anything but either a) genuine or b) genuinely trying to get information out into the public to positively impact on the potential of the deal being approved (this time around).

[St1pe]

People having a go at Caulkin and questioning him need to grow the f*** up. You realize you are having anger towards a journalist who was trying to INFORM WE THE FANS in earnest. FFS.

 

Aye it’s mental. He’s clearly had a line to Stavely and was relaying what she knew or thought she knew. I don’t think he’s tried to pretend anything else. People now having a go at him is weird. He’s one of the good guys without an agenda like a lot out there.

[Rich]

People having a go at Caulkin and questioning him need to grow the f*** up. You realize you are having anger towards a journalist who was trying to INFORM WE THE FANS in earnest. FFS.

 

Biggest thing Caulkin's guilty of here is being a fellow supporter and getting swept along in everything, along with the rest of us. What a monster.

[duo]

That petition has just hit the 14,000 mark. Seems to have gained a little traction.

 

I admire those trying, but it'll achieve nothing.

Spot light needs to be shone on PL - the organisation doesn't have enough transparency.  He should have to answer for his actions.

[mouldy_uk]

Honestly don’t see what Caulkin has done wrong and there are far more deserving targets for criticism than him

[duo]

 

Ha - brilliant 

[Big Geordie]

Some malking Caulkin the whipping boy for this then, eh? Shame on you's!

[gdm]

Sean, she was the bloody CEO and figurehead of the takeover. Did you ask George if he had other sources at RB or PIF?

 

And she's not trustworthy going by her long track record.

 

So what the fuck is caulkin supposed to do just completely ignore his best placed source, the woman that is the figurehead of the whole thing? The woman that has previously shown caulkin proof of bids? When Ashley said there was none. He trusted her

 

Honestly utter stupidity. Plenty people to have a go at George Caulkin ain’t one of them

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

Can't fucking stand patronizing remarks like this mind:

 

 

Aye it's not like this has been the only serious bidder in 13 years, the lack of knowledge on the inner machinations of the club is so poor

 

They’ve all been at it. They’re delighted but can’t help but get a sly dig in too because at the end of the day Newcastle as a city and a club mattters not a jot to them or their existence.

 

It's absolutely maddening, the sneering tone as they deliver a poorly-informed conclusion of Newcastle and the region as a whole is unreal.

 

[Disco]

[Keggy_Keagal]

Caulkin's been exemplary. There are times when people seem to confuse what he's saying he's been told with his own opinion. Interestingly (and apologies if this has been covered elsewhere on the thread) he's said on The Athletic's pod that when the exclusivity ran out Ashley DID ask for money and the consortium agreed to it. 

 

He's repeatedly stated he believes his source, that he thought the takeover was happening months ago, and alluded to that shite "cans" craic constantly. He fell for it completely.

 

He was told the takeover was happening months ago , there was a deal agreed with Ashley, this always appeared to be the most difficult issue regarding any potential takeover.  Nobody anticipated the supposed various problems with the owners and directors test, particularly when considering who has been the given green light previously and the length of time that would take. Oh and a global pandemic. Bad George !! How can he not have seen that ? !!   

[Kanj]

Bent as fuck.

[triggs]

 

"We've suspended Bein so that means you can now sell the rights to us"

[AyeDubbleYoo]

 

I assumed this was their plan when they banned BeIn officially. Like I said at the time, the question was whether the PL were corrupt and/or shameless enough to do it. TBF I didn't think they'd try for the current rights cycle, you have to admire the cheek.

[TK-421]

Sean, she was the bloody CEO and figurehead of the takeover. Did you ask George if he had other sources at RB or PIF?

 

And she's not trustworthy going by her long track record.

 

Unlike when stifler wrote to her, she clearly never got back in touch when Sean did.

 

Sure its been said before, but this anti-staveley grudge is a bit weird.

[Ameritoon]

Kind of surprised they didn't just take that. More money for them from TV and another big club in the league, but I guess allowing a nation to split up a rights region mid-cycle sets a pretty bad precedent

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Kind of surprised they didn't just take that. More money for them from TV and another big club in the league, but I guess allowing a nation to split up a rights region mid-cycle sets a pretty bad precedent

 

Yeah, and the clubs are desperate to keep their TV rights holders happy at the moment. Without fans in stadiums they depend on them to a crazy extent.

 

Taking Saudi's side in the takeover is one thing, but actively shafting Qatar by selling them the TV rights would have been extremely inflammatory. Although TBF I'd have liked to see it

[Wandy]

Can't fucking stand patronizing remarks like this mind:

 

 

Aye it's not like this has been the only serious bidder in 13 years, the lack of knowledge on the inner machinations of the club is so poor

 

The point is being missed in all of this anyway, as this saga has somehow shown that Ashley isn't the real villain when you get down to brass tacks. So it doesnt matter if or when another buyer comes along, the simple fact is that this buyer was prevented from making the purchase due to corruption in the Premier League. NUFC have just had their final chance to join the elite denied them due to corruption. And from here on no takeover will offer more potential than the one just denied, or be able to erase the memory of what happened when the club was stopped from becoming the richest in the game due to the establishment clubs fearing they will be usurped.

 

Like many, I am done with football now in all of its forms. I will hang around on here for a little while as part of the grieving process over the events of yesterday and to observe the fallout of it all. But once I have got over it then thats it for me.

 

I read someone say earlier that Ashley's NUFC will now quickly fall apart. I disagree - this is the true beginning of his NUFC because the old one that died yesterday was the lingering remnants of the Keegan/SBR era. Those years between 1992 and 2004 have sustained the idea that NUFC could still break the elite given the right break. Well yesterday confirmed that this will never happen. And from today NUFC just moved down the rankings a few pegs, into the bracket of clubs like Sunderland & West Brom - clubs who have the odd day in the sun but generally yoyo between the top two leagues, and will never, ever challenge the establishment clubs. I also suspect they will now become a club that has a stadium that is too big for them, because they wont average anywhere near 50k crowds for a very long time, if ever. At least the sale of Strawberry Place is no longer anything to get upset about.

[Whitley mag]

I always find it amusing how no matter what people do to try and raise the profile or protest there's always those who rubbish the ideas but offer nothing realistic that the average fan can do as an alternative. Anything is better than sitting on your hands and just moaning about it surely?!

 

Well said this is a major problem within our support, some right fucking moaning cnuts who just like to bash other supporters willing to try and do something.

 

Reading some of the comments on here bashing Caulkin aswell, give your fucking head a shake. The blokes one of us and will be fucking hurting just as much. For anyone also bashing Staveley in 13 years she’s the only person to have a bid accepted and get this far. Yes she’s fallen short but at least she’s fucking give it her best shot, she may well have made some mistakes but who fucking doesn’t it.

 

 

 

 

[TK-421]

A reply to a tweet from Edwards...

 

 

[Whitley mag]

Can't f***ing stand patronizing remarks like this mind:

 

 

Aye it's not like this has been the only serious bidder in 13 years, the lack of knowledge on the inner machinations of the club is so poor

 

The point is being missed in all of this anyway, as this saga has somehow shown that Ashley isn't the real villain when you get down to brass tacks. So it doesnt matter if or when another buyer comes along, the simple fact is that this buyer was prevented from making the purchase due to corruption in the Premier League. NUFC have just had their final chance to join the elite denied them due to corruption. And from here on no takeover will offer more potential than the one just denied, or be able to erase the memory of what happened when the club was stopped from becoming the richest in the game due to the establishment clubs fearing they will be usurped.

 

Like many, I am done with football now in all of its forms. I will hang around on here for a little while as part of the grieving process over the events of yesterday and to observe the fallout of it all. But once I have got over it then thats it for me.

 

I read someone say earlier that Ashley's NUFC will now quickly fall apart. I disagree - this is the true beginning of his NUFC because the old one that died yesterday was the lingering remnants of the Keegan/SBR era. Those years between 1992 and 2004 have sustained the idea that NUFC could still break the elite given the right break. Well yesterday confirmed that this will never happen. And from today NUFC just moved down the rankings a few pegs, into the bracket of clubs like Sunderland & West Brom - clubs who have the odd day in the sun but generally yoyo between the top two leagues, and will never, ever challenge the establishment clubs. I also suspect they will now become a club that has a stadium that is too big for them, because they wont average anywhere near 50k crowds for a very long time, if ever. At least the sale of Strawberry Place is no longer anything to get upset about.

 

Great post sums up my thoughts entirely. Never felt so let down, angry and upset in all my time following this great club, a truly fucking awful couple of days.

[SUPERTOON]

As others have probably said, outside of Newcastle no once cares and this will be old news in a weeks time, fans will still turn up regardless (assuming they are allowed), the club will continue to lurch from one pointless season to the next.

 

Fair play for any fan trying to keep pushing for it though.

[Disco]

Can’t believe Steve Bruce coined the phrase, not everyone’s cup of tea, although it should be no surprise given his literary prowess. Is there anything this heroic man can’t do, aside from fit into a 34” waist pair of trousers?

[dcmk]

I wanted this deal as much as anyone but Saudi Arabia are hardly faultless here.

 

Saudi Arabia pirating the Premier League's biggest oversea broadcaster.

 

PL sending complaints to the wrong email address. Seriously?

 

During the process they even banned BeIn.  Helping no-one.

 

I wish they sort their relationship out.  And try again with buying hs.  Them having a healthy relationship with Qatar (at least whilst they hold PL rights) is the way to go.

 

You obviously have no idea why their relationship with Qatar is so bad, so let's go with some education and see whether you change your mind or are just a Qatari stooge...

 

• In 1996 Qatar launches Al Jazeera, which "routinely criticized Saudi Arabia's ruler." and "routinely criticized Saudi Arabia's ruler."
  
• Qatar has often "exiled its most powerful critics to Saudi Arabia."
  
• In 1995 Qatar's new ruler established ties with Iran, transferring their affiliation from Saudi Arabia (a Sunni nation) to Iran (a Shia nation).
  
• In 1996 there was an attempted coup d'etat against the ruler of Qatar, who blamed government officials from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE.
  
• In 2014 the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar due to Qatar backing Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood (listed as a terrorist organisation by many countries).
  
• In 2002 Al Jazeera published a secret peace treaty between Saudi Arabia and Isarael.
  

 

More generally, it is important to know about Qatar:

• Jamal Ahmed al-Fadi, a former business agent for Osama bin Laden, said to the 9/11 Commission and US Congress that Bin Laden had told him in 1993 that the Qatar Charitable Society was one of Bin Laden's sources of funding.
  
• Khalifa Muhammad Turki al-Subaiy, a previous employee of the Qatar Central Bank, was a senior level financier of al-Qaeda, and was living freely in Qatar in 2014 (and is on a world wide terrorist blacklist).
  
• Abd al-Rahman bin Umayr al-Nuaymi, who was also a senior level financier of al-Qaeda, was the president of the Qatar Football Association and allegedly provided £1.5+million per month to al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq and Syria (he is also on a world wide terrorist blacklist and living freely in Qatar).
  
• ... and many more links to international terrorist groups (like al-Qaeda, ISIL, Hamas)
  

 

So whilst Saudi Arabia can certainly be painted as a group of bad guys, Qatar is (in at least equal measure) also a country ruled by and supporting some terribly evil people.  To suggest that Saudi Arabia should just have "a healthy relationship with Qatar" is incredibly naive.  To suggest that the Premier League is justified to reject Saudi involvement in the Premier League whilst also taking Qatari money is just morally and ethically bankrupt!  Saudi Arabia and Qatar (in fact Qatar and many countries in the region) are effectively in their own version of the Cold War and to suggest they could just have "a healthy relationship" is like asking the United States of America, England, and other NATO countries to just have "a healthy relationship" with the Soviet Union in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

 

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar%E2%80%93Saudi_Arabia_relations
  
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Saudi_Arabia_relations
  
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_and_state-sponsored_terrorism
  
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar_diplomatic_crisis
  

 

 

 

I am well familiar with the history.  I am fascinated with it, it's pure playground behaviour from both sides. It's incredible.

 

Provoking and reacting to each other, ad nauseam.

 

But it's unlikely it will ever get approved  unless Qatar (whilst holding oversea distribution rights) and Saudi sort their relationship out. 

 

Starting with unbanning BeIn maybe.  Would be a start. Anything to get the ball rolling, I want us taken over by them.  But can't help but think something has to give.