I looked up info on whether a leak has any effect on a takeover - you'll not be surprised to find out that it does, in favour of the seller. It's also not a quantum leap to realise reports of other bidders is another relatively cheap tactic to get premium value. Would anyone be remotely surprised at Ashley employing archaic methods, risking a deal, for a few extra quid? By all accounts he's done it three times already, and on to the fourth we go.
Look at his ownership of Newcastle. The last time we had a really stupid set-up, with scouts picking the players and a "head coach" doing what he can with them, we got relegated. This was back with Wise/Keegan/Kinnear/Shearer A few years later, the exact same **** happened with Carr, McLaren and eventually Rafa. We're now doing it a THIRD time and barring some remarkable luck continuing, will go down again - if not this season, then next. It's beyond any comprehension that this happens at the behest of a man "worth" £3 BILLION. Yet it does. History, really bad history, keeps repeating. The same mistakes are made time and time again. It's mystifying that anyone so apparently stupid can be rich enough to own a club - yet own one he does.
It seems logical, therefore, to expect him to keep making the same "mistakes" - deliberate or otherwise - repeatedly in failed "attempts" to sell the club. Whatever he's doing that isn't working, he'll just keep doing. Reminds me a bit of Bruce picking the same formation, same players, in some mystifying attempt to make it work. We might as well have monkeys drawing on a whiteboard, eventually it will work.
If the bid was't real, the club could deny it. They don't. Does that make it real? In all likelihood, yes. But there's a huge caveat - if Mike really wanted more bidders, real ones I mean, he could release a statement to say that the club are in negotiations. Any standby bidders would be quick to make a move. Of course, he doesn't do this either. It's like saying you're selling your house, but doing it on the quiet - why would you do that? There's NO logical reason for not saying something about it. NDA's would only apply to buyers an'all, so that doesn't add up. It's all just painfully baffling.
Again we go back to previous; the club has always maintained silence in any matter which should be in the public domain. Typically this then results in failure to explain anything, followed by a staged interview with a media stooge like Craig David, or Martin Samuel, painting a picture of innocence. Everybody can see it's a facade, that he's sticking two fingers up, but nobody dares challenge him. And he loves it. He loves the fact he's untouchable, that the rest of us are powerless, in his thrall He's a ****ing sociopath, so any guessing is pointless. The only way to even attempt to second guess our fat overlord is to think of the worst outcome, and you'll not be far wrong. Just look at the comments last year about the manager situation; the worst outcome most of us feared was Bruce. See? We were right then.
