City launch legal action against the Premier League | Club & PL reach settlement | Proceedings dropped (p1147)

[Colin Bells Boots]

I remember the report from Sheffield University. It seems to be the place United fans go when they want to get "intellectual" on City but can't get into a real university.

I wonder if it would have merited any consideration at all if the constant references to AD were removed and it was just considered on a purely financial basis. Still seems like a pretty good partnership in view of the options at the time.

As for Chakraborrty, the reason he was an "independent advisor" on the report is pretty clear. For exposure. A so-called academic piece written for exposure can be questioned on so many levels. Nice Bengal reference, though, to induce hand-wringing about the Empire in true Guardian style. Didn't work. My hands are still unwrung two years later.

" the place rag fans go when they want to get " intellectual"

That phrase alone is the perfect example of a genuine oxymoron - full credit @halfcenturyup

 

[halfcenturyup]

Surely it won't be stopping Sheikh M and for that matter Mr K with his AD hat on investing in China.

I was thinking more joint Chinese /AD investment. Was just a thought.

 

[bluemanchester]

EDIT - here it us

How a great English city sold itself to Abu Dhabi’s elite – and not even for a good price | Aditya Chakrabortty

Manchester’s Labour council let Sheikh Mansour buy up acres of public land for seemingly a fraction of its worth, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

www.theguardian.com

Spending all of my early years and teens, leaving when I was 22, living in Ardwick and surrounding areas it beggers belief that any educated person can describe the area as
"prime real estate"
as though it is some leafy Cheshire suburb or Manchester dormitory town.
Obviously, to me, the author has never lived or been educated there to have such a rosy view of what was a neglected area. An area which would never be developed by the council, because they didn't have the money and were selling off large chunks of council houses. Sheikh Mansour buying City was a dream come true for City supporters and Manchester City Council. Two years on the article still rankles me.

 

[Centurions]

The article we are debating did not refer to us as state owned

"Debating" is stretching the term a little, that said everyone else but you has got bored and moved on. Could I suggest you do the same?

 

[johnevans]

Spending all of my early years and teens, leaving when I was 22, living in Ardwick and surrounding areas it beggers belief that any educated person can describe the area as
"prime real estate"
as though it is some leafy Cheshire suburb or Manchester dormitory town.
Obviously, to me, the author has never lived or been educated there to have such a rosy view of what was a neglected area. An area which would never be developed by the council because they didn't have the money and were selling off large chunks of council houses. Sheikh Mansour buying City was a dream come true for City supporters and Manchester City Council. Two years on the article still rankles me.

Agree. That article was/is a travesty of journalism.

Probably(?) like you, my escape from the 'modern-slums -which-replaced-the-old slums' of 'Yoom' was passing the 11-Plus to get to grammar school, exams and university. I don't recognise any of the history described or the claims made in that piece.

The Council was forced to sell off housing and return the ackers directly to the Central Treasury at Westminster. Replacing lost housing stock became nigh on impossible as a result (..f**king Thatcher et al..)

Little wonder the city welcomed The Sheikh et al in 2008. The incredible renovation and restoration of the Philips Park/eastern side of the city would NEVER have been possible, let alone affordable, had our club not been taken over as it was then.

Any road up, f**k 'em these scribblers.. lunch finished at Pret Piccadilly, tram now to the ground.. c'mon you Blues!

 

[johnny crossan]

Spending all of my early years and teens, leaving when I was 22, living in Ardwick and surrounding areas it beggers belief that any educated person can describe the area as
"prime real estate"
as though it is some leafy Cheshire suburb or Manchester dormitory town.
Obviously, to me, the author has never lived or been educated there to have such a rosy view of what was a neglected area. An area which would never be developed by the council because they didn't have the money and were selling off large chunks of council houses. Sheikh Mansour buying City was a dream come true for City supporters and Manchester City Council. Two years on the article still rankles me.

The prime author of this attack on the UAE is pictured in the BBC's joyous repetition of his anti-arab propaganda

Manchester City Council sold public land too cheaply, report claims

Manchester council denies claims that sales to an Abu Dhabi firm were "below comparable rates".

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[kaz7]

Anyone who says we are state owned is either stupid or not a blue

 

[Rory Bluelow]

The prime author of this attack on the UAE is pictured in the BBC's joyous repetition of his anti-arab propaganda

Manchester City Council sold public land too cheaply, report claims

Manchester council denies claims that sales to an Abu Dhabi firm were "below comparable rates".

www.bbc.co.uk

What a piece of utter shite. Accusing the council of not using “their bargaining power” - I’m sure they were fighting off hordes of desperate developers clamouring to sort out Ancoats which Prof Leaver described as “not a complete wasteland” (maybe 99% wasteland then !). Obviously the professor’s specialism is fucking hindsight and general bullshit !

 

[Aba452]

EDIT - here it us

How a great English city sold itself to Abu Dhabi’s elite – and not even for a good price | Aditya Chakrabortty

Manchester’s Labour council let Sheikh Mansour buy up acres of public land for seemingly a fraction of its worth, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

www.theguardian.com

Wonder if this twat has written much about about the repression, imprisonment without trial, extra judicial murder that's common place in indian occupied Kashmir?! No!?

What about a young ENGLISH player who was deliberately targeted for a late sports visa with the ENGLAND cricket team, purely on the grounds that his parents were off Pakistani origin?!

Not holding my breath. Cunts journalism from a **** newspaper, as ever.

 

[SilverFox2]

Spending all of my early years and teens, leaving when I was 22, living in Ardwick and surrounding areas it beggers belief that any educated person can describe the area as
"prime real estate"
as though it is some leafy Cheshire suburb or Manchester dormitory town.
Obviously, to me, the author has never lived or been educated there to have such a rosy view of what was a neglected area. An area which would never be developed by the council because they didn't have the money and were selling off large chunks of council houses. Sheikh Mansour buying City was a dream come true for City supporters and Manchester City Council. Two years on the article still rankles me.

Frankly the Council had spent up on the other side of town and we're ignoring the east side of Manchester.
I remember the illusion of a Casino and the ridicule of trying to bid for Olympic Games with the, Aussies laughing at the old gasometer steel work.
How things have changed.

 

[halfcenturyup]

They got a £500,000 grant to write this piece of anti-arab propaganda - no surprise when you look at the principal authors

Manchester, The Centripetal City: The Lessons Of Property-Led Regeneration For Core Cities And Their Proximal Towns

Funder: ESRC Amount: £458,013 Project Reference: ES/V002597/1

www.sheffield.ac.uk

Here's their latest attack on the UAE

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.13013

Looks like they are going to keep "publishing" this shit until someone pays attention, which at this rate will be never.

Btw, ADUG, apparently, is a state-backed investment fund. News to me, especially when they say later "While ADUG is officially a private firm, its ownership by a senior Emirati ruler has led to widespread perceptions that its acquisition of MCFC has been a means to bolster the reputation of the oil-rich Abu Dhabi state (King and McGeehan 2023)". Widespread perception as the basis for an "academic" paper. And those citations. God help us.

Not really worth reading is it, if that is the underlying premise .....

 

[johnevans]

Anyone who says we are state owned is either stupid or not a blue

I think a case could be made for them being both at one and the same time..

 

[levets]

Weird when Silver lake bought them they didn't buy that extra 1% is there a reason for that! Supposed those are the latest accounts too?

Think it suits all parties. Keeps an eye on what’s happening in China, don’t forget we own a club in Shenzhen

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

They got a £500,000 grant to write this piece of anti-arab propaganda - no surprise when you look at the principal authors

Manchester, The Centripetal City: The Lessons Of Property-Led Regeneration For Core Cities And Their Proximal Towns

Funder: ESRC Amount: £458,013 Project Reference: ES/V002597/1

www.sheffield.ac.uk

Here's their latest attack on the UAE

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.13013

That article is total bollocks. Not a single piece of evidence to back up the claim that development of property by Manchester Life is some sort of political move. Is it not possible that Sheikh Mansour, who invests across the world, just wants to make a profit like everyone else. At present he has more than trebled the value of his investments in Manchester. This article is just political propaganda.

 

[KS55]

That article is total bollocks. Not a single piece of evidence to back up the claim that development of property by Manchester Life is some sort of political move. Is it not possible that’s Sheikh Mansour, who invests across the world, just wants to make a profit like everyone else. At present he has more than trebled the value of his investments in Manchester. This article is just political propaganda.

It all subtends from the nonsense that E. Manchester is ‘prime real estate’. Yeah, 200 years of industrial pollution tends to elevate land like that.
If you described it fairly, you would come to quite different conclusions.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

It all subtends from the nonsense that E. Manchester is ‘prime real estate’. Yeah, 200 years of industrial pollution tends to elevate land like that.
If you described it fairly, you would come to quite different conclusions.

The Guardian article based on that fake research was even worse. The reality is that Howard Bernstein and Richard Leese did a great service for the people of Manchester with that deal. They created thousands of jobs, hundreds of new small businesses, and thousands of new homes. It represents a huge profit for council taxpayers. Leese described the Guardian hacks as “middle-class tosspots who know nothing about Manchester.” Perhaps we should let Sheikh Mansour have a go at Picc Gardens.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

The Guardian article based on that fake research was even worse. The reality is that Howard Bernstein and Richard Leese did a great service for the people of Manchester with that deal. They created thousands of jobs, hundreds of new small businesses, and thousands of new homes. It represents a huge profit for council taxpayers. Leese described the Guardian hacks as “middle-class tosspots who know nothing about Manchester.” Perhaps we should let Sheikh Mansour have a go at Picc Gardens.

We were talking about this driving back from the match yesterday. Bradford & Beswick weren't exactly Mayfair & Belgravia before Sheikh Mansour came along.

A lot of detoxification work was done for the Commonwealth games in order to build the stadium but the partnership between the owner and city council has turned the area into a very nice, liveable one. The council were never going to have the funds or wherewithal to do that.

So what if Sheikh Mansour gets some income from that. He put the money in, after all. The council benefit from the council tax paid by homeowners and tenants. Does anyone from the Guardian or their fellow 'middle class tosspots' ever ask how much council tax is paid in these wards now, compared to how much was paid prior to their development?

 

[Chris-NCL]

Anyone who says we are state owned is either stupid or not a blue

Newcastle fan here.
I understand that your ownership structure is such that you are not directly owned by the state. The question I ask though is, what the fuck would it matter if you were?

State ownership is not forbidden by any relevant football authorities, and if they tried to do it, it would likely fall foul of the UK’s competition rules.

It seems the only people who have a problem with state ownership is those who feel like they would never be able to compete, I.E. the cabal. The thing is though, clubs being owned by state ownership is no more or less of a barrier from competing when they had the richest owners.

In reality there always has been, and always will be an unbalance of those who have money, and those who do not. It’s been that way since PNE started paying players, and the leagues ultimately became professional.
In a modern sense, take Tottenham Hotspur’s for example. Historically they are not really that much bigger than us (Newcastle). In the Premier League era, they have outdone us by winning 2 League Cups, credit to them, but not really something to say they are significantly bigger than us, if so then the argument that Leicester are bigger than them would be a fairly easy point to make in response. Anyway London prices has meant that they have been able to command higher ticket prices than any club in the North East region would ever be able to charge. Would they also be able build such a stadium if they were based up here, and also to host the events such as the NFL etc which all brings in them higher revenue?
I guess we’ll find out soon enough when our owners do what they will in regard to our new stadium.
Let’s flip things on its head. Would a Spurs based where they are in London have been able to build the stadium they had, been able to get merchandise sales etc through at the levels they do, or sell tickets at London prices if Mike Ashley had bought and gimped them for 14 years instead of settling to do it to us?
I’m going to hazard a guess and say not.
You see, the dynamics of having money, and not having money is never going to be simple, and it’s never going to be wholly level. Somewhere along the lines there is going to be circumstances that means one club can gain more money than the other. For every poor person in Liverpool who can’t afford a match ticket, you have someone from Dublin taking his place. Newcastle isn’t exactly an hours ferry ride from Norway to be able to do the same.

I guess my point is that the lines about where money can be earned, spent, and who can have it have never been defined, but always assumed. Much like those bankers who went complaining when the nerds fucked them over with GameStop shares due to not doing what is assumed, tough fucking luck, you can whinge all you want, but what is good enough for the Goose, is going to be good enough for the Gander.

I know I’ve went off on a tangent here, I know I’m largely preaching to the congregation, but I think my point is valid.

 

[Dribble]

Newcastle fan here.
I understand that your ownership structure is such that you are not directly owned by the state. The question I ask though is, what the fuck would it matter if you were?

State ownership is not forbidden by any relevant football authorities, and if they tried to do it, it would likely fall foul of the UK’s competition rules.

It seems the only people who have a problem with state ownership is those who feel like they would never be able to compete, I.E. the cabal. The thing is though, clubs being owned by state ownership is no more or less of a barrier from competing when they had the richest owners.

In reality there always has been, and always will be an unbalance of those who have money, and those who do not. It’s been that way since PNE started paying players, and the leagues ultimately became professional.
In a modern sense, take Tottenham Hotspur’s for example. Historically they are not really that much bigger than us (Newcastle). In the Premier League era, they have outdone us by winning 2 League Cups, credit to them, but not really something to say they are significantly bigger than us, if so then the argument that Leicester are bigger than them would be a fairly easy point to make in response. Anyway London prices has meant that they have been able to command higher ticket prices than any club in the North East region would ever be able to charge. Would they also be able build such a stadium if they were based up here, and also to host the events such as the NFL etc which all brings in them higher revenue?
I guess we’ll find out soon enough when our owners do what they will in regard to our new stadium.
Let’s flip things on its head. Would a Spurs based where they are in London have been able to build the stadium they had, been able to get merchandise sales etc through at the levels they do, or sell tickets at London prices if Mike Ashley had bought and gimped them for 14 years instead of settling to do it to us?
I’m going to hazard a guess and say not.
You see, the dynamics of having money, and not having money is never going to be simple, and it’s never going to be wholly level. Somewhere along the lines there is going to be circumstances that means one club can gain more money than the other. For every poor person in Liverpool who can’t afford a match ticket, you have someone from Dublin taking his place. Newcastle isn’t exactly an hours ferry ride from Norway to be able to do the same.

I guess my point is that the lines about where money can be earned, spent, and who can have it have never been defined, but always assumed. Much like those bankers who went complaining when the nerds fucked them over with GameStop shares due to not doing what is assumed, tough fucking luck, you can whinge all you want, but what is good enough for the Goose, is going to be good enough for the Gander.

I know I’ve went off on a tangent here, I know I’m largely preaching to the congregation, but I think my point is valid.

Welcome to our world mate. The cartel clubs had no issues when ManUre, ArseAnal & the Chavs were hoovering up multiple titles between them & the Red Dippers regularly joined them in the CL.

Now they face competition, they believe it's not fair on them as they invented the PL to ensure the status quo was maintained.

 

[Vic]

We were talking about this driving back from the match yesterday. Bradford & Beswick weren't exactly Mayfair & Belgravia before Sheikh Mansour came along.

A lot of detoxification work was done for the Commonwealth games in order to build the stadium but the partnership between the owner and city council has turned the area into a very nice, liveable one. The council were never going to have the funds or wherewithal to do that.

So what if Sheikh Mansour gets some income from that. He put the money in, after all. The council benefit from the council tax paid by homeowners and tenants. Does anyone from the Guardian or their fellow 'middle class tosspots' ever ask how much council tax is paid in these wards now, compared to how much was paid prior to their development?

Getting rid of purple soil from the dyeworks in order to build the Academy was what "remediation" meant. I did attend a conference years before when New Islington was being built. I'd seen a video of Tom Bloxham from Urban Splash stood by the canal bank with general tattiness in the background, and waxing lyrical about new housing and offices with waterside access. Later in the conference he said, "It's marvellous what you can do with a bit of imagination, and eleven million pounds of government grants". I'm not sure if the Sheikh got any grants for cleaning up the Clayton Aniline site.