The league can't do a thing, all hands are tied be because of the value of the arms. It's a house of cards.
Newcastle United now owned by the PIF | PL receives "legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control NUFC" ;)
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
The league can't do a thing, all hands are tied be because of the value of the arms. It's a house of cards.
Buying a football club is nothing when we sell them arms. I agree with that. But there are two issues here:
- People (including me) are against selling arms to Saudi, or supporting them in anyway. Where I am, it is not a crazy opinion and a lot of the public opinion is on my side.
- No one celebrates selling arms to the Saudis in the streets. We’re mocking the Newcastle’s fans celebrations. There is no clear equivalent.
Ah yes, those famous scenes of the common people throwing parties in the streets and writing love letters to the government because they brought in another lucrative arms deal.
I saw it die. It hurt.
Of course, they can. They make the rules! All they needed was a backbone, but apparently, that was too much to ask.
Agreed 100%. My Point isn't that we should just accept it and move on. My point is that we should fight but don't fight with each other because we the people cannot do anything. No point getting angry with a Newcastle fan get angry with the UK government and the Premier League. The ones who actually have a say.
This is a football forum.
This is the place to mock football fans for doing something I deem to be dumb.
You think they're not dumb for some of their recent behaviour? Fair enough.
They can actually have an FFP type rule that works, for starters. It won’t stop the Saudis buying the clubs, but it sure will make it a lot less of an attractive prospect for the Newcastle fans. The human rights issues then might factor into the decision when the decision making is not being clouded by “oh my god! The expensive wingers we can buy”
I don't think a lot of people would mock Newcastle fans if they continued to support the club they love. There is a huge gulf between continuing to support the club and openly welcoming and celebrating a takeover though. The two are not logically equivalent.
Yeah, that's grand, we mostly agree, your take is not that unreasonable, I just don't agree that it's all as neatly separate.
No. The government would prefer they don't do anything to insult the Saudis and threaten the relationship.
They can't threaten UK Saudi relations.
This.
There is no one forcing them to go down to the streets and wave around Saudi flags. The can continue going about life without that.
Personally I’d walk away from United. The club, and sport, have generally become very unpleasant and hard to support but MBS would be a bridge too far.
The beautiful game is dead. Honestly, i am not sure how much more of shit like this i can take. These are literally the people that slaughters and hang people on a daily basis. They hang female rape victims, hang gays, own female slaves. Honestly.. Jesus. fecking. christ.
Yes but why are they celebrating it? Why do you think a Newcastle fan after what their club has been through would celebrate it? It's not hard
I`m just glad the Saudis bought Newcastle, imagine the reaction if they had bought Liverpool.
"What their club has been through"? A few boring seasons, a relegation and a Championship title in the last decade or so.
It might not match up to their overblown sense of entitlement but let's not pretend they've had a torrid time.
Compared to "sports-washing league" farmers league suddenly does not sound that bad to me anymore. 
Its not about how theyre the offenders of human rights that get me super annoyed (although it does play a part). Its the fact that they will just hand the club any amount of money to make sure the club is super competitive right from the owners pocket without the club actually deserving them that is very annoying. Soon we will be seeing Arab businesses becoming their "sponsors".
Cool what about their city, Jobs, Communities , Economy etc. These things all add up to a frustration. At times for people football was the only thing they could get excited about. When that feels like it is taken away then alot of people can feel down especially when everything else is also going down. So it's not a surprise to see them excited. We have to remember we are all humans here for better or worse. Look at their situation and have some understanding. Thats the only way we can grow as a society.
If you think that was why those pissed up teenagers were dancing infront of the Sky cameras then you have a more generous soul than I!
Sir Bobby, Saudi flag and cans of fosters in the same snap ffs
That is why they were dancing absolutely. If you believe they were dancing because they really love the Saudi government and everything they do then you have very warped perception of reality. One thing the teenagers know is that there is a hope and belief around their town and a huge buzz around their football club for the first time in a long time. Thats what they are feeding off. Not what the Saudis are doing
I personally think they were dancing because they want to sign Mbappe, Haaland & whoever else and they don't give a shit about where the money is coming from.
That's certainly something you can say about Chelsea fans and Man City fans. They're also tits for dancing in the streets about it.
They’re dancing because they’re now the worlds richest football club and will now compete for titles. Which is what the Saudis are doing.
I am not sure it is double or even triple standards right now.
I mean, it is what it is, and the natural progression of recent (the PL becoming the super rich destination of choice, also for investment reasons) and more recent geopolitics (the Brexit forcing the UK to find any alternative route to keep or increase its worldwide relevance) imho.
Triple standards because no big club fans, domestic or foreign, can really keep the high moral ground any more: it is uber-capitalistic football vs grassroots football right now… with UEFA and FIFA just acting as interested parties themselves, the former partnering with Qatar/PSG, the latter counteracting with 2 years WC projects and similar bs.
What can we do, really? Just stop following big club circus and stick to our local, amateur, Sunday league teams.
I mean, it is what it is, and the natural progression of recent (the PL becoming the super rich destination of choice, also for investment reasons) and more recent geopolitics (the Brexit forcing the UK to find any alternative route to keep or increase its worldwide relevance) imho.
Triple standards because no big club fans, domestic or foreign, can really keep the high moral ground any more: it is uber-capitalistic football vs grassroots football right now… with UEFA and FIFA just acting as interested parties themselves, the former partnering with Qatar/PSG, the latter counteracting with 2 years WC projects and similar bs.
What can we do, really? Just stop following big club circus and stick to our local, amateur, Sunday league teams.
I understand Newcastle fans turning a blind eye to the moral issues surrounding their new owners. Football is there to provide entertainment and escapism. They simply want to enjoy the moment and allow themselves to have some optimism about their future as a club. It's fair enough.
There's been so much negativity in the world since covid, brexit, and all of the other atrocities that occur on a weekly basis, that sometimes you just want to say enough, and focus on the good stuff. Imagine how depressing life would be if you concentrated your energy on worrying about all the horrible things people do and therefore don't allow yourself to take pleasure from anything remotely related to it.
There's been so much negativity in the world since covid, brexit, and all of the other atrocities that occur on a weekly basis, that sometimes you just want to say enough, and focus on the good stuff. Imagine how depressing life would be if you concentrated your energy on worrying about all the horrible things people do and therefore don't allow yourself to take pleasure from anything remotely related to it.
Nah they‘re dancing because they’ll have the best players in the world playing for them and be multiple times PL champions by the end of the decade, not because of the community, jobs or the local economy
I read your 'statements'. Seems as if Gary Nevilles one-off line about their investment in Manchester is getting regurgitated without solid facts and figures to justify the capture of a club by a disgusting regime of people. Ill claim every moral highground going over every idiot at st James waving Saudi flags. Its like pointing at Hitlers infrastructure.
I think you’re digging a little too deep into what those fans were out celebrating mate.
Not to say that other fans wont be celebrating such things, but pretty sure they’re ecstatic they’re gonna be competing for the biggest players/managers in the world due to the 440 billion pound owners.
Football is just run by awful fecking dickheads.
For some reason, MLS soccer has a very welcoming atmosphere and it's common to see people waving the rainbow flag in the stands. Be kind of cool to see that at Newcastle games but I understand that's not really part of English football culture.
Newcastle next signing: "I always dreamt of playing for Newcastle as a kid"
How and where did they find Saudi flags so quickly
There was like a 24 hour window between the stories re surfacing and the news being confirmed right? One of those local printing places probably made some decent money off of Saudi flags
So happy that the Saudis haven’t bought United. That’s the only crumb of comfort I take from this. I’ve been at a few home games v Newcastle and really like the away support that they bring. They are a club with a great supporter base and you can see why a sportswashing dictatorship would be attracted by them. The top 4 looks like getting very crowded.
As for the PL accepting “legally binding” commitments that KSA doesn’t own the club, what a bunch of wallies. Same way City are owned by Abu Dhabi and PSG by Qatar. All three equally hateful regimes, all using our great sport to rehabilitate their richly deserved horrific reputation. UEFA, FIFA and CAS all bought and paid for.
As for the PL accepting “legally binding” commitments that KSA doesn’t own the club, what a bunch of wallies. Same way City are owned by Abu Dhabi and PSG by Qatar. All three equally hateful regimes, all using our great sport to rehabilitate their richly deserved horrific reputation. UEFA, FIFA and CAS all bought and paid for.
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I agree with your basic point (as I understand it) - but the Glazers (as a bunch) also funded Obama and Hillary.
Unless your name is Steve Bruce.
“Get rid of the manager” is about to take on a whole new meaning.