Christ the Premier League have played this well. Stuck in a situation where they'll piss off basically everybody (Qatar, Amnesty, the established elite clubs, etc.) if they accept but can't find a valid reason not to in their own rules so bog it down with bureaucratic process leading to the Saudi's buggering off.
I'm sure Amanda Staveley will be back for a third time as part of a new consortium. Hopefully, Fat Mike will have a fire sale in the meantime.
Christ the Premier League have played this well. Stuck in a situation where they'll piss off basically everybody (Qatar, Amnesty, the established elite clubs, etc.) if they accept but can't find a valid reason not to in their own rules so bog it down with bureaucratic process leading to the Saudi's buggering off.
I'm sure Amanda Staveley will be back for a third time as part of a new consortium. Hopefully, Fat Mike will have a fire sale in the meantime.
Another "we have lots of fans so we deserve success' club.
Don't get me wrong: I rather like the city and role part the club plays in it. I can't think of any other place which felt like such a football city as when I went up there. Most big cities have more than one team, so there's divided loyalties, or the ground is away from the centre like Liverpool/ Everton. Walking around the centre of Newcastle on match day, with the stadium towering over it all, and thousands of people in their black & white shirts, felt quite unique, and I thought it was great.
But my god do they have a sense of entitlement. They've won **** all in sixty odd years yet seem to think the world owes them a trophy. And the media loves to bang on about what great fans they are- if Ashley is that bad, why do they not actually do anything meaningful about him? All they do is moan on social media about how hard done by they are because they're mid table in the Premier League. What would Sunderland give for that? Or Exeter, or Crawley or Bradford City? He's not asset stripping the place: he just can't or won't spend a fortune. It's called living within your means. Like most clubs do. I don't see Norwich fans screaming at Delia for not funding the purchase of a £60m striker.
I shouldn't laugh.
I shouldn't eat this whole packet of Jaffa Cakes either, but I'M GOING TO.
You are where you are now, not where you were MANY MANY years ago - like Jackie Milburn years ago
With multi £Billionaires floating around, that raises the hopes of the many fanbases of their clubs being transformed.
Chelsea were completely insignificant for a generation as far as honours were concerned until Bates/Harding went for the Hoddle/Vialli/Gullit spending, then Abramovich blew virtually everyone else out of the water with a £1B investment in players fees and wages. ManC were many peoples favourite second club, with just a couple of LC’s in my football watching lifetime, until Mansour’s petro dollars bought success. Everton fans currently hope that the insane combined wealth of Usmanov and Moshiri allows a colossal player spending spree to match Citeh, they believe that CV19 and Citeh beating UEFA has opened the doors for anything goes. On villatalk their fans are saying the same thing, fck FFP, anything goes now, spend, spend, spend. The supporters come across as arrogant and entitled.
In the next few years it wouldn’t surprise me if, some of; Leeds, Newcastle, Massive, West Ham and Derby get a new billionaire owner ready to go spending.
Chelsea, PSG and Citeh have provided the also-rans to overnight European giants blueprint.
What gets me is that every fan wants the chairman to buy a decent player or two I get that ... but wanting success so much that you're prepared to turn a blind eye to the owners of your club being responsible for massive human rights abuses and tens of thousands of deaths ... that shows that football supporters have become truly blind.
I followed the Albion home and away through the darkest times of the 90s and all through the rebuilding years after. That's fine, I can accept us being s***. But what I can't accept is that the club I support contradicts my values. That's the one thing that could make me jack this whole crazy lifelong love affair I seem to have in.
What gets me is that every fan wants the chairman to buy a decent player or two I get that ... but wanting success so much that you're prepared to turn a blind eye to the owners of your club being responsible for massive human rights abuses and tens of thousands of deaths ... that shows that football supporters have become truly blind.
I followed the Albion home and away through the darkest times of the 90s and all through the rebuilding years after. That's fine, I can accept us being s***. But what I can't accept is that the club I support contradicts my values. That's the one thing that could make me jack this whole crazy lifelong love affair I seem to have in.
If they start the next season with nothing sorted, I'd fancy them to be in the relegation scrap. Up to the lockdown (in my opinion) they were the spawniest of all the teams in the Prem; they hardly seemed to play well in any game, yet somehow fluked wins here and there.
Without the cash investment, and the turmoil that would create, I'd expect them to struggle.
I feel sorry for their fans. True and respectful. I recall when we were promoted to the old Division One they were our last match of the season at St James Park and we won the match and the team did a lap of honour where the Geordies stood and applauded them. Still respect them for that. Even had one ask to swap colours outside who was big enough to step on me! Sympathy from me lads.
But as for Mike Ashley - ooops that’s a shame Mike......!!
I feel sorry for their fans. True and respectful. I recall when we were promoted to the old Division One they were our last match of the season at St James Park and we won the match and the team did a lap of honour where the Geordies stood and applauded them. Still respect them for that. Even had one ask to swap colours outside who was big enough to step on me! Sympathy from me lads.
But as for Mike Ashley - ooops that’s a shame Mike......!!
Well, that was at least partly because us winning helped prevent Sunderland from going up.
A European super league will change the whole dynamics of football. I would almost welcome it, as it would give clubs like Notts Forest, Leicester, Ipswich, Luton and dare i say it Brighton a chance to win some honours, like the 70s 80's era.