Newcastle United takeover?

[Neville Kneville]

Glad to see the idiot/laughing stock baton is still at Newcastle, it's had the odd period on-loan at Leeds thought it may move down to there permanently but it's staying where it is for awhile I think, we held it for much too long in the dark days sadly.

We got the Jules Rimet one to keep & they had to make a new one .

 

[Dubai Blue]

Depends if the "new owners in waiting" want a bigger name than Benitez.

I'm fairly certain there aren't any new owners in waiting.

 

[decmancity]

Which is exactly what he wants. Little investment yet reap a fortune every year from the Sky money. Easy!

Not interested in spending millions to challenge for trophies; its just a cash cow.

Gold is the same at West Ham and Levy at Spurs to some extent.

Then when fans complain, hit em with the FFP b.s.

Rinse and repeat.

This.

How long before a statement comes out either officially or unofficially that there will be no transfers this summer due to Benitez leaving and the uncertainty around the ownership resulting in pushing back any transfer plans and suspending any offers on players due to the inconvenience caused by rumors and speculation.

 

[The Preacher]

About time Alan Curbishley made a return to football management!

 

[7evens]

Don’t feel sorry for them at all. As other have said they are an arrogant fan base who think they are bigger then they are.

People will disagree with me, but I don’t think Ashley is that bad. He’s got them to be a solid mid table club, with a decent team

They're a mid-table team because of Benitez and Benitez alone. They're going down without him this season, imo.

 

[Blue Til Death]

Depends if the "new owners in waiting" want a bigger name than Benitez.

Not sure there are any bigger names that would go there to be honest, they have fucked up letting Benitez go, as this season will show imo...

 

[Super David Silva 21]

Mourinho and Ashley would be a match made in heaven

 

[7evens]

I'm not sure Newcastle fans demand success or trophies or think they're bigger than they are, to be honest. They've not won a trophy for longer than we went without one. I think what they do expect is to feel a connection to the club that mirrors the connection the stadium has with the city. What football fans thrive on is hope and ambition, knowing that people who run the club have its best interests at heart. Allowing a manager like Benitez to leave so meekly so that Ashley can continue lining his pockets without spending any money is the opposite of what a club in their position should be doing. Their squad has been Championship quality ever since they came back up but every year Benitez has managed to keep them afloat through incredibly conservative tactics and a strong team spirit. I'm not sure a new manager, especially not Ranieri, would be able to repeat that success.

I think what makes quite a lot of Newcastle fans feel particularly aggrieved, however, is the fact that they were a good quality side before Ashley took the reigns. He took over in May 2007. In the twelve seasons before that, Newcastle's average league position was 8th and they consistently reached the latter stages of the FA Cup (finalists twice), occasionally qualified for the Champions League, and regularly competed in the Europa League. In the twelve seasons since Ashley's takeover, their average league position has been 14th (with two relegations), they've never made it past the FA Cup fourth round, and have only qualified for the Europa League once. For a club with a regular average attendance of 50,000+ I think they can reasonably expect to finish in the top half, have a good cup run every year, and flirt with European football every other season.

To know that it's not just unlikely to happen, but basically impossible because of restrictions deliberately enforced by an owner who couldn't give two shits about the entertainment value of the type of football played by the team he owns, so long as he makes a personal fortune - it must be soul-destroying. I remember when our attendances plummeted under Pearce because of how bad the football was under him, but at least we knew him and Wardle were trying their hardest. Newcastle have the potential to be as good as Everton, Leicester, Wolves, it's all there, but the environment Ashley has created sees them flirting with relegation until about the final two or three weeks of the season. Not only that, but the club is so poisonous under him now that they'll never get the players or the managing team they need because who in their right mind would go there now?

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

I just dont understand after all these years why the Newcastle fans havent done anything serious. If this was my club I would be getting militant about it. It's absolutely scandalous.

 

[Blue Til Death]

I bet the rags are ruing the day they gave Bilbo Baggins a long term contract instead of just seeing the season out.
Not many better than rafa available, I guess he would run Into Woodward who is just a poor man's Ashley though....Oh well....!