I decided to start this thread because we're chatting about it elsewhere so I thought we might as well have a dedicated thread. My first reaction is it's sometimes very hard to like football any more.
Fair enough, I agree. But I do care about the fact that there is now another club owned by a mega-billionaire which means that clubs like Norwich can never hope to do more than survive as extras in the Premier League big-club drama.
I think this article largely sums up my thoughts on the matter: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...out-actual-suffering-in-saudi-arabia-takeover There's a large chunk of the Newcastle fanbase who seem to be celebrating "getting their club back" as though Mike Ashley was the devil incarnate, and his 14 years of ownership had reduced the club to rubble. And in that context, simply anyone taking over was a good thing. Whilst I loathe Ashley and want him nowhere near anything I like, and I know I'm not a Newcastle fan and can't feel how they've all felt, but I don't think he was so bad, certainly in comparison to other clubs, that his departure should be celebrated to the degree it has when what's coming next is incredibly morally bankrupt. I'm not saying Ashley was a good owner. Ashley clearly sucked the fun, hope and optimism out of being a football fan, and ran the footballing side of the club poorly and haphazardly, with little forward thinking, but I don't believe at any point Newcastle fans feared the club would cease to exist. The same can't be said of the ownership of the Allam's at Hull, Duchatelet at Charlton, the Venky's trashing Blackburn, SISU forcing Coventry to play in Birmingham, Dave Allen at Chesterfield, Steve Dale the Bury owner, the Derby ****show, Marcus Evans, Sunderland, Wigan, Bolton, Leyton Orient... I'm sure I'm missing more. Fundamentally, Ashley took Newcastle from mid-table Premier League to mid-table Premier League, and never risked the future of the club in the process. Fans of all of those other clubs would be over the moon with that. Ashley's not close to being the worst club owner of the last decade. He probably barely makes the top 10? (And that says an awful lot about the Owners and Directors Test) But Ashley's departure hasn't given Newcastle fans their club back, his final middle finger to Newcastle fans has been to make sure they never get it back. The Saudi PIF is too rich, and they'll invest so much in the club, that the only owners Newcastle will have for the next 100 years will be sovereign wealth funds. The club will be run for sportwashing, PR and to give Saudi Arabia leverage in UK politics - they've already tried to coerce UK politicians to get the sale approved. They'll take steps to keep the fans on board, but that's because they need great crowds for their sportswashing project to work, nothing else. Literally the act of celebrating a Newcastle goal will be a contribution to those efforts. They've co-opted fans love for their club and will use it to promote their own interests. In light of that, the welcome that the PIF have received from fan groups, including LGBT fan groups, and the likes of Alan Shearer, has been fairly astonishing. They've bought the club now, they aren't leaving any time soon, but these first few months of ownership are likely the only time the Newcastle fans have any chance to make their feelings known and get even a modicum of compromise from their new owners. As the money goes in and things improve, it'll become harder to complain. I'd say I've read a good amount of the general media coverage of the takeover, but any criticism of the takeover from those with a link to Newcastle feels like it's been minimal. As a Norwich fan, it does more to make the Premier League inaccessible. But I'd rather it was inaccessible to Norwich, than for Norwich to achieve Premier League stability through funding from a nation like Saudi Arabia.
All of that is true, but it's really also an extension of the way it's always been. ManUtd, Liverpool, Arsenal and the others were always far bigger and richer than us, but the gap has widened further. Clubs like Brighton and Palace show that it can be done, but first you need that initial survival and then gradually build from there. Our best years back in the early 90s were built on really tight teamwork, young players emerging and an synergy that exceeded the sum of the individuals involved. That's what we need again now.
And selling our best player each year. That was an essential element, without which that successful period could not have been sustained for as long as it was.
The Woke Premier League insist that players where rainbow pride laces , players are still kneeling before every match for BLM yet the Newcastle owners basically The Saudi Arabian state, still have black slaves and execute gays and women rape victims . Not a peep from Gary Lineker Southgate or Sir Marcus Rashford. As long as they are mega rich ethics go out of the window.
But clubs like Brighton and Palace are only one bad season away from the slippery slope to annonimity. They do not have a large ground or mega following so rely on EPL income to survive.
Brighton are an exceptionally well-run club, with the backing of a fully-committed, wealthy owner, a long-standing fan of the club. Much like Brentford. We aren't as unique as we like to think.
Tony Bloom the Brighton majority share owner is worth over $1.3 billion you can't compare Brighton to our set up under Delia. We are probably one of the only self funding clubs, Luton are fan owned
Couhig acquired a 75% majority shareholding from the Wycombe Wanderers Supporters Trust in February 2020. The Trust continue to hold the other 25%.
I can see Bruce getting fired very soon . Maybe cut price deals for Lewis and Jacob Murphy in January they won't get in the team again
Supposedly they can spend £190m in January and stay within FFP, so they can recruit several players who are a marked improvement if they need to. They can't really risk wholesale changes, if it takes them 7-8 games to bed players in, it might mean they're still in the relegation zone with only 8 games left. They'll probably also end up paying players off to some degree, at least subsidising wages. They've already got a senior squad of 25 players, and very few anybody will actually want to buy. Nobody in the Prem will want anybody from them. There's really some baffling players in their squad. Dwight Gayle for example is 32 and has a contract with another 2.5 years on it. Teams from the Championship couldn't afford Gayle's wages 3-4 years ago, and he'll be even less attractive now he's 32 with just 1 goal in a calendar year. Murphy, Lewis, Dummett, I'm not sure who can afford them or wants them.
Sadly, I don't think either Murphy or Lewis would get into our starting lineup now. I think DH is right and it's going to be difficult for Newcastle to bed in new players from January without disrupting the squad.
Shame we didn't beat Brighton at the weekend, after Newcastle's result against Spurs the following day, it would have been Hillarious to see a team that had £305m invested into it bottom of the Premier league
In case anyone is wondering what the banner was: Spoiler please log in to view this image I must be missing something obvious so apologies if there is something offensive there I'm blind to, but I think the only complaint I could level at that is that it's a bit anti-penguin?
