A dilemma-what would you do? (2 Viewers)

Fergusons_Beard · Jun 6, 2020

So Newcastle being taken over by the Saudi based investment group link to various human rights travesties & an actual murder but...

Last month, a NUST (Toon Supporters Trust) poll of 3,410 members found 96.7% were in favour of the new consortium to replace owner Mike Ashley, who has been in charge of Newcastle for 13 years.

Toon fans that desperate to get rid of Ashley that they accept bid.

You can see dilemma-& those old enough to remember welcoming SISU with open arms to get rid of Richardson & will agree.

So would you accept a bid from a billionaire investment firm with an incredibly dodgy past to get rid of SISU?

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Otis · Jun 6, 2020

Haven't most billionaire investment funds got dodgy pasts?

JimmyHillsbeard · Jun 6, 2020

Otis said:
Haven't most billionaire investment funds got dodgy pasts?

It’s a question of scale. MBS’ record on killing and mutilating critics goes beyond the ‘dodgy pasts’ of a few investment bankers. Furthermore the Saudis only want to take over Newcastle as a way of sanitising their public image. I hope to God that my desire to see SISU out of my club wouldn’t allow me to welcome a murderous oppressive regime to my club.

“If Adolf Hitler flew in today....”

bawtryneal · Jun 6, 2020

It's a balance
Rightly or wrongly you have to let the EFL or PL go through there "fit and proper persons" checks.
If they pass those checks you go ahead and support the take over. If they don't then issue over.
Every fan will have their own "moral compass" based on there own beliefs and attitudes.
Has to be down to the governing body responsible in my opinion.

Grendel · Jun 6, 2020

bawtryneal said:
It's a balance
Rightly or wrongly you have to let the EFL or PL go through there "fit and proper persons" checks.
If they pass those checks you go ahead and support the take over. If they don't then issue over.
Every fan will have their own "moral compass" based on there own beliefs and attitudes.
Has to be down to the governing body responsible in my opinion.

This is a murdering regime though

If Donald Trump bought the club would it be ok? He’d pass the test I’m sure

If I’m honest most fans I think would be ok with it “Never liked his politics but hey he’s. businessman” Trust would be getting the Kenilworth pub opening and asking him to wear a silly hat

Magwitch · Jun 6, 2020

Had this takeover been approved yet ? Unbelievable if it has or is. But from a Newcastle fan point a view they will see it as a short cut to the top end of the Premiership and staying there as we have seen Manchester City do, a similar type of club over the years to Newcastle.
Be another case of wallets v wallets.
I would think if we were able to dig deep enough a number of these new mega rich club owners would have horrible skeletons in their cupboards.

bawtryneal · Jun 6, 2020

Grendel said:
This is a murdering regime though

If Donald Trump bought the club would it be ok? He’d pass the test I’m sure

If I’m honest most fans I think would be ok with it “Never liked his politics but hey he’s. businessman” Trust would be getting the Kenilworth pub opening and asking him to wear a silly hat

I agree it's a murdering regime.
Will be very interesting if the PL approve.
What do you think ?? Big decision for them morally !

bawtryneal · Jun 6, 2020

I think the bigger issue for the PL is the pressure from the TV companies about Saudi Arabias sponsored Sports network flagrantly abusing copyright and downloading illegall streams of PL games.
The PL will claim, rightly or wrongly, that human rights issues are governments problems.

Wyken Sky Blue · Jun 6, 2020

Well, we were all happy with SISU taking over in December 2007 as it was someone that wanted to buy the club.

After a number of years they have been poor owners overall but the last three years haven't been too bad for me.

I would like SISU gone but only to the right consortium. Sheffield United fans seem happy with their owner and they are what I would call a proper football club unlike the Man City's and CHelsea's of this world.

Winny the Bish · Jun 6, 2020

I would be disgusted if Coventry were taken over by MBS and he rocked up at the Ricoh smiling on a matchday. The man is a murderer.

withnail · Jun 6, 2020

I'd much rather bounce around the lower leagues than have anything to do with the Saudis. A shitty, horrible regime. The Premiership would Be nice but not If it’s anything to do with those bastatrds.
Anyway the past few seasons have been great, wouldn’t change them. Great memories.

Gibbo · Jun 6, 2020

Otis said:
Haven't most billionaire investment funds got dodgy pasts?

Precisely - bung in Russian billionaires as well. That amount of money, it is almost impossible to be squeaky clean. I am rather fed up with the cheap moralizing this country has descended to. Whatever happened to the pragmatic English, Perfidious Albion. Take the money.

Sick Boy · Jun 6, 2020

bawtryneal said:
I agree it's a murdering regime.
Will be very interesting if the PL approve.
What do you think ?? Big decision for them morally !

Considering that they are unfortunately one of the countries allies, I doubt it will be an issue.

Malaka · Jun 6, 2020

Whilst a spell seeing class players in the Premiership would be nice, next season is my 50th year of watching the city play. I can honestly say that the last three years have been brilliant. Better than any season in the top flight. Fuck the rich dodgy owners. I'm happy at the moment

Terry_dactyl · Jun 6, 2020

Gibbo said:
Precisely - bung in Russian billionaires as well. That amount of money, it is almost impossible to be squeaky clean. I am rather fed up with the cheap moralizing this country has descended to. Whatever happened to the pragmatic English, Perfidious Albion. Take the money.

I agree but most haven’t been involved in the brutalities and oppression that Saudi Arabia have. I mean, there’s being not ‘squeaky clean’ and then there’s Saudi Arabia.

Sky_Blue_Dreamer · Jun 6, 2020

bawtryneal said:
I agree it's a murdering regime.
Will be very interesting if the PL approve.
What do you think ?? Big decision for them morally !

PL will approve. If they don't they'll put off other potential foreign investors (pretty much all of whom have a dodgy past somewhere) so the gravy train rumbles to a halt, massive wages and transfers become less affordable, better players go to other countries, TV/sponsorship goes down, wages and transfers again go down due to it, even less top players come and so on.

Morality will have no part to play in their decision. The fit and proper persons test is basically look at their bank balance.

Sky_Blue_Dreamer · Jun 6, 2020

Malaka said:
Whilst a spell seeing class players in the Premiership, next season is my 50 year of watchung the city play. I can honestly say that the last three years have been brilliant. Better than any season in the top flight. Fuck the rich dodgy owners. i'm happy at the moment

I agree. Also when you listen to oldies stories there favourite times are under JH, again when we were lower league. Of course it'd be nice to be winning at the very top end but give me season's like this over perennial struggles and losing more matches than we win every day of the week.

Sky_Blue_Dreamer · Jun 6, 2020

Terry_dactyl said:
I agree but most haven’t been involved in the brutalities and oppression that Saudi Arabia have. I mean, there’s being not ‘squeaky clean’ and then there’s Saudi Arabia.

Well that's a bit debateable. Many of the Russian oligarchs are there because of their support and backing of people like Putin, who do use those methods. Also a lot of links to organised crime. So they are indirectly involved as they allow others to use them that they toady up to for personal gain.

Gibbo · Jun 6, 2020

Sky_Blue_Dreamer said:
PL will approve. If they don't they'll put off other potential foreign investors (pretty much all of whom have a dodgy past somewhere) so the gravy train rumbles to a halt, massive wages and transfers become less affordable, better players go to other countries, TV/sponsorship goes down, wages and transfers again go down due to it, even less top players come and so on.

Morality will have no part to play in their decision. The fit and proper persons test is basically look at their bank balance.[/Q

Sky_Blue_Dreamer said:

PL will approve. If they don't they'll put off other potential foreign investors (pretty much all of whom have a dodgy past somewhere) so the gravy train rumbles to a halt, massive wages and transfers become less affordable, better players go to other countries, TV/sponsorship goes down, wages and transfers again go down due to it, even less top players come and so on.

Morality will have no part to play in their decision. The fit and proper persons test is basically look at their bank balance.

Click to expand...

Quite right too. It's people jobs you are talking about - all the staff at the clubs involved. A successful club will bring real revenues to a disadvantaged area. Don't single out Saudi Arabia. Any potentate from the middle east has blood on their hands - so that is Man City out of it. Don't kid your self about Russian oligarchs, so that's Chelsea. I would look to closely at a Thai millionaire - so that's Leicester. The bloke that owns Brentford - that's them gone. Oddly the nearest to squeaky clean is if they are american, so the Glazers pass the test, as of course does Mike Ashley.....

Cheap morality is the stuff of the rich who can afford it. The rest of us have to get on with life

Gibbo · Jun 6, 2020

Saudi millionaire turns up, says he's going to pay SISU and the Wasps to go away. Hand on heart who would quibble? Maybe if he was Vlad the Impaler, but otherwise....

wingy · Jun 6, 2020

It seems in every day life we can all mitigate our reservations for a perceived benefit to ourselves .
Commercial misdemeanors are generally overcome ,but murder, political ,human injustice ,on the outside you'd expect no go .
Have a feeling internally it would be overcome .

Sky_Blue_Dreamer · Jun 6, 2020

Gibbo said:
Quite right too. It's people jobs you are talking about - all the staff at the clubs involved. A successful club will bring real revenues to a disadvantaged area. Don't single out Saudi Arabia. Any potentate from the middle east has blood on their hands - so that is Man City out of it. Don't kid your self about Russian oligarchs, so that's Chelsea. I would look to closely at a Thai millionaire - so that's Leicester. The bloke that owns Brentford - that's them gone. Oddly the nearest to squeaky clean is if they are american, so the Glazers pass the test, as of course does Mike Ashley.....

Cheap morality is the stuff of the rich who can afford it. The rest of us have to get on with life

Not exactly the point I was trying to make. I'd be quite happy for English football to step back from the insanity of the money involved and see wages and transfer fees fall to something remotely like sanity, even if it did result in it having to downsize a bit. For some of those top clubs the amount they pay one U23/fringe player would cover wages for dozens of backroom staff.

To be honest I'd have no qualms if they just renamed the Fit and Proper Persons test the Funding Ability test or similar. At least that would be an honest reflection of what it was.

Grendel · Jun 6, 2020

Sick Boy said:
Considering that they are unfortunately one of the countries allies, I doubt it will be an issue.

Yawn. What was italies imports from the Saudis last year in value!

Sick Boy · Jun 6, 2020

Grendel said:
Yawn. What was italies imports from the Saudis last year in value!

What’s that got to do with anything? I didn’t have you down as an apologist for the vile Saudi regime.

Grendel · Jun 6, 2020

Sick Boy said:
What’s that got to do with anything? I didn’t have you down as an apologist for the vile Saudi regime.

Every western country is so why make any comment at all?

JimmyHillsbeard · Jun 6, 2020

Gibbo said:
Saudi millionaire turns up, says he's going to pay SISU and the Wasps to go away. Hand on heart who would quibble? Maybe if he was Vlad the Impaler, but otherwise....

you really should do some homework on MBS. I guarantee you he’s worse than your hypothetical.

anyway as someone said earlier the bid might fail as the Saudis have been caught funding a pirate tv station undermining the official BeIn sports channel that paid for the rights to EPL games.

Sick Boy · Jun 6, 2020

Grendel said:
Every western country is so why make any comment at all?

Because it was posed as a question by the original poster, it’s bizarre criticising them upsets you so much.

thekidfromstrettoncamp · Jun 6, 2020

Who are not fit and fair owner of a club if this group get Newcastle?
S B D your last line comment on post 16 sums it up

Terry_dactyl · Jun 6, 2020

Sky_Blue_Dreamer said:
Well that's a bit debateable. Many of the Russian oligarchs are there because of their support and backing of people like Putin, who do use those methods. Also a lot of links to organised crime. So they are indirectly involved as they allow others to use them that they toady up to for personal gain.

It’s a fair point. The old Pompey owner, Alexander Gaydamark, was backed by his dad...whom essentially owned the club by proxy. I believe his dad was also wanted for amongst other things arms dealing.

chiefdave · Jun 6, 2020

Zero chance of the league rejecting them. The fit and proper test is self certification and unless you've been convicted of something is virtually useless. Plenty of business is done between the UK and Saudi so on what grounds could they block it?

There's a lot of dodgy owners when you start digging around but this is a different level. I'd be far from happy but not sure there's much you can actually do. Would boycotting actually make any difference, doubt enough people would do it and if they were emulating Chelsea or Man City then there'd probably be more demand for tickets than tickets available.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund is investing heavily in sports and entertainment, clearly all a PR move. Problem is if you go down the road of boycotting where do you stop? They recently purchased $500m worth of Live Nation shares making them the third largest shareholder. Is everyone going to stop going to Reading / Leeds / Download or any of the O2 Academy venues?

If meaningful action is going to be taken it will need to come from governments, and not just ours, but I think we all know there's too much money involved for that to happen.

Paxman II · Jun 6, 2020

Oh my shall we talk China too? None of it is that simple is it? Investment comes from all manner of sources in all manner of guises. If a murderer was chairman you would have a point. I'm moraly opposed to it and China but pragmatic enough to understand opening up these countries to our world can in the long term encourage change for the better among such regimes. regulation is there for a reason, let that be strong.

A dilemma-what would you do? (2 Viewers)

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