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

[Danh1]

As if only now the club are so arsed about staying up.

 

Bruce should have been peddled at the start of January at the very latest. Hopefully when we lose on Saturday the fat fucking prick is given his marching orders. 2 wins in 17.

[Numbers]

Wait, you can injure a hamstring by conducting Takeover talks?

[et tu brute]

I haven't taken much notice of what Edwards has been saying lately, but hasn't he been pouring cold water on the takeover talk for months now?  Therefore, from his perspective, what has actually been halted?

 

Aye, I think since the 'withdrawal' by PIF last year, he's been pretty much saying the Takeover is/has been off since then, and that DeMarco is only doing whatever he's doing to get Ashley some Compo.

 

 

He was also the person who started the Mauriss shit off, the bloke is an utter clown and total cunt to boot.

[St1pe]

Weird how it’s just Edwards reporting this. A bloke behind the curve for months suddenly has a scoop from an inside source? Doubt it.

[Thomson Mouse]

I mean, they needed two key players to be injured this weekend to be worried about being relegated 

[toontownman]

Yes absolutely imperative these behind closed doors takeover talks in the background, involving no one that has anything to do with the day to day running of the club are halted at once.

 

Staying up is a priority now. Just not when we could have got a decent manager or bought game changing players in like our relegation rivals did.

 

This could be a difference maker. I took have decided I better stop working until we sort this mess out. Every little helps.

 

 

 

[deejeck]

For anyone who is interested in Luke's article. Spoiler - Second sentence contradicts his sensationalist tweet from earlier.

 

Newcastle United put takeover talks on hold after double injury blow in relegation battle

Exclusive: Miguel Almiron has suffered knee ligament damage, Allan Saint-Maximin has a groin tear and both will be out for up to six weeks

 

By

Luke Edwards

2 March 2021 • 11:33am

 

It tells you everything about how acutely the loss of Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint Maximin has been felt at Newcastle United that all takeover talks have been halted until the club know what division they are going to be in next season.

 

In truth, that call had been made by owner Mike Ashley and his lieutenant,Justin Barnes, before it emerged two of Newcastle best players would be missing for up to six weeks with knee and groin injuries respectively, but it highlights how perilous things have become.

 

With the club sitting fourth from bottom in the table, just three points above a revived Fulham, the pausing of takeover conversations, which have been ongoing behind the scenes for much of the season - and not just with Amanda Staveley’s Saudi Arabia funded consortium, which is still waiting to learn whether Ashley’s wins his arbitration case with the Premier League - is common sense.

 

That arbitration hearing is yet to begin, but until Newcastle know what division they are going to be in next season, Ashley is not thinking seriously about takeovers and other potential buyers have been told as much.

 

There is no point trying to sell a business for £340m when both buyers and sellers do not know whether that price is realistic or ludicrous.

 

If Newcastle are relegated to the Championship for a third time under his stewardship, Ashley will not be able to sell it for anything like that amount - with estimates suggesting the value will fall by at least £100m as soon as Premier League status is lost.

 

Therefore it is understandable why focus has shifted solely to the Magpies battle against relegation with their chances of winning that fight hit badly by the injuries to Almiron and Saint-Maximin.

 

Almiron has suffered knee ligament damage, while Saint-Maximin has a groin tear after both picked up injuries in the 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.

 

Miguel Almiron receives treatment on the pitch

Miguel Almiron has got knee ligament damage CREDIT: AFP

Both will need weeks of careful rehabilitation to recover and are highly unlikely to play again until the start of April at the earliest.

 

The loss of both forwards, who will join leading goalscorer Callum Wilson in the treatment room, is a huge blow to under pressure manager Steve Bruce.

 

This had been correctly billed as the crucial part of the season for the Magpies as they fight to stay in the Premier League, with a trip to West Bromwich Albion this weekend followed by a trip to Aston Villa and then a potentially pivotal trip to Brighton and Hove Albion before the respite of a two-week international break.

 

When club football returns in April, Newcastle play Tottenham, Burnley and West Ham before a trip to Liverpool. Both players should be back by then and there is a chance their recovery could be quick enough for them to feature immediately after the international break but it will depend on how they respond to treatment.

 

Wilson has an outside chance of being fit enough to play against Brighton, but Bruce will be reluctant to risk aggravating his hamstring problem by rushing back too soon with so many games left to play.

 

Almiron and Saint-Maximin, along with Wilson, have scored 60% of Newcastle’s goals this season. But as well as scoring 16 out of Newcastle’s 26 league goals, the trio are also responsible for nine out of their 17 assists.

 

It means Bruce goes into games labelled “must win” without his three best and most effective attacking players. A defeat at West Brom will lead to calls for him to be sacked and although Ashley remains reluctant to go down that route, he may feel a change is the only option with so much money at stake.

 

Premier League latest standings 2020/21 (bottom five)

Interestingly, though, some of those in positions of power at St James’ Park have pointed out in meetings that a change in manager did not save Newcastle in 2009 or 2016. Supporters would argue that is because Ashley left it so late to make the change, but Alan Shearer had eight games to save them from relegation and Rafa Benitez had ten. Could Ashley, who likes Bruce, just stick rather than twist and see what happens?

 

Bruce, though,  knows this is judgement time for him and will have to cope with the loss of key players and hope he can still get the results he needs.

 

Wilson has not played since the 3-2 win over Southampton on February 6 and there is a chance the England international could be back to take on Brighton on March 20 but he will not be rushed back prematurely.

 

Sources, though, have told Telegraph Sport that there is some relief behind the scenes that the injuries were not even more severe, with fears Almiron’s knee injury could have been so bad it ended the Paraguay international’s season.

 

It has served to crank up the pressure on Bruce and his players to beat WBA this weekend, with Sam Allardyce’s side one of only three below them in the table.

 

Newcastle are likely to stick with the same formation which will mean Dwight Gayle replaces Almiron through the middle of the front three and Ryan Fraser comes in for Saint-Maximin.

 

The alternative would be to start with Andy Carroll with Fraser or Gayle playing off him, with a return to a back five in the hope of grinding out a win at the Hawthorns.

[toontownman]

I mean what else would spur you on like soul crushing news we are stuck with Ashley and the only hope of turning back into a football club that has a hope of being competitive has been taken away. I can see why they would do it.

 

To be fair they should have said the takeover relies on you the players to keep us up. If we go down it's your fault.

 

"Why are you just looking at me when you say that?"

 

"Its ok Jonjo. Of course we mean everyone"

 

"you are doing it again."

[Shearergol]

but Alan Shearer had eight games to save them from relegation and Rafa Benitez had ten

 

Nope, pretty obvious that's not enough time. Sacking Bruce at the start of January would have given ample time though.

[ScottishMagpie]

Pure powder puff article that. 

[Consortium of one]

So typical of Ashley: he could have spent, say, 50m(or less) to save himself 100m and instead he sat back and did nowt.  He could have sacked Cabbage and promised a 40m+ warchest for reinforcements in January.  Yeah, January is not the best time to spend money but a 2nd striker and another dynamic midfielder could have been bought.  Imagine if we had bought Sanson along with loaning Willock?  Imagine if we had another striker behind CW?  Imagine a competent manager coming in before January and started implementing what Jones has done?

 

It just underlines how impossibly stupid Mike Ashley is.  Literally his own worst enemy.

[Jinky Jim]

So typical of Ashley: he could have spent, say, 50m(or less) to save himself 100m and instead he sat back and did nowt.  He could have sacked Cabbage and promised a 40m+ warchest for reinforcements in January.  Yeah, January is not the best time to spend money but a 2nd striker and another dynamic midfielder could have been bought.  Imagine if we had bought Sanson along with loaning Willock?  Imagine if we had another striker behind CW?  Imagine a competent manager coming in before January and started implementing what Jones has done?

 

It just underlines how impossibly stupid Mike Ashley is.  Literally his own worst enemy.

 

It’s what Ashley has done all of his tenure......gamble that what we have is enough to survive....better than spending £50m and ensuring Premier status, in his mind...you do wonder how he has been such a successful businessman

[Kanji]

This whole thing is on MA. I'm sure whenever the PIF deal came about he dragged his feet before agreeing to it...and when it didn't eventually happen last season and he stuck with Bruce, he signed himself up for more risk to getting his 300m+. If we get relegated, fuck the takeover, its all on MA not acting on the signs of free fall. He's had hundreds of days to sack Bruce and do the right thing and keep the club comfortably in the PL, and he did not. He's gambled, or he's let Charnley make the decision and Charnley has not. Whatever it is, it's on him.

[Renrub]

It just underlines how impossibly stupid Mike Ashley is.  Literally his own worst enemy.

 

This is it really. He is a total fucking mongoloid, who hasn't got a clue how to run a football club. He surrounds himself with yes men who have even less of a clue than he does. The fat virgin Justin Barnes being the latest in a long list of jokers who should be nowhere near a Premier League club. Mort, Llambias, Jimenez etc. all without any track record in football and completely under qualified. Obviously I don't know him personally, but I would not be surprised if he is incredibly insecure and fully aware he's a bit of a retard. So he only works with people he can control and who are also so far out of their depth it makes him feel better about himself.

[LV]

It’s Edwards, file under bullshit.

[Mattoon]

So they're that worried about relegation that they cancel all takeover talk as that'll help, because. But the main instigator of the likelihood of relegation gets to keep his job in the position that will most likely decide the outcome of said relegation. Makes perfect sense to me. I'm in!

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Sounds like MA pulling the plug on the legals until the season is finished to me.

[HaydnNUFC]

Thread from this guy.

 

 

 

 

[Lazarus]

So he thinks its still on?

[St1pe]

Thread from this guy.

 

 

Jacobs always seems closer to the pulse than anyone else. Seems plausible what he’s saying rather than the sensational stuff some others put out.

[Yorkie]

Thread from this guy.

 

 

 

 

 

That's an extremely balanced take and one that should definitely be prioritised over Edwards' more dramatic tidbit.

 

PIF are only coming in if arbitration bears fruit. That was always the case. But now the whole thing has been complicated by the prospect of relegation. It's as simple as that, really. Things don't look great but they don't look dead and buried, not by any stretch.

[buzz]

I see no reason to doubt Edwards' information that Barnes has suspended whatever processes are ongoing until the relegation picture is settled. As Ben Jacobs says, with relegation looming Ashley will need to evaluate his options too and this sort of decision sounds very much at his behest as much as the consortium's.

[HaydnNUFC]

Thread from this guy.

 

 

 

 

 

That's an extremely balanced take and one that should definitely be prioritised over Edwards' more dramatic tidbit.

 

PIF are only coming in if arbitration bears fruit. That was always the case. But now the whole thing has been complicated by the prospect of relegation. It's as simple as that, really. Things don't look great but they don't look dead and buried, not by any stretch.

 

Aye, pretty much. Steve Bruce jeopardising the long term of future of Newcastle United. Nice bloke though. Apparently.

[Candi_Hills]

I reckon that's probably an accurate assessment of the situation from Jacobs. Willing buyer, willing seller, 2 or 3 major hurdles.

 

The deal isn't 100% on or off.

 

[Jinky Jim]

Thread from this guy.

 

 

Jacobs always seems closer to the pulse than anyone else. Seems plausible what he’s saying rather than the sensational stuff some others put out.

 

Perhaps Ashley realised that relegation was a huge possibility in January.....don’t spend any money.....sell the club post relegation for 80-100m less and perhaps he feels he’s only 30m or so out of pocket.....NAAA, that demands Ashley has actually planned for the future...he never does that?