PIF and RB Sports & Media

[The College Dropout]

50 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

From what has been written Eddie retains final say on all transfers, a privilege you might argue he earned. 

 

I think, we have to look forward as the past is pretty evident at this stage and hope Eddie's willing to be more flexible. 

 

When the ownership came in we were in a position where we had to put the cart before the horse and to be fair we benefitted from this approach for a long time. Obviously the wheels came off and we have to hope Ross Wilson is competent and can work on tandem with Eddie. 

But what does this mean? For most clubs it means the manager agrees to the transfer but not that they chose who is signed. E.g. Arteta may have preferred Sesko but he still approved the Gyokeres transfer. I don't believe Hall was Howe's first choice for LB, but I expect Howe still greenlighted the transfer because his ideal profile wasn't on the table (still maintain Howe would prefer Antonee Robinson who we were linked too at the time).

 

I believe a good transfer committee pulls out of Elanga deal at £40/45m. Then they have to find Howe an alternative that suits and up to him to approve or not knowing Elanga is not an option. Most likely that player wouldn't already be in the PL.

 

 

Edited May 14 by The College Dropout

[The College Dropout]

5 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

 

I think that was a direct result of Howe's fall out with Mitchell. There is no way he would have sanctioned the sort of signings we made last summer. 

 

Ultimately though, we won a cup and got into the CL so the ownership backed Howe in that stand off, and Mitchell backed out. You could argue Mitchell was a bad appointment, but there is no exact science here. I'm not sure how much football knowledge we have in the boardroom and that is a concern. 

And that was a mistake on behalf of the ownership. 

 

There's evidence that Howe can work well enough within a structure. Not providing one was a mistake.

 

And it was obvious it was a mistake in June.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

It’s not like we didn’t provide a structure on purpose though. Mandy had to leave, Judas Ashworth went to Man Utd unexpectedly and the relationship with Mitchell didn’t work. Now we’ve rectified the situation - too slowly arguably, but we have. 

[TRon]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

And that was a mistake on behalf of the ownership. 

 

There's evidence that Howe can work well enough within a structure. Not providing one was a mistake.

 

And it was obvious it was a mistake in June.

 

 

Let's hope that Ross Wilson has been appointed for the right reasons then. I don't know much about him tbf but he needs to be clear on direction and how we intend to build a team for the next few years regardless of who is the manager. 

[r0cafella]

4 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

But what does this mean? For most clubs it means the manager agrees to the transfer but not that they chose who is signed. E.g. Arteta may have preferred Sesko but he still approved the Gyokeres transfer. I don't believe Hall was Howe's first choice for LB, but I expect Howe still greenlighted the transfer because his ideal profile wasn't on the table (still maintain Howe would prefer Antonee Robinson who we were linked too at the time).

 

I believe a good transfer committee pulls out of Elanga deal at £40/45m. Then they have to find Howe an alternative that suits and up to him to approve or not knowing Elanga is not an option. Most likely that player wouldn't already be in the PL.

 

 

 

It means precisely that man. If Eddie doesn't like the fit the deal doesn't happen. 

 

When you add that factor to a preference for premier league proven players it creates certain evident constraints, the pool becomes small and the prices become higher as a result of that  

 

As I said earlier, we have to hope that we've learnt from last summer and and are willing to be more flexible, if not I imagine something will give. 

[The College Dropout]

3 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

It’s not like we didn’t provide a structure on purpose though. Mandy had to leave, Judas Ashworth went to Man Utd unexpectedly and the relationship with Mitchell didn’t work. Now we’ve rectified the situation - too slowly arguably, but we have. 

But we did. Being slow is a choice. Letting a manager and his nephew deal with transfers is a choice.

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

It means precisely that man. If Eddie doesn't like the fit the deal doesn't happen. 

 

When you add that factor to a preference for premier league proven players it creates certain evident constraints, the pool becomes small and the prices become higher as a result of that  

 

As I said earlier, we have to hope that we've learnt from last summer and and are willing to be more flexible, if not I imagine something will give. 

This is where I disagree. Under a proper structure we don't sign more expensive players because the manager prefers PL experience or whatever. Particularly not for multiple transfers.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

But we did. Being slow is a choice. Letting a manager and his nephew deal with transfers is a choice.

 

Not really, you might want a new CEO but it could take months to get one. 

[The College Dropout]

Just now, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Not really, you might want a new CEO but it could take months to get one. 

How many £400m revenue companies would run without a CEO for a year? An interim would be placed. Most companies would have a succession plan.  
 

Theres really no justifying it.  

[r0cafella]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

This is where I disagree. Under a proper structure we don't sign more expensive players because the manager prefers PL experience or whatever. Particularly not for multiple transfers.

Your dancing around it man. If the manager has final say on transfers (he does) and has a preference for premier league proven players (this is arguable) then what do you do? 

 

Don't get me wrong, no silver bullet exists in our current situation but you keep expressing a different preference which is fine, we all have different preferences but we have what we have. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

3 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

How many £400m revenue companies would run without a CEO for a year? An interim would be placed. Most companies would have a succession plan.  
 

Theres really no justifying it.  

 

I'm not really trying to justify it, I'm just saying it's not deliberate. Might just be incompetent or overly slow. 

 

 

Edited May 14 by AyeDubbleYoo

[lovejoy]

4 hours ago, r0cafella said:

Not to be pedantic but he was hired as interim transfer consultant. 

 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11678/12497903/nick-hammond-newcastle-hire-former-celtic-and-reading-director-of-football-as-transfer-consultant-on-short-term-deal

No you’re definitely being pedantic 😂

[Zero]

I think a proper transfer structure should be 

1. The manager has the right to prioritise positions that need strengthening, and

2. The DOF or the committee, leading by the DOF, should have the final say on transfers, especially for the outgoings

 

The manager should never have the final say on transfers, and shouldn’t have the right to block outgoings. Squad building is DOFs responsibilities and as such DOF should have the final say.

[Decky]

I think the manager should have a good influence. It's him who works with the squad and picks the team, who knows more about players him or the DOF? Both should work together and the DOF should be responsible for getting the deal done but the manager must have some say on the targets. If the manager tells the DOF that a player needs to go then the DOF should get the best deal for the club as well. The manager knows the squad better than anyone. 

 

 

Edited May 15 by Decky

[r0cafella]

12 minutes ago, Decky said:

I think the manager should have a good influence. It's him who works with the squad and picks the team, who knows more about players him or the DOF? Both should work together and the DOF should be responsible for getting the deal done but the manager must have some say on the targets. If the manager tells the DOF that a player needs to go then the DOF should get the best deal for the club as well. The manager knows the squad better than anyone. 

 

 

 

Your right Decky, the manager does know his own squad better than anyone, but in terms of recruitment the manager shouldn't know the hot prospect in Spain better than the recruitment team, if he does our recruitment isn't fit for purpose. 

 

Ultimately they need to work together, one of the challenges is that managers goals are short term by nature and to a certain degree this has to be curtailed. 

[Zero]

Certainly a manager should have input but when we are talking about “final say” it must be the DOF who has it. Put it simple, what’s the point if the DOF can get a deal like Doue at 20m but the manager rejected it because he preferred EPL proven and tell the DOF that he will only approve deals like Elanga?

 

Yea I know it’s a bit extreme but “final say” is something else. If your manager has the final say, practically speaking, he is controlling all the transfers, not just input. He is the one that sign-off the deal.

 

 

Edited May 15 by Zero

[Zero]

10 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Your right Decky, the manager does know his own squad better than anyone, but in terms of recruitment the manager shouldn't know the hot prospect in Spain better than the recruitment team, if he does our recruitment isn't fit for purpose. 

 

Ultimately they need to work together, one of the challenges is that managers goals are short term by nature and to a certain degree this has to be curtailed. 

and you need to consider the work load of a modern manager as well. It’s simply impossible to ask Howe and read and analyse all the scout reports on the table. He still need to handle first team coaching and tactics. Those are his primary tasks.

 

Alex Ferguson, in his last days at Man Utd, actually worked like a DOF more than a manager. His coaches handled most of the training work and tactics. Howe isn’t this type of manager, although I know some of the people here wants him to become one

 

 

Edited May 15 by Zero

[bobbydazzla]

- Scouts are constantly scouring the globe looking at talent and building a longlist.

 

- Suds is crunching the numbers on both our players and global leagues. 

 

- Manager tells DoF how he plans to set the team up, where he wants to strengthen, who he’s up for selling. 

 

-  DoF briefs the scouts to focus more attention on the areas to strengthen. 

 

- Scouts review longlist and recommend some players to DoF based on areas to strengthen.

 

- Suds crunches the stats on those specific players. 
 

- DoF tells the recruitment team to sound out agents and compile valuations for both outgoing and incomings. 

 

- DoF agrees budget for window with CEO / PIF.

 

- Incoming and outgoing shortlist for window agreed. Manager gets to review shortlist and can only veto in extreme cases. 
 

- Approaches made by recruitment team to clubs and agents for both outgoings and incomings.

 

- Some offers, some rejections, some negotiations, some acceptances. 
 

- Players sign. Players leave. 

- Sometimes have to act at short notice based on unexpected moves for our players and players being unexpectedly offered to us.

 

- Result: GREAT SUCCESS ! 

 

 

Edited May 15 by bobbydazzla

[r0cafella]

9 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

- Scouts are constantly scouring the globe looking at talent and building a longlist.

 

- Suds is crunching the numbers on both our players and global leagues. 

 

- Manager tells DoF how he plans to set the team up, where he wants to strengthen, who he’s up for selling. 

 

-  DoF briefs the scouts to focus more attention on the areas to strengthen. 

 

- Scouts review longlist and recommend some players to DoF based on areas to strengthen.

 

- Suds crunches the stats on those specific players. 
 

- DoF tells the recruitment team to sound out agents and compile valuations for both outgoing and incomings. 

 

- DoF agrees budget for window with CEO / PIF.

 

- Incoming and outgoing shortlist for window agreed. Manager gets to review shortlist and can only veto in extreme cases. 
 

- Approaches made by recruitment team to clubs and agents for both outgoings and incomings.

 

- Some offers, some rejections, some negotiations, some acceptances. 
 

- Players sign. Players leave. 

- Sometimes have to act at short notice based on unexpected moves for our players and players being unexpectedly offered to us.

 

- Result: GREAT SUCCESS ! 

 

 

 

This is pretty much how things should operate aye, don't get me wrong though. If a manger has a player in mind we should obviously look into that as we should do if a player surfaces his his own network. 

 

I think what can't happen is the manager dictates which player he wants and it's a bust if it can't get over the like (thinking about Guehi here). 

[Nucasol]

https://apple.news/AWzrr5_oXSPqhkRRE_amfWQ
 

“Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF is in talks with investors over them taking a minority stake in Newcastle United as part of its fundraising plans for the Premier League club's stadium, three people familiar with the matter said.

PIF, ‌chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is weighing up expanding the club's current stadium or building a new one and could issue new shares to a prospective new backer of the plans, one of the people said.”

 

 

[Miggys First Goal]

Here come the Yanks. 

[JT24]

Hopefully means they’re selling up completely. 

[gdm]

https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/saudi-pif-talks-with-potential-investors-fund-newcastle-united-plans-sources-say-2026-05-18/

[Steve Charlton]

Reubens not chipping in then?

[Stifler]

That’s just an option for financing that they are looking at. To be fair if it helps reduce the clubs liabilities, and they are a minority shareholder, then it could be a positive thing for us.