Newcastle United Discussion

[Honey Honey]

1 hour ago, RandoEFC said:

Yeah that's the thing. I don't know if that takes into account wage expenditure but while £170m in a year is a lot for a non-top 6 side and a lot for a team who have had the financial restraints that Newcastle have had under Ashley, the going rate for a decent top half Premier League player now is £30m and if you want even a single player of the quality that the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd are shopping for, you're going up to more like £50m. It'll be tough and it's probably realistic that it will take about 3 seasons to get established in that "maybe we can sneak 7th" tier with Everton and West Ham.

 

Agree with that, will all be dependent on the right signings and manager, which isn't a given with money as you know all too well.

With everything I've heard I'd be surprised if we even try to be Man City. This is an investment fund and a UK retail magnate combo consortium with very slow build plans to grow the company by sportswashing standards. 

 

This is reuters assessment

Soccer clubs are often poor investments. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) may have found an exception with a possible 305 million pound acquisition of Britain’s Newcastle United, known as a “sleeping giant” of the game.

Buying a football club may sound like a frivolous investment for the PIF, which is tasked with helping the country wean itself off oil revenues. Yet the fund seems to be getting a bargain.

‘At the mooted price tag, the deal would value Newcastle at 1.7 times its revenue in the last pre-pandemic financial year. Listed clubs Manchester United (MANU.N) and Juventus (JUVE.MI) trade at 4.1 times and 2.1 times respectively.

‘And the club, currently owned by retail magnate Mike Ashley, arguably has better prospects than most.

The new owners could crank up commercial income: sponsorships, merchandising and similar revenue sources are just 15% of sales, compared with 44% at Manchester United before the pandemic.’

[Honey Honey]

Having had a history of duds, it's likely that we'll find ourselves in the future where the Saudi's are back on the front page putting the club and fans in an awkward position. Though it seems Staveley and Jamie Rueben could start as the face of this venture. We'll see.

[Whiskey]

Takeover done.

[Stan]

 

 

 

[Danny]

4 hours ago, Storts said:

Not really, feel fully justified being critical of them, as I have been in my day job also. Fully disagree with you on your point about the new stadium. We built it on the high road right at the heart of the community. Our ownership do many things wrong but community engagement is not one of them, the amount of jobs that new stadium has created, the new community facilities, the income it brings to local businesses and families. Tottenham needs the football club.  
 

This is just such whataboutery now though - not sure the financial inequalities in the premier league are the same as the human rights violations of a nation state using sport to improve their image. 

An appreciation of Jewish people is exactly why that word was and is chanted. You’ve never been in our ends when we still experience anti Semitic abuse to this day. In the 70s and 80s it was obviously horrific and owning that word and solidarity with the Jewish community and identity lessened the impact of that abuse. 

 

Long term the stadium will price local people out of the area, it is a hub (hence its location) for further gentrification and will harm the local residents of Tottenham, turning it into another Brixton or Peckham and a hub for the middle classes who live (and who will in future live) in Tottenham and those who travel in on match day from the Home Counties.

Hundreds of millions of pounds passing through a football club, a football club uses the area it is in and the people who live there to market itself but then does not share much of its wealth with that community which is generally a pittance in comparison to what is being paid out to other departments within the club, generally in football and especially in Spurs’ case this means the area the club is located in is one of the most deprived parts of the country. The concerns of gentrification and wealth hoarding are not whataboutery. They are legitimate concerns that cause poverty, poor mental health, physical ill health and death. The difference between those issues and this issue is that they generally remain invisible to the average person who is not from that local community and not affected by it, this however is front page news. You can be against the regime without being selective about who you direct your anger towards, in this case football fans in Newcastle. Otherwise I hope you are equally demanding of yourself in every facet of your day to day life in not participating within systems much greater than you that have become the day to day norm throughout British society that either destroy the environment and/or oppress and exploit people elsewhere around the globe.

And it’s not your word to own if you’re not Jewish, after all there are a lot of Jewish people who are against the use of that word from non-Jewish people. Far greater I would imagine than the amount of people that support Tottenham.

Edited October 7, 2021 by Danny

[Dave]

 

 

 

"The Premier League has now received legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle United football club".

 

This could be the biggest bird box challenge of all time.

[UNORTHODOX]

Happy for the Newcastle fans, They will now be able to compete at last. 

[DNA]

Historic day. Going to be a fiery next few years in the prem, it seems so oversaturated at the top but I guess it always seems that way before it’s all changed and there’s a new status quo.

[Dr. Gonzo]

4 hours ago, The Premier Steve's said:

 

I accept that the club is intertwined with Saudi reputation now. That's part of it and I'm not telling you not to. I'm not telling you to stop calling him out at these football occasions or using the club to attack him. We are now part of British diplomacy and that is actually part of it. That's fucking awkward.

What I don't accept is the idea that the Newcastle fan should be boycotting and burning his club, especially when the people expecting that don't hold themselves to the same standards as they tweet or Facebook post whilst watching the Mandalorian among other collections of PIF funded things. 

 

I don't blame Newcastle fans for being excited, especially after such a long time under someone as unambitious as Mike Ashley. I actually have a great deal of respect for Newcastle as a club and for their fans especially.

But because of that great deal of respect, I do find it a bit disturbing all of this twerking for MBS that's going on. I agree with you there's a great deal of hypocrisy because I like Disney products too and I use Instagram and WhatsApp - but to be fair, the Saudi Public Investment Fund is a minority shareholder in those companies - but now they're outright owners of Newcastle, aren't they? Tbh I feel bad for Yemeni or Iranian (but especially Yemenis) Newcastle fans (I'm sure some exist, my Iranian uncle went to uni in Newcastle... there's probably a small community out there for both groups) because I don't know what they're meant to feel now and any Newcastle fans that have any strong feelings regarding human rights.

Tbh there's lots that could be on the front pages of negative news for the Saudis, so you're a bit lucky in regard that much of the embarrassing news that should be covered more in the West sort of gets a blind eye in terms of press coverage because the US & UK are very complicit in some of the worst that regime does.

[Stan]

@The Premier Steve's I know another club who aimed for top 5 within 5 years. They ended up winning it in that time. I wouldn't buy into it I I were you

 

[Fairy In Boots]

A once great club now reduced to sports washing for a shitty nations regime, a sad day for genuine Newcastle fans. The chavs outside cheering and the supporters trust that endorses this have absolutely no morals. They join City at utterly detestable 

[Whiskey]

The game has been dead for years to be honest, not arsed about this one bit as they're not the first and won't be the last. 

When the Super League raises its head again you can bet that Newcastle will be part of it now, plus I'd expect big backing for the 39th game and/or the Community Sheild to be played in Saudi Arabia now.

[6666]

I don't think it makes as much of a negative difference, politically, as people want to say it does. So I can't say I care about any of that. It's just a shame that we have another one of these oil clubs in the league.

I don't blame the Newcastle fans for being happy about it. If Chelsea & Man City fans can enjoy being a billionaires play thing, then why not them?

[Smiley Culture]

The narrative from Newcastle fans shown on TV and radio today that the club has endured endless misery and suffering over the past ten years is absurd and strange. Equally, “today isn’t the day for that” in regards to the issues with the Saudis is a funny stance from people so ardently abusive with their dislike and disdain for their previous owner is a funny one.

I’m not a fan of fans celebrating new owners like they’re celebrating league wins or legends of the club returning. I just find it all a bit strange really. Don’t get me wrong, I get they’re happy to see the back of Ashley and there may be a percentage purely celebrating that but are new owners really to be celebrated? There’s no guarantee these will be any better and having been burnt by Ashley and the various characters he’s had associated with the club over the past however many years he’d been there, is there any guarantee this one is going to be any better? Just because this one has money (so does Ashley though), is that okay?

Having seen what a bad owner can do to a football club and having been broken by a megalomaniac, with a new play thing before the money stopped, that left me repelled from the club and confused and angry that the next chairman with no links to the country let alone the city, the place or the club to be treated like some sort of hero and celebrity, I hope Newcastle fans get a club they can be proud of and aren’t at the end of another bad owner. It’s not pleasant and it’s not nice, ultimately, to have to make a decision to walk away.

If it’s done “right”, Newcastle could well make the big six, a big seven and provide a new test to the traditional names but they’ll do their bit to push back on their monopoly being challenged by a newcomer. 

[Honey Honey]

 

[Bluewolf]

Despite all the negatives surrounding this take over Newcastle fans are probably just pleased to see the back of Ashley finally.. 

There will be plenty of time to slag them off as being plastic oil rich title buying scum etc much later... 

In all seriousness have you seen the money these lot have to throw around.. 350BN which is 10 times the worth of Man Cheaty and 5 times the worth of PSG... Abramovich is very much a pauper by comparison... 

Good luck to them... I can see a season or two and City not winning the CL that Pep will jump ship and be last seen swimming full pelt up the Tyne where riches and glory await... 

[Dr. Gonzo]

 

 

[MUFC]

M’Bappe and Neymar to say it’s been their dream to play for Newcastle.

[Honey Honey]

Steven Gerrard favourite for the job. However as much as I'd welcome him I hope it's not him so @Dr. Gonzo can keep his hero. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, The Premier Steve's said:

Steven Gerrard favourite for the job. However as much as I'd welcome him I hope it's not him so @Dr. Gonzo can keep his hero. 

I appreciate that, because I'm not sure I would ever forgive the Saudis for making me hate Gerrard 

[Bluewolf]

 

[Honey Honey]

Despite all this we do genuinely have a serious relegation risk right now. Some may remember we tried to buy our way out of the drop under McClaren in January and that didn't work. Can someone come in and undo the Bruce damage to the defending overnight, depends, maybe.

[Guest]

One thing is for certain. We will here a lot of jokes when you are owned by someone called prince salmon

[Azeem]

Can Newcastle ask for some extra oil for these petrol shortages ?

[Dave]

Well Qatar and UAE didn't buy clubs to make a profit. The motivations that have been documented will be exactly the same with MBS...

- Reputation laundering

- Sports washing

- Opportunity to offer alternative story about Country to the rest of the World.

European football offers the best platform to achieve all those objectives. 

 

Whilst we all know it's no coincidence that Saudi Arabia agreeing to settle disputes with Qatar and allowing Bein to broadcast again 24 hours before Premier League authorising the takeover is no coincidence, what this deal portrays is that MBS has now been accepted by the West following the collateral reputation damage due to his association with the death of Jamal Khashoggi.

It's one of those things where I'm happy for those Newcastle fans that have wanted there club to return to the force they were in the mid-90's but I'd lose interest if it was my club due to appalling human rights violations.