What’s actually happened today for more people to start believing it isn’t happening? I’ve put myself on a July 31st deadline. If it’s not done by the end of next month, I doubt it’ll happen. But I’ve started to finally learn how to be patient (always struggled with patience)
Was curious though, if Ashley gets fed up can he walk out of the negotiations? Or is it only the PL blocking it or Staveley etc walking stop it now? I can just picture the fat bastards little statement “I did try, time wasters”
I would assume with any negotiation you can step away at any time. But why would he? He gets an out from Newcastle and is financing the deal By loaning Amanda some cash. Mor he can walk away and keep taking what he wants out of the club.
how can he? Just not fully understanding how you can be, unless you sign a deal that Specificall states you will sell to them(exclusivity deal) but if they have an expiry. I
The Companies House document states that there's some legal issue if either party backs out. However, if the buyers back out, the £17m deposit would stay with Ashley. He could be sued if he backs out, they lose £17m if they back out. That's the legal bits of it. However, if it collapses or HAS collapsed, the £17m would be refunded and neither party deemed liable. That's where I think we're at, or nearly at.
Well, as with anything occam's razor applies, in that the most obvious answer tends to be the right one. On this, the PL don't want the deal. It causes problems for its' members, who see it as a threat to commercial revenue. They are doing everything they can to delay, drag it out, find the legal evidence they need to block it, etc. The buyers - who are feeding the likes of Paul Smith, George Caulkin, etc. - remain confident that the PL can't actually block the deal. That's why you get the current state of play, silence from Ashley (he just wants out), silence from PL (they want it blocked but haven't yet been able to) and some positive murmuring from the buyers side and their contacts. If you think about it, it's kinda really obvious that this is what's happening. What is the PL? It's nothing more than a commercial enterprise representing the clubs. What does that mean? It means each club does have a say in what goes on, and they will each have a varying degree of influence over the PL representative through any number of threats (Man U may say they'll withdraw rights to broadcast their matches, Chelsea may be eyeing up a Euro League breakaway, etc.). None of this will be playing out publicly - but you only have to look at Football Leaks/Der Spiegel's report on Man City to give you an idea of the underhand BS that goes on. All of this means that most clubs - except perhaps City - will be opposed to a wealthy Newcastle United. But they can't just reject the takeover notionally because some clubs are crying - there has to be legal grounds. Hence the word "piracy" and the massive delays. The PL are obfuscating the situation as much as possible. They've zero interest in hurrying up with this - hence why conversations on cardboard cut-outs have been seen as more important than the future of NUFC. Their preference is probably for NUFC to get relegated, then it's no longer their issue. Perhaps they're hoping the buyers will simply give up, get frustrated and buy Man U instead, which solves a lot of problems. Whatever the hopes of the PL, what is clear is PIF/Staveley/Reubens easily pass the current form of the O&D test. They should have passed about a month ago. The fact it hasn't passed tells you enough about the PL's motives in this. So now we wait for the PL to exhaust every legal angle they can think of to block it. In the highly unlikely event they have to pass this, they will immediately completely re-write the rulebook. However, I think they'll eventually find a reason to block it under the guise of piracy. The reality is the influential clubs will have blocked it. Whether we then get taken over by a lesser group remains to be seen, but football will be forever tainted in my eyes as an exclusive club for the elite and would therefore lose all meaning. What hope is there in a rigged competition, which itself is being rigged by its own, self-regulating governing body? A failed takeover wouldn't just be the final death knell for NUFC; it would be the beginning of the end of PL football.
While I think there’s a lot correct in what you’ve said, I would throw in a few things just to keep the optimistic / positive side going which seems to have nose dived since the weekend Rumours of a deal with PL/BeIN/Saudi wrg to piracy and ongoing tv rights etc As a commercial entity it’s the PL’s job to rob (sorry collect) as much revenue as possible for it’s product for the benefit of itself ( sorry all member clubs) Unfortunately, money generating has come to the fore due to covid etc I like to think this is taking longer due to the PL making our deal bulletproof as much as possible, in anticipation of the expected backlash Sorry in advance for trying to be positive