PIF and RB Sports & Media

[The College Dropout]

On 17/09/2024 at 11:52, TRon said:

 

Even then we won't have the spending power of the cartel clubs with their already built worldwide fanbases. We need to be able to invest our own money.

Doesn’t change that we need a new stadium to realise our existing potential. 
 

Man U have shared some plans for some regeneration within months. 
 

Where are we with this? The training ground?

 

When Ashley took over we had the second biggest club stadium in the country. We are about to become the 8th. We are being left behind. 

[TRon]

2 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Doesn’t change that we need a new stadium to realise our existing potential. 
 

Man U have shared some plans for some regeneration within months. 
 

Where are we with this? The training ground?

 

When Ashley took over we had the second biggest club stadium in the country. We are about to become the 8th. We are being left behind. 

 

I think the only way to answer this is if you consider the club an investment or a vanity project for the Saudis. If it's the former, the cost would make it prohibitive. If it's the latter, then the Saudis will want to know they can build a winning side without restrictions.

[Dr Jinx]

I think the elephant in the room which few are talking openly about is that there's every possibility that we're the unwanted child in a broken relationship now. There's PIF and The Reubens.. do they communicate at all? At board level, who's leading this? I think maybe the personalities involved are a little too affable or silver spoon for Yassir's liking.

 

Something feels slightly off, like we're in so much better shape than a few years ago so it's fully acceptable but i do wonder just how serious PIF and by extension Saudi are about positioning us for something a bit more. Everything has stalled and it's allowing doubt to creep in.

 

Also something maybe of battered wife syndrome when it comes to the fanbase after the Mike Ashley years.. we're going to need a bit more regular reassurance than we're currently getting, and a few words probably won't cut the mustard this time. We need to see something real and material.

 

Training Ground.. nothing been said about it. Understandable if not a current priority but at least say it's on the back burner for the moment.

Stadium - all been said in the other thread. It will take time for it to come together but an update (even to say no update) would be good.

Revenue increases - some new significant sponsorship would be great - it's gone a little quiet on the major deals they were talking about.

Clear up the situation with SD and Manager.. is there anything to clear up? If not then just say that.

[The College Dropout]

Agreed my ultimate concern is that PIF are not as invested as they need to be for us to be successful. And I think I already have the answer. 
 

Chelsea was Roman’s football interest. City are at the heart of Anu Dhabi’s footballing ambitions. The shenanigans with the Saudi league and the lack of movement of players between the clubs shows us we aren’t the centre of their footballing ambition.  

[Unbelievable]

1 hour ago, Dr Jinx said:

I think the elephant in the room which few are talking openly about is that there's every possibility that we're the unwanted child in a broken relationship now. There's PIF and The Reubens.. do they communicate at all? At board level, who's leading this? I think maybe the personalities involved are a little too affable or silver spoon for Yassir's liking.

 

Something feels slightly off, like we're in so much better shape than a few years ago so it's fully acceptable but i do wonder just how serious PIF and by extension Saudi are about positioning us for something a bit more. Everything has stalled and it's allowing doubt to creep in.

 

Also something maybe of battered wife syndrome when it comes to the fanbase after the Mike Ashley years.. we're going to need a bit more regular reassurance than we're currently getting, and a few words probably won't cut the mustard this time. We need to see something real and material.

 

Training Ground.. nothing been said about it. Understandable if not a current priority but at least say it's on the back burner for the moment.

Stadium - all been said in the other thread. It will take time for it to come together but an update (even to say no update) would be good.

Revenue increases - some new significant sponsorship would be great - it's gone a little quiet on the major deals they were talking about.

Clear up the situation with SD and Manager.. is there anything to clear up? If not then just say that.

 

Probably the worst thing they could do is draw attention to it by saying there is nothing there.

 

As for your unwanted child of a broken relationship theory, I'm sure PIF would buy out the Ruebens if the working relationship wasn't working for either party.

 

I'm not at all worried myself about our off the pitch progress. It's a distant third on my NUFC concerns list behind the shackles that are FFP/FMV and our mediocre performances so far this season potentially derailing the project where this season really CL qualification is almost a must if we want to push on.

[Decky]

Is there any evidence at all for these concerns yous are having? Man Utd are a different animal altogether than us so its probably harder for them to keep a lid on their stadium development, or maybe they're happy to be a bit more vocal about whats going on but there's nothing to suggest our lot aren't being as active behind the scenes in developing SJP. It has to be said too that Man Utd are essentially building an entire new part of Manchester as well as a stadium so its a much larger project, we might be staying where we are with a redevelopment. As I said before in my last post I don't see any evidence at all that PIF have cooled their interest in us. The only concern I have right now is the state of performances on the pitch and the rumours of a fractured relationship between Howe and his bosses. 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2024 by Decky

[Superior Acuña]

Would the Saudis really be content with their football team in the worlds biggest league just being mediocre?

[r0cafella]

4 minutes ago, Superior Acuña said:

Would the Saudis really be content with their football team in the worlds biggest league just being mediocre?

If it’s purely an investment play absolutely. 

[kingxlnc]

I think the Saudi's are long term thinkers - in that there are barriers for NUFC to become number 1 and therefore for all football operations to run through it. But with them hosting the world cup in 2034, you'd think by then, they would want to have the biggest team in the world, just like Qatar had in mind with the PSG purchase for 2022, having Messi and Mbappe and Neymar at the club at the time. 

The Saudi league is a way for them to still get that thrill of building - which is probably a good thing otherwise NUFC would have 39 year old Ronaldo and other last pay-day mercenaries and it would be exactly like the media predicted. Instead, we've kept a cleaner image and they've still been able to do that with their own league - win win in my opinion. 

[TRon]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

If it’s purely an investment play absolutely. 

 

 

If it was purely an investement, I'm sure they could have picked options which would give a lot more return for less risk. It's a vanity project IMO, and the rest of the world knows it. Precisely why you had everyone in the world up in arms about sportswashing. Does anyone seriously think they bought Newcastle Utd to finish 8th in the league while clubs owned by bitter rivals take all the trophies and the glory?

 

 

[Decky]

There's a reason why Amanda said we'll win the PL and the CL. The ambitions are there. It PIF had those ambitions for us I'd be shocked to hear that they've decided to just keep us ticking along midtable now instead. What would be the reason for it? The sums needed to make us one of the top clubs is chump change to these guys. Yes the rules make it a longer process but we'll still get there. 

[r0cafella]

5 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

 

If it was purely an investement, I'm sure they could have picked options which would give a lot more return for less risk. It's a vanity project IMO, and the rest of the world knows it. Precisely why you had everyone in the world up in arms about sportswashing. Does anyone seriously think they bought Newcastle Utd to finish 8th in the league while clubs owned by bitter rivals take all the trophies and the glory?

 

 

We don’t know if that changed that’s the point. The league has gone out of its way to block them and we’ve been largely compliant. 
 

Either we will know for sure in due time. 

[TRon]

2 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

We don’t know if that changed that’s the point. The league has gone out of its way to block them and we’ve been largely compliant. 
 

Either we will know for sure in due time. 

 

Agreed. I've said earlier in this thread if the league want to stop the Saudis challenging the cartel, there's not really that much motivation for them to pump in more money than necessary in infrastructure unless it will pay off in reasonable time. They can run it as an investment perfectly fine. They win either way. It's Newcastle fans who are really being screwed over, and all is well in cartel world.

[TBG]

Could they be doing more? Probably, aye, but I'm still willing to give them time considering they've done more for the club in 3 years than the previous owner did in 14 years by running the club completely into the ground both on and off the pitch.

[timeEd32]

1 hour ago, Unbelievable said:

 

Probably the worst thing they could do is draw attention to it by saying there is nothing there.

 

As for your unwanted child of a broken relationship theory, I'm sure PIF would buy out the Ruebens if the working relationship wasn't working for either party.

 

I'm not at all worried myself about our off the pitch progress. It's a distant third on my NUFC concerns list behind the shackles that are FFP/FMV and our mediocre performances so far this season potentially derailing the project where this season really CL qualification is almost a must if we want to push on.

 

Eh, the PSR concerns are directly related to off the pitch progress and without that progress then CL qualification wouldn't really be any different than doing it in 2022/23. It would be huge and come with lots of near term benefits, but our revenue and infrastructure would still be miles behind. 

 

I'd feel very relaxed about our weekly results if there were shovels in the ground and big / creative sponsorship deals being announced.

[Abacus]

53 minutes ago, TBG said:

Could they be doing more? Probably, aye, but I'm still willing to give them time considering they've done more for the club in 3 years than the previous owner did in 14 years by running the club completely into the ground both on and off the pitch.

 

Totally agree, and they are likely doing more than we can see.

 

Would like a statement from Eales at some point re the club's ambitions but that's probably for when they're ready to announce something re the stadium and / or training ground / new sponsorships etc.

[Conjo]

3 hours ago, Dr Jinx said:

Something feels slightly off

 

The amount of times I've read this on here recently in relation to certain players, Howe, Howe "vs" Mitchell, the team....

 

We're a broken fan base is the most likely explanation imo.  

[ExiledGeordie]

12 minutes ago, Abacus said:

 

Totally agree, and they are likely doing more than we can see.

 

Would like a statement from Eales at some point re the club's ambitions but that's probably for when they're ready to announce something re the stadium and / or training ground / new sponsorships etc.

Yeah I do think we need some positivity moving forwards. We need a good January window and some kind of statement of progression from Eales re plans moving forward. It all feels like it’s stagnated a bit at the moment.

[Unbelievable]

18 minutes ago, timeEd32 said:

 

Eh, the PSR concerns are directly related to off the pitch progress and without that progress then CL qualification wouldn't really be any different than doing it in 2022/23. It would be huge and come with lots of near term benefits, but our revenue and infrastructure would still be miles behind. 

 

I'd feel very relaxed about our weekly results if there were shovels in the ground and big / creative sponsorship deals being announced.

 

By "off the pitch" progress I was referring to the perceived willingness of PIF to invest in our long term future. I have zero doubt that they will, and perceive FFP/FMV a much bigger stumbling block (hence concern), as well as the more short term risk of not qualifying for CL again, and thereby failing to rise our commercial profile sufficiently in order to improve commercial revenue to catch up with the biggest clubs. Failing to qualify for CL will see many of our best players leave and essentially a reset of the entire project. I understand everything is tied together, but between our owners' willingness, external conditions and (looking at current performance level) the ability of manager and players to pull off what I think we need short term to keep the momentum going, the former is the least of my worries.

[Dokko]

Pif are just waiting on the citeh court cases to make their next move. If the closer sponsor one comes back in citehs favour, then it's shackles off. No excuses to pump money in and blow psr out the water.

 

If citeh win and we keep the same tactic, then people are correct, we're not a priority and never will be. 

[Keegans Export]

4 minutes ago, Dokko said:

Pif are just waiting on the citeh court cases to make their next move. If the closer sponsor one comes back in citehs favour, then it's shackles off. No excuses to pump money in and blow psr out the water.

 

If citeh win and we keep the same tactic, then people are correct, we're not a priority and never will be. 

 

I asked this in the FFP thread but I'm not clear on what Man City are actually arguing against. The "related-party" transactions pre-date our takeover I think, City seem to be challenging "associated-party" transactions but I'm not sure what the difference is between those two?

[andycap]

I noticed rubein doesn't sit with eales and Mitchell at our games anymore. 

Wonder if he's still missing mehrdad. 

[Stifler]

2 hours ago, Decky said:

There's a reason why Amanda said we'll win the PL and the CL. The ambitions are there. It PIF had those ambitions for us I'd be shocked to hear that they've decided to just keep us ticking along midtable now instead. What would be the reason for it? The sums needed to make us one of the top clubs is chump change to these guys. Yes the rules make it a longer process but we'll still get there. 

Myself, club wise I’m not concerned, I think we are doing what we can under the rules, and they still want to develop us as fast as possible. It’s all gone as much as we could expect, this summer aside, but I think they will make it clear to everyone involved that we can’t have a repeat of it.

 

I’m concerned about the stadium though, or more impatient. The stadium does need work done to it, it has for 10 years now. To a lesser extent I’m concerned about the training ground, however so far it doesn’t seem to have been a barrier for us under our new owners.

The constant cock teasing about new sponsorships, and stadium news being imminent, and not actually being imminent has got to stop though.

[Wilson]

 

PIF's vision for us. 

 

That'll dee me. 

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, Wilson said:

 

PIF's vision for us. 

 

That'll dee me. 

Actions speak louder than words mind 

 

But we’ll get there, just need something new and shiny announced soon please