PIF, PCP, and RB Sports & Media

[Wallsendmag]

1 minute ago, Keegans Export said:

There shouldn't be any threat of physical violence towards them regardless of when they do it and if there is then that reflects badly on the aggressors not the protestors.

 

Well obviously but I'm afraid all the ingredients are there for that to happen. As I said they'd be better off doing this at the Crystal Palace game.

[Hovagod]

12 minutes ago, David Edgar said:

It isn't easy, is it?  Keep PIF, win the league (maybe) but knowing that we only did it as the plaything of a barbaric regime that only want us for sportswashing?  Some fans, rightly, can't accept that.  I think those fans have every right to protest.  And frankly, they're the ones in the right.

 

Most (me included) can accept/tolerate/ignore PIF/SA.  I'd rather we didn't have PIF, but then it is probably our only way to success.  And I'm not strong minded enough to not get carried away with the investment and potential success.  Plus, I've lived my whole life loving the club.  I just can't break that attachment.  I'll always care about it.

 

I won't defend PIF/SA though.  And there is nothing wrong, at all, with the protest.

 

 

 

Do people on the internet still say ‘This.’?

 

If they do: This.

[christ]

People kicking off about this either now or on the day are just proving everything people say about sportswashing correct.

 

The first game after the takeover had its share of protests and things didn’t appear to get heated. I hope it’s the same this time around. Doesn’t really matter what you think of these people or their motivations they have a point.

[TheBrownBottle]

13 minutes ago, David Edgar said:

It isn't easy, is it?  Keep PIF, win the league (maybe) but knowing that we only did it as the plaything of a barbaric regime that only want us for sportswashing?  Some fans, rightly, can't accept that.  I think those fans have every right to protest.  And frankly, they're the ones in the right.

 

Most (me included) can accept/tolerate/ignore PIF/SA.  I'd rather we didn't have PIF, but then it is probably our only way to success.  And I'm not strong minded enough to not get carried away with the investment and potential success.  Plus, I've lived my whole life loving the club.  I just can't break that attachment.  I'll always care about it.

 

I won't defend PIF/SA though.  And there is nothing wrong, at all, with the protest.

 

 

 

Yep, that’s pretty much me too.  Everything about it all screams ‘wrong’ but I’m selfishly willing to tolerate it for that bit of joy it might end up delivering.
 

I’m not (and this applies to me only) as ethically high-minded as I once was; I’m now in my fifth decade and would just like to see NUFC win something.  Fair play to those who cannot close their mind to this model.

 

9 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

They couldn't have picked a worse game to do this. Final game before everything stops for the World Cup, added to the late kick off, then factor in the opposition. It's got all the ingredients of that Liverpool home game in 2019 when in nearly 40 years of going to games I'd never seen everyone so radged up!

 

There's a big chance it could turn nasty, people will have been on the drink 4/5 hours, they'll be pumped up. If they're going to do this they'd have been better off doing it 3 days earlier at the Crystal Palace game. Will be a different crowd at that one. 1000s of youngsters, loads no doubt going to their first ever match. They'd get far less hassle at that one and the threat of any physical violence aimed towards them but be far less. I honestly don't think this is going to end well.

Perhaps, but I hope anyone who gets violent over a peaceful protest - especially one about football club ownership FFS - gets their collar felt and a custodial sentence.  I’ve zero sympathy for anyone who overreacts to this. 

[Groundhog63]

Anyone reacting with anything but support and sympathy (for their stance) is a tit. 

 

[christ]

2 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Yep, that’s pretty much me too.  Everything about it all screams ‘wrong’ but I’m selfishly willing to tolerate it for that bit of joy it might end up delivering.
 

I’m not (and this applies to me only) as ethically high-minded as I once was; I’m now in my fifth decade and would just like to see NUFC win something.  Fair play to those who cannot close their mind to this model.

There’s a degree of mental exhaustion for a lot of us. If PIF had arrived following a relatively popular owner who hadn’t ran the club into the ground a lot more fans would be uncomfortable with the situation. That’s not the case though, and a lot of people just want to enjoy football again. It doesn’t help that the world around is utterly fucked too. Got to find those small moments of joy where you can.

[TheBrownBottle]

3 minutes ago, christ said:

There’s a degree of mental exhaustion for a lot of us. If PIF had arrived following a relatively popular owner who hadn’t ran the club into the ground a lot more fans would be uncomfortable with the situation. That’s not the case though, and a lot of people just want to enjoy football again. It doesn’t help that the world around is utterly fucked too. Got to find those small moments of joy where you can.

Spot on mate. Sad but true

[Coffee_Johnny]

On 05/09/2022 at 14:09, JB said:

 

 

Is this his crown court sentence? Heed frying?  

[LV]

I can’t imagine they’ll get anything more than some people shouting a bit of abuse at them. Certainly don’t think anyone will get physical with them, people will just want to see the match. 

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, Coffee_Johnny said:

Is this his crown court sentence? Heed frying?  

It makes him look like Pinhead out of Hellraiser

[arnonel]

I've said it before and I'll say it again

 

It's not binary

 

You can love them for what they are doing for the city and also hate them for their human rights record

 

 

[Coffee_Johnny]

For what it’s worth, I think when it comes to mixing football and politics, it is usually right to keep your own counsel. That said, I do think there is only one likely direction of change when insular societies embrace the broader picture of how things are elsewhere in the world.
 

We are not going to see the values and other beliefs of young Newcastle fans veering towards those prevalent in KSA, at least those which jar with modern Britain. We just might see the values and other beliefs of young Saudis shift, at least in those who become obsessed with the closest thing to ‘their’ Premier League team. Keep displaying Pride with pride, keep behaving in a way compatible with our other values, don’t be name-calling disrespectful haters, and who knows how the youth of KSA may be influenced in future. 

[NWMag]

From my perspective, I had little to no knowledge of anything to do with Saudi Arabia prior to our takeover, ever since we have been linked to PIF to this day I am constantly seeing tweets and articles about their human rights records etc, so for me the sports washing argument doesn’t hold up because all the takeover has done so far is continually highlight the negatives of the country. If they sold us and went away, I imagine most of the media coverage we have seen (which has mainly been from sports journalists anyway) would stop and therefore Saudis negatives wouldn’t be spoken about. 
 

I also feel that if PIF had bought a ‘big 6’ club, we wouldn’t have seen as much coverage. 
 

Plenty of clubs have dodgy owners already, so it doesn’t make it right but on the flip side why should we take the moral high ground and miss out? 
 

I don’t even know how to sum up my view really.

 

Do I agree with how Saudi Arabia is as a country? No.

Do I think they are more likely to change by being involved in Western businesses and football clubs? Yes

Would I be fuming if these protests led to PIF selling up to a group that wasn’t wealthy? Yes

 

I think there is so much shit going on in the world, including our own country now with this shambles of a government, that I find it very easy to just not care about a lot of things. Newcastle United is one of the things I care about a lot, and I want us to be the best and win things and I can quite easily put that above my morals, rightly or wrongly. 

[Dancing Brave]

He seems to like a protest.

 

"John Andrew Hird joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and Militant in Newcastle just before Thatcher came to power. He served as LPYS Chairman and editor of Socialist Youth. He participated in the Miner’s Strike, Liverpool City Council and Poll Tax struggles. He stayed in Castlemilk for six months during the 1992 General Election and worked in the Pollock campaign when Scottish Militant Labour candidate Tommy Sheridan won over 9,000 votes. Since then he’s lived in various places such as Saudi Arabia and Bosnia but mostly The Basque Country. He’s a founder and worker in a teaching Coop and proud member of Izquierda Revolucionaria, the Spanish section of the CWI."

[Kid Icarus]

Good on him

 

 

Edited October 29, 2022 by Kid Icarus

[Tsunami]

No issues at all with the protest. Just hope it doesn’t encourage anyone to bring a Saudi flag/ dress up. Some fans will see this a criticism of them and like many others, they just want to support the club they love. That in itself can be skewed as acceptance of sports washing.
 

I’m firmly in the I have no say in who owns us and I’ll enjoy the ride brigade. If not us it would (not could) have been another club and Saudis human rights carries on unaltered.

 

Let’s hope they have the protest and everyone respects the others viewpoint.

[TheBrownBottle]

13 minutes ago, NWMag said:

From my perspective, I had little to no knowledge of anything to do with Saudi Arabia prior to our takeover, ever since we have been linked to PIF to this day I am constantly seeing tweets and articles about their human rights records etc, so for me the sports washing argument doesn’t hold up because all the takeover has done so far is continually highlight the negatives of the country. If they sold us and went away, I imagine most of the media coverage we have seen (which has mainly been from sports journalists anyway) would stop and therefore Saudis negatives wouldn’t be spoken about. 
 

I also feel that if PIF had bought a ‘big 6’ club, we wouldn’t have seen as much coverage. 
 

Plenty of clubs have dodgy owners already, so it doesn’t make it right but on the flip side why should we take the moral high ground and miss out? 
 

I don’t even know how to sum up my view really.

 

Do I agree with how Saudi Arabia is as a country? No.

Do I think they are more likely to change by being involved in Western businesses and football clubs? Yes

Would I be fuming if these protests led to PIF selling up to a group that wasn’t wealthy? Yes

 

I think there is so much shit going on in the world, including our own country now with this shambles of a government, that I find it very easy to just not care about a lot of things. Newcastle United is one of the things I care about a lot, and I want us to be the best and win things and I can quite easily put that above my morals, rightly or wrongly. 

Depends on what you read tbf.  I was very well aware of KSA’s appalling human rights record, it’s Wahhabist strain of religious fascism, the brutality of the House of Saud, the dystopian lack of basic freedoms etc.  I’ve no time for moral relativism - as horrendous as the Tory govt is, they pale into insignificance against the govt of KSA.  Buying a football club isn’t likely to change a single thing about the country - that isn’t a salve to this.  Has owning Man City liberalised laws in Abu Dhabi?  Not one bit.  And if they’d bought any of the ‘Big 6’, you’d definitely have heard this stuff - no question at all.  
 

14 minutes ago, Dancing Brave said:

He seems to like a protest.

 

"John Andrew Hird joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and Militant in Newcastle just before Thatcher came to power. He served as LPYS Chairman and editor of Socialist Youth. He participated in the Miner’s Strike, Liverpool City Council and Poll Tax struggles. He stayed in Castlemilk for six months during the 1992 General Election and worked in the Pollock campaign when Scottish Militant Labour candidate Tommy Sheridan won over 9,000 votes. Since then he’s lived in various places such as Saudi Arabia and Bosnia but mostly The Basque Country. He’s a founder and worker in a teaching Coop and proud member of Izquierda Revolucionaria, the Spanish section of the CWI."

Sounds alreet to me 

[Cattletrucked]

3 hours ago, Dancing Brave said:

He seems to like a protest.

 

"John Andrew Hird joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and Militant in Newcastle just before Thatcher came to power. He served as LPYS Chairman and editor of Socialist Youth. He participated in the Miner’s Strike, Liverpool City Council and Poll Tax struggles. He stayed in Castlemilk for six months during the 1992 General Election and worked in the Pollock campaign when Scottish Militant Labour candidate Tommy Sheridan won over 9,000 votes. Since then he’s lived in various places such as Saudi Arabia and Bosnia but mostly The Basque Country. He’s a founder and worker in a teaching Coop and proud member of Izquierda Revolucionaria, the Spanish section of the CWI."

Anyone who protests has that right, about anything. But any fucker who has dialogue with that piece of shit on rtg (who has openly admitted that if it wasn’t NUFC, he’d not give a fuck) kind of lowers having some respect for them. My opinion. 

[STM]

 

I refuse to believe this man has anything to do with a murderous regime. Look at his little face man. 

 

 

[Dr.Spaceman]

On 29/10/2022 at 10:00, Keegans Export said:

There shouldn't be any threat of physical violence towards them regardless of when they do it and if there is then that reflects badly on the aggressors not the protestors.

 

You understand how alcohol works, right? The fella protesting knows exactly what he's doing imo, a later KO for maximum effect, knowing fine well he's going to have the pissed / coked up radgies kicking off. I'm on board with people protesting, it just needs to be genuine imo. Those mortal radgies do not represent the majority of our fan base, far from it, in the same way the horse puncha doesn't either. However, we're all going to be tarnished with the same brush, because that's how it works these days. Good luck to those genuinely protesting the ownership and not just looking to wind up a certain demographic known for overreacting 

[The Butcher]

 

 

This is us in a few years

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, The Butcher said:

 

 

This is us in a few years

Until they close all of the sponsorship loopholes City have been exploiting

[54]

 

[PauloGeordio]

1 minute ago, 54 said:

 

The business plan! 

[madras]

3 minutes ago, 54 said:

 

Any detail on this ? How much ? Where is it targeted ? Does it affect FFP in any way ?