Exactly. Throw £40m - £60m each on players like that or someone like Sarr, Raphinha, Calvert-Lewin etc. (basically top talent outside of top 6) and then bring on board some of the best players from Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La Liga and you got yourself a competitive team.
Newcastle United now owned by the PIF | PL receives "legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control NUFC" ;)
- Thread starter Damien
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Small catchment area of clubs. In their immediate location of Tyne and Wear you either support Newcastle, Sunderland, or Gateshead, after that its all part time amateur clubs in Tyne and Wear. So Newcastle and Sunderland more or less have the entire support of Tyne and Wear. Newcastle probably just edge it. But Sunderland are very well supported up there, too. Then a little further away you have like Blyth Spartans, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Berwick Rangers and Darlington. Again even in Northumberland, Newcastle have majority support i believe.
I know a few non Geordie Newcastle fans. But Geordie or non geordie, if you want to support newcastle, do it
Besides they aren't the type of people who would need to buy a football club to build their own brand and get publicity. They are pretty much known by everybody around the world without that.
Ah yeah probably.. deffo more a late 80’s baby thing.
Some City fans, not all were the same. There would be United fans who would defend them and shut their eyes if they were taking us over.
Pogba should have put a stop to this takeover
The amount of faith placed on FFP is laughable to say the least, isn't SA in control of the biggest sovereign wealth fund around with stakes in several firms and fingers in many pies? Especially if their Crown Prince is personally involved in this project then the number of business executives throwing themselves at his feet will be unimaginable, he wouldn't have problems securing a few "legitimate" endorsement deals because his capacity to reward is pretty much unmatched in world football/politics/business. If he makes it known quietly that he needs someone just to put their name on an endorsement deal for Newcastle he'd have thousands of executives stampeding to please him in the hope of getting a few favors from his government or something like that.Followed by another 9 or so the following season. And people think SA "can't just go out and buy a new team"
What is most important is the manager, if they can attract a good manager then they will rise fast because they wouldn't need to buy a new first eleven straight away. Four very good players could transform their team from relegation candidates to mid table and then they build from there in the summer. If City were playing real life FIFA then these guys would be doing the same but on cheat code.
There will be atleast 3 same clubs getting Top 4 every year.
1) Sheikh Dildo 1
2) Sheikh Dildo 2
3) Oligarch Dildo 1
4) United or Liverpool
oh, no
It’s really annoying to see another small club get bought over by rich people and financially doped up. Watch them make a mockery of FFP rules on their way to becoming one of the richest clubs in the world as Saudi aligned sponsors suddenly feel offering the biggest sponsorship deals in world football to a club that is currently in the relegation zone represents good value for money. Then again we’ve seen this with Chelsea and City so why shouldn’t Newcastle be allowed to benefit from the same lottery winner luck.
It may, or it may not be, But I feel great that we have not taken the Saudi's dirty money.
I never said that you were any less of a fan. It is weird choosing Leeds over 99% of teams, in my opinion, no matter whether they’re a sleeping giant or not. They would be at the bottom of my list along with Liverpool and City. Objectively, yes, but if I’m a United fan, I’m quite happy for them to plod away in league one for eternity.
They are going to have to spend at least a billion to get near the top 4, unless they copy PSG and the free transfers high wages model. They will be under extra scrutiny, there's no way they can spend that over 3/4 years and still stay sweet with all the FFP regulations.. Newcastle are going to be looking at least 50/60m+ demands for every player they look for off other PL clubs, especially those from 5th to 10th - even if they go for the likes of Sarr, JWP, Raphina, Toney etc. they are going to end up spending big money on players that aren't of sufficient quality to get them into the Champions League to attract better players.
If they go down the PSG route and sign guys on free with big wages and signing on fees to sweeten the deal. There's a whole glut of players they can start to look at signing for free in January, Dybla, Kessie, Insigne, Sule, Christiansen, Zakaria, Cantwell, Boga, Isco, Sergi Roberto, Brozovic.
FSG are much better than the Glazers. They've invested in all areas of the club, on and off the pitch. They continue to redevelop Anfield and have a built a new training ground. They also recruit smartly meaning they don't have to spend as much as they get it right first time. The Glazers are a joke in comparison.
They are laughing with this. Because Mike Ashley ran Newcastle with a profit (covid excluded) they can pretty much spend what they want for the next 3 years before any FFP response.
I've already accepted that it will be near impossible in 10 years to be a club consistently achieving unless you have super rich owners.
To put this Newcastle buyout in perspective. The Saudi's coming in have over £300 billion in wealth which is over ten times what they City owners have.
Any FFP punishments will be meaningless to them in the long-term.
We were talking about Newcastle fans.
Yeah with how many fans United have I'm sure some would be over the moon. But I've yet to see or hear many if any Newcastle fans against this takeover.
Think their first priority will be to stay up. Couple of signings in January to keep them up comfortably. Hughes will be sacked.
They will linger around 8-10 for Couple of years before actually they can push for a top 6. Top 4 isn't going to be possible immediately. It took almost 8 years to get City their act together. That was when no FFP in place.
They will linger around 8-10 for Couple of years before actually they can push for a top 6. Top 4 isn't going to be possible immediately. It took almost 8 years to get City their act together. That was when no FFP in place.
What stops them from making side arrangements with club owners especially those struggling financially where they pay a nominal fee to the club say 20m and the rest comes to the owner via other channels? Its illegal obviously but then so is hiding wealth in tax havens but that doesn't stop the super rich.
Poor bugger.
You seem to be unaware that United have taken plenty of 'Saudi's dirty money'. Saudi Telecom sponsored United for many years.
Aeroflot are currently a sponsor. The state airline of another state who go in for murdering their opponents.
Taking the moral high ground where football is concerned is a difficult business.
You caught me there. You know who I meant :P
They will bring in the right people to run the football side just like City and Chelsea, unlike us. They will go for the best manager they can and get him good players to challenge for Europe. Then once they even get in the EL they will be start attracting better players. That Newcastle side of Keegan's was a really good side. If they can get to that level again, then it will be upwards from there. We will be fighting for 4th place as we are now. The worry would come if other teams get taken over in the same way. If I were Spurs or Arsenal I would be extremely worried. People going on about Newcastle, do the players even live in Newcastle. I am sure they can find somewhere nice to live.
You haven't watched much of the Premier League since 2013 then?
Mel Gibson just thawed out.I know you were talking about the reaction from Newcastle fans. What I was getting at is that a number of football fans will turn a blind eye to the transgressions of their owners if it brings their club success. A lot of them will not give a hoot.
Reading expectations of our new owners here and on other boards is actually eye opening to me.
No NUFC fan I know - again, the odd numpty on twitter excepted - is counting on them to splash the cash and flaunt FFP in any real way.
We more expect to sign a class of player/manager 1 or 2 tiers up from what we have, not try to jump all the way to world-class overnight. The investment in the scouting, academy and facilities are what most of us are more excited about.
Not taking any kind of moral high ground (as you've said, there probably isn't one to be found), but I personally am pleased that we won't be owned by this regime.
Norway's sovereign wealth fund is valued at 1.4 trillion dollars. They'll do.
That was down to incompetence as well. I feel this will spell the end of the traditional big clubs dominance. In the future if Newcastle has a bad year then City will pounce or viceversa. We will become the new Spurs. Oh well we do have a manager to match that
Ole will have the job for life then
They can get there with considerably less than a billion, but they won’t give much of a shit about money either way. The last 20 years has shown us just how easy it is to entice players away from their clubs if you have some financial clout behind you, and it’s actually quite easy to buy your way to the top.
As for FFP, I think you’re kidding yourself if you think that’s going to stop anyone. City pretty much saw to that.
I can understand that and in truth United are already a mega club and do not need external investment.
Whilst I have little time for the Saudi regime (what right minded person would) I am happy for the Geordies as this will give them a little light in their lives.
Sometimes bad people do good things (whatever their motivation).
True. I always wanted owners who take money out of the club then one who put money into it
On his way to sign for them, probably?
That's a bit of a longer time frame than just January no??
They play in black and white like Juventus.
I'd say that we are more likely to become a Wenger-era Arsenal than the next Spurs. That is well on the way to happening anyway though, Newcastle or no Newcastle.
City are simply too rich and too good.
I think you are wrong. It really isn't easy to buy your way to the top of the PL. Everton and Aston Villa can testify to that.
FFP is a live and kicking and it has stopped City, otherwise Kane and a whole host of others would be playing for them.
What FFP hasn't stopped is Pep. When he goes the playing field will be much more level imo.
In all liklihood it will take Newcastle a good few years to challenge for the top 4. It will take significant funds and good management and it may take many years.
My last post today.
Mate, I am happy for you as a fan base from purely footballing terms. Every fan should be able to dream of seeing their team at the top and sadly, today a big buyout is the only path. Awful day for football as a whole mind.
Believe me, they aren't coming in to get you to mid table. They will do what they can to move as quickly as possible. I predict next summer you will be competing with the likes of Arsenal and Leicester for a similar calibre of player. Within a year or two when they have you finishing top 8 they will do what they can to transition to the biggest of players.