Mind you, a lot could depend on this FFP investigation I guess. Feels like journalistic 2+2 = 5 though.
Peps a funny one. Very sentimental, until the job is done, then its off to pastures new. Is the domestic treble good enough for him, that's the question?
Reports emerging tonight that Mike Ashley has signed the contracts to sell Newcastle United for £350m. Paperwork is with the Premier League. The new owner will be Sheikh Khalid bin Sultan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. His cousin is Sheikh Mansour bin Sultan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who owns Manchester City.
I would really love to see Newcastle become a real force. Honestly, I would. Behind Saints (and Arsenal), I have a real soft spot for them.
Likewise. Know a lot of Toon supporters, so they've always been as close as I have to a second team. We're also getting into interesting territory. There is already considerable competition for the CL spots; if Newcastle spends lavishly, there will be too many well-heeled teams even to qualify for Europey. A lot of the top teams have their sponsorship revenue tied into making consistent CL appearances...this could shake up the top, resulting in a new dominant clique, or consistent competition at the top could flatten the revenue structure over time.
It's a real shame, Saints cant have an owner like this. Ours doesnt seem to "Have a pot to piss in" If only!
I'm really dubious that a European super league makes financial sense for most of the participants. It would be a cash cow in the short-term, but the novelty would wear off in relatively short order...particularly for the dozen teams who would go from being big fish to consistent also-rans. If you're a club knocked off the pedestal in England, is your best bet really going to be to prop up the table in a Euroleague?
There's a bit of a thread on ESL/finances here: I don't really have an opinion, but I have read that the next round of TV money will be lower in a lot of places, which might have interesting effects. Occurs to me that we haven't done more than change the name and delete a couple of teams since 1945 or whatever, so there seems like a lot of inertia. Who knows, but I'm more relaxed about where we are than some other people, the league will still be fun, even if the top teams are really good.
The environmental impact of a European Super League would be enormous with travelling teams, fans and media. Activists need to start targeting sporting events. Formula 1 would be a good start. It's all very well talking about climate change but we need to start doing something about it. Sorry! Not really relevant to this thread.
But an important point nevertheless. Formula E is a hugely competitive racing genre, which is starting to get proper coverage. And it is very exciting because cars are so similar in performance. But the spectators come in from far and wide, often in their FF cars. Unfortunately, It's going to be that way for several years until electric vehicles just become second nature to people rather than the noisy, smelly, unhealthy thing they get behond the wheel off every day at the moment. Controversial point, but I'll give Formula 1 ten years max before it disappears. Cities and venues won't allow it on principle, in my opinion. And at some point, all-electric cars will outpace them. Then it's over.