PIF and RB Sports & Media

[Thiago]

People are ascribing usual business practice to the alien world of football. 

 

Our owners will have done their diligence with the accounts of the club, but when you compare their ambitions with Ashley's we're comparing a newsagent to Tesco. It's not even like they have established practice to compare to. We haven't had a consistent DOF, and even our Head of Recruitment comes back with patchy references. A lot of the senior figures at this club are there because they wouldn't rock the boat. Of those who could survive many won't have anything like the experience required. Nickson, for example, did one £40m deal and it was a massive flop. Man City took a bit of time to get their top guys in, but they knew to go after Barcelona's people. They were the ones with the contacts to open doors and the experience to avoid getting ripped off. 

 

You also have to remember that these planned appointments need to be balanced with short and long term goals. They need to sign players for now, while also making sure the appointments at the top mesh with whatever the long term vision is. 

 

The notion of patience in this capacity is misguided because that suggests we're 12 months in. A lot of people are talking about our owners, slating their inability to make it work, and yet we've picked up two useful players  already. Don't panic because they haven't built the house yet, it's about getting the foundations level first.

[STM]

2 minutes ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

I think it is way too early to be getting pissy about PIF and Stavely. BUT. Howe is absolutely fair game as he has been objectively shite and replacing him fast will be the difference between going down and staying up.

[Dr Venkman]

1 minute ago, TheInfiniteOdyssey said:

You know how many games he’s managed, I don’t think he’s met expectations regardless.

 

Patience isn't necessarily something that’s even rewarded in this sport either.

 

I’m not advocating for him to go anytime soon, but as mentioned earlier, I can understand with another negative result to a similar side like Leeds, why some fans will feel like this appointment hasn’t worked out.

 

Fundamentally, I don’t think it’s wrong for fans to expect more than this.

 

Ultimately I'll consider it a success if he keeps us up and failure if he doesn't. It's not looking great though is it.

[xLiaaamx]

Give him two good midfielders to replace the two immoveable objects in Shelvey and Longstaff and then see how we play.

 

If he doesn't think that's a priority, then he does have a real problem.

[Billy Pilgrim]

3 minutes ago, STM said:

if I'm wrong I will hold my hands up and admit it and say, fair fucks mr Howe, you turned it round. However if any of you can be arsed to read what I said about Eddie Howe in the run up to him being appointed, you will see that my wild forecasts are not as insane as they appear to be at the time of writing.

 

I'd say give him two more games. No wins, send to gulag.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Billy Pilgrim

[Big Geordie]

4 hours ago, SUPERTOON said:

 

Any chance of a C&P from the piece for those of us that don't subscribe to The Athletic, please?

[TRon]

1 hour ago, xLiaaamx said:

Give him two good midfielders to replace the two immoveable objects in Shelvey and Longstaff and then see how we play.

 

If he doesn't think that's a priority, then he does have a real problem.

 

This. He has to recognise that's a massive problem, especially playing his style of football. 

[Awaymag]

Obviously as NUFC fans, we want the same thing, team to be proud of and hopefully a successful one as well.   Reading the comments over the past few weeks,  I thing the overriding thing that NUFC fans have had for the past 14 year is Fear and we still have that today.  Let me explain:

 

• During the Ashley years, NUFC fans had the 'fear' that he would never sell and we would be stuck with him, and drift into obsucurity.
• During the last two years when the Saudi takeover was up in the air, NUFC fans had the 'fear' that the takeover would never be approved.
• Now, with the takeover happening, NUFC fans have the 'fear' of relegation as they think in the back of their mind that PIF will get frustrated and walk away.

The media knows the 'fear' of the fans and are playing on it, Inter rumours, negative slant on anything consortium does etc.     Its that fear which is driving most of the fans discussion about, need to have this in place, need to be quicker at transfers etc.  We are scared that PIF will not follow through with their plans due to this short term blip (relegation).     To PIF however if they do have a 10 year plan for NUFC, then whilst relegation is a set back, that's all it is.   If they are intelligent people, and Im sure they are, then they would have accounted for the real possibility of relegation, in their ten year plan anyway.

 

What Im trying to say is whilst now for fans this is a nightmare, for PIF and the consortium, it doesn't matter so much as long as it doesn't torpedo the 10 year plan (and it shouldn't or its not a robust plan anyway).

 

Keep the faith and try to step back if you feel the 'fear' is becoming too much!  HWTL

[Kanj]

Good post mate. Solid perspective and calming to read. 

What keeps me pretty chill about this is deep down we’re not in this position under MA with no spending or change in dugout. This time we have owners who appear to be here for a long time and want to eventually have us challenging for everything. 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Kanji

[The Prophet]

1 hour ago, Awaymag said:

Obviously as NUFC fans, we want the same thing, team to be proud of and hopefully a successful one as well.   Reading the comments over the past few weeks,  I thing the overriding thing that NUFC fans have had for the past 14 year is Fear and we still have that today.  Let me explain:

 

• During the Ashley years, NUFC fans had the 'fear' that he would never sell and we would be stuck with him, and drift into obsucurity.
• During the last two years when the Saudi takeover was up in the air, NUFC fans had the 'fear' that the takeover would never be approved.
• Now, with the takeover happening, NUFC fans have the 'fear' of relegation as they think in the back of their mind that PIF will get frustrated and walk away.

The media knows the 'fear' of the fans and are playing on it, Inter rumours, negative slant on anything consortium does etc.     Its that fear which is driving most of the fans discussion about, need to have this in place, need to be quicker at transfers etc.  We are scared that PIF will not follow through with their plans due to this short term blip (relegation).     To PIF however if they do have a 10 year plan for NUFC, then whilst relegation is a set back, that's all it is.   If they are intelligent people, and Im sure they are, then they would have accounted for the real possibility of relegation, in their ten year plan anyway.

 

What Im trying to say is whilst now for fans this is a nightmare, for PIF and the consortium, it doesn't matter so much as long as it doesn't torpedo the 10 year plan (and it shouldn't or its not a robust plan anyway).

 

Keep the faith and try to step back if you feel the 'fear' is becoming too much!  HWTL

 

Cracking post.

[Colos Short and Curlies]

2 hours ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

if I'm wrong I will hold my hands up and admit it and say, fair fucks mr Howe, you turned it round. However if any of you can be arsed to read what I said about Eddie Howe in the run up to him being appointed, you will see that my wild forecasts are not as insane as they appear to be at the time of writing.

 

I'd say give him two more games. No wins, send to gulag.

 

 

 

 

It's really Leeds or bust. We've got a nice break after that game, can't repeat the McLaren mistake 

[wfmk2]

1 hour ago, Awaymag said:

Obviously as NUFC fans, we want the same thing, team to be proud of and hopefully a successful one as well.   Reading the comments over the past few weeks,  I thing the overriding thing that NUFC fans have had for the past 14 year is Fear and we still have that today.  Let me explain:

 

• During the Ashley years, NUFC fans had the 'fear' that he would never sell and we would be stuck with him, and drift into obsucurity.
• During the last two years when the Saudi takeover was up in the air, NUFC fans had the 'fear' that the takeover would never be approved.
• Now, with the takeover happening, NUFC fans have the 'fear' of relegation as they think in the back of their mind that PIF will get frustrated and walk away.

The media knows the 'fear' of the fans and are playing on it, Inter rumours, negative slant on anything consortium does etc.     Its that fear which is driving most of the fans discussion about, need to have this in place, need to be quicker at transfers etc.  We are scared that PIF will not follow through with their plans due to this short term blip (relegation).     To PIF however if they do have a 10 year plan for NUFC, then whilst relegation is a set back, that's all it is.   If they are intelligent people, and Im sure they are, then they would have accounted for the real possibility of relegation, in their ten year plan anyway.

 

What Im trying to say is whilst now for fans this is a nightmare, for PIF and the consortium, it doesn't matter so much as long as it doesn't torpedo the 10 year plan (and it shouldn't or its not a robust plan anyway).

 

Keep the faith and try to step back if you feel the 'fear' is becoming too much!  HWTL

 

Let's face it. We're all suffering from PTSD!

[dcmk]

What are everyone's opinion on how PIF might respond to us being relegated? Fully committed to getting us back up straight away?  or hugely embarrassing for them with some potential fall out? 

 

Hope for our stake it's the former! 

[The Prophet]

3 minutes ago, dcmk said:

What are everyone's opinion on how PIF might respond to us being relegated? Fully committed to getting us back up straight away?  or hugely embarrassing for them with some potential fall out? 

 

Hope for our stake it's the former! 

 

The former, simply can't see it being the latter.

[Geordie Ahmed]

4 minutes ago, POOT 2.0 said:

I hope the board really are intelligent and come out with a positive statement, like:

 

"whilst we don't want relegation, no matter what happens, we're all committed to the long term future of NUFC." 

 

Would rest a few nerves. 

 

I'm sure Staveley said something similar when they first came. 

They'll not say anything like that until it's mathematically done

 

And I fully expect them to say they are disappointed but committed to getting the club back up

 

 

[Danh1]

22 minutes ago, dcmk said:

What are everyone's opinion on how PIF might respond to us being relegated? Fully committed to getting us back up straight away?  or hugely embarrassing for them with some potential fall out? 

 

Hope for our stake it's the former! 

Waugh has always said that their end goals for the club won’t change if we go down. I can see it making them more determined to right the wrong. 

[et tu brute]

9 minutes ago, POOT 2.0 said:

I hope the board really are intelligent and come out with a positive statement, like:

 

"whilst we don't want relegation, no matter what happens, we're all committed to the long term future of NUFC." 

 

Would rest a few nerves. 

 

I'm sure Staveley said something similar when they first came. 

That I would imagine would happen if we are relegated. Say it now and it looks like the owners are expecting relegation and there would be more uproar than resting a few nerves. The media would have a field day if they came out with that now. Also looks to players being lined up and already here that the owners don’t think we will survive, not a good move. Leave it until the time comes if we do actually go down.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by et tu brute

[LV]

4 hours ago, Geordie Ahmed said:

People have paid serious money, that is true but the current owners are not responsible for the shite on show week in week out, certainly not yet

 

Once they've had an opportunity to put a structure in place and employed people across the board and give a reasonable amount of time then I think it's fair to get vocal about it

 

Getting vocal now is absurd imo, though it is reflective of issues we have in society in general and football is a reflection of that, we want everything and we want it now

 

Let's recognise we've had 14 years of absolute crap at all levels, expecting perfection from the new owners in 3 months is unfair and unrealistic 

 

Have some patience man and focus on the bigger picture 

i couldn’t agree more with this post 

[LV]

4 hours ago, TheInfiniteOdyssey said:

Patience isn’t limitless though.

 

This is competitive sport and you’ll be judged on results regardless. That’s the reality and the results unfortunately haven’t been good enough.

 

We all want Howe to succeed, but there has to be a point where you question if he’s the right man for the job. All fans will have a different threshold for when that point is for them.

 

People can be happy with his initial appointment and now be unhappy with how things have gone since. That’s not an inherently contradictory stance to adopt.

 

He’s had 10 games, we’ve been inconsistent, there’s been little sustained encouragement against sides of varying calibre and we haven’t got the points we expected to accumulate.

 

Another negative result against Leeds and I’d find it hard to disagree with people who would be open to a change in manager.

In those 10 games he has had literally under half a window to change the squad he has inherited. Unreal. 

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

28 minutes ago, LV said:

In those 10 games he has had literally under half a window to change the squad he has inherited. Unreal. 

I think he should have had better results with the 10 games he’s had regardless though

[LV]

5 minutes ago, TheInfiniteOdyssey said:

I think he should have had better results with the 10 games he’s had regardless though

Why though? 
 

The squad are dog dirt. He can’t even swap out underperforming players for better alternatives. They’re worse. 
 

Would you be able to coach a team in 10 games to perform better? Who would? Even Ferguson would struggle. We’re a championship team in all but name and need fresh, quality blood. 
 

Edit: I don’t know why I’m arguing. It’s all opinions isn’t it. We disagree and that’s cool. We all just want the best for us, god knows we’ve waited long enough. 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by LV

[Geordie Ahmed]

Just now, LV said:

Why though? 
 

The squad are dog dirt. He can’t even swap out underperforming players for better alternatives. They’re worse. 
 

Would you be able to coach a team in 10 games to perform better? Who would? Even Ferguson would struggle. We’re a championship team in all but name and need fresh, quality blood. 

 

Plus you add in we have taken the lead in a number of those games (Brentford, Norwich, Man-U, Watford) but the mentality of this squad is so pathetic that we know an equaliser is inevitable, be that through individual mistakes or a collective of arse dropping from the squad

 

I'll be damned if I judge Howe based on crap squad he's inherited 

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

1 minute ago, LV said:

Why though? 
 

The squad are dog dirt. He can’t even swap out underperforming players for better alternatives. They’re worse. 
 

Would you be able to coach a team in 10 games to perform better? Who would? Even Ferguson would struggle. We’re a championship team in all but name and need fresh, quality blood. 

The squad isn’t strong, but to not win against Brentford, Norwich, Watford all at home represents a poor return.

 

When Howe was appointed, I’m sure we all looked at those fixtures as ideal opportunities to accumulate points. I never would have expected to not win a single one of them.

 

We need massive improvement in all aspects of the squad but I still think the manager has to take some responsibility for results. 
 

The Cambridge result also was just horrific.
 

To criticise the manager do I need to hold a UEFA Pro Licence now? 
 

I want him to succeed but it’s a results business at the end of the day and I have doubts he can ultimately turn it around.

[madras]

2 minutes ago, TheInfiniteOdyssey said:

The squad isn’t strong, but to not win against Brentford, Norwich, Watford all at home represents a poor return.

 

When Howe was appointed, I’m sure we all looked at those fixtures as ideal opportunities to accumulate points. I never would have expected to not win a single one of them.

 

We need massive improvement in all aspects of the squad but I still think the manager has to take some responsibility for results. 
 

The Cambridge result also was just horrific.
 

To criticise the manager do I need to hold a UEFA Pro Licence now? 
 

I want him to succeed but it’s a results business at the end of the day and I have doubts he can ultimately turn it around.

Poor return from Brentford, Norwich, Watford.  Like when we went down and Rafa's poor return from Villa, Sunderland and Norwich.

[TheInfiniteOdyssey]

Just now, madras said:

Poor return from Brentford, Norwich, Watford.  Like when we went down and Rafa's poor return from Villa, Sunderland and Norwich.

I mean, yeah that wasn’t great either was it?

 

Here’s hoping Howe gets the team clicking in the coming weeks with the results to boot.

 

Perhaps the Saudi camp after Leeds will get the squad up to a fluid understanding of what he wants to set out.