09 Oct 2021 22:52:56
I don't think spending loads of money guarantees anything or we would have seen a title or two at Old Trafford in recent years .
However spending lots of money well will give a team every chance .
Arsenal spent quite a bit in the summer but the team looks a little underwhelming despite this and we ourselves have spent quite a few seasons with squads looking unbalanced going from too many cbs and no right side attacker to lots of attackers and a more limited midfield .
I don't see newcastle as an imminent danger they have to follow ffp like anyone else, however that danger will come in a few year .
I look forward to it, more competition, more meaningful games and fierce competition at the top so nobody can rest on their laurels .

1.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 00:05:43
Newcastle re a disgrace, their club is now owned by a country whose treatment of women is appalling and that’s just a snippet of what is wrong in SA. That football has sold its souls has not been on doubt for many years but other than North Korea buying a club, I’m not sure how low the EPL can stoop.

2.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 08:55:10
Yet our government trades arms with Saudi Arabia and harbours their criminals openly. Who’s the disgrace. No room in football for politics so let’s stick to kicking the ball about and hoping for some oleball entertainment.

3.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 09:11:35
Kettle black pot kettle pot black pot pot black black.

4.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 09:39:46
Good man ajh not like you to be judge and jury without knowing your facts. English people make me laugh a Country that still occupies other countries against their residents will. Still supporting countries with arms. Invading countries without proper cause. No wonder that England is the least supported country by neutrals in any sporting event.
Yes the Saudi government is awful but they are sorted aided and abeted by England.

5.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 10:02:19
I tried to keep politics out of my op. People can look for themselves at the companies pif have invested in and I'd hazard a guess use them and benefit from them and the british government has no issue dealing with Saudis including liscencing large arms sales .
I'm not defending it I'm just saying why should newcastle make the moral stand when there's not the outcry about the other things pif have invested in many of which most will use without a momments thought .

6.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 10:04:41
Choose your view, it’s up to you. Comparing to the UK to Saudi Arabia is laughable.

In the UK you are free to say what you want, wear what you want, worship who you want, pretty much do what you want, irrespective of gender, sexuality, race. It’s not perfect but laws are there to treat everyone equally. If we don’t like how our Government does things, we can elect a different one.

And yes, our colonial past is badge of shame and the fact we sell arms to dodgy regimes is appalling. That doesn’t mean we should just accept them buying a football club. Politicians will do what they do, much of it contemptable but that doesn’t make this ok.

Go and read the posts of the Newcastle Banter page, a couple of excellent posts from non Newcastle fans. We discussed this on here when there were rumours of them buying United and a few people, me included, said we would find another team to support if it happened.

Each to their own, if you think it’s ok then that’s up to you. I don’t.

7.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 10:14:04
Colonial past ajh? Your still live living it as a country.
You don't even have the courage of your own convictions and support their regime by buying their products but that's convenient to you so you turn a lindelof eye to all their immorality. Which imo makes you just as bad you are an enabler simple as that. But despite your own personal support for them you lecture others. You are an enabler and supporter of their regime when it suits you. Do you give Saudi women a 2nd thought while filling your car or boarding a plane to go on your jolly holiday?
Or are you say your a bad person but they are more bad? But it OK to be a little bad because it suits and is convenient to you.

8.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 10:15:55
Spot on slate. The double standards make me laugh.
Some peoples moral compass is all set by their own convenience.

9.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 11:38:10
The moral high ground in football doesn't exist. If we're playing the "worst owners" Olympics, none of the top teams come out clean. To become a multi billionaire you have done many questionable unethical things along the way.

We all know about the Saudi regime and their horrible past and (what we beleive to be) archaic principles and also their long list of abhorrent behaviour. But the Newcastle fans didn't choose them, they have no say in who owns them.

This is the problem when it comes to taking the moral high ground, unless you're willing to completely cut ties with something you have the issue with, your words are hollow. When you start pulling that thread, you better be aware of how much it's entangled in other facits of your life.

I don't think anyone thinks it's ok AJH. But if you think the other Billionaire owners got their wealth from protecting endangered species and helping the poor, your outrage is a few decades out of date. The morality high horse bolted a long time ago.

10.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 11:48:49
Loving everyone's opinion on the takeover at Newcastle. England, always with moral compass haha.

11.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 12:06:53
Hear hear AJH, well said. Ken, not sure i get your point. The petrol i put in my car and is in the planes i use is from Norway which is the UKs biggest supplier.

12.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 12:15:40
Should people not have passed judgement on South Africa during Apartheid, because of what their own governments had done over the years? If that had been the case, that obnoxious regime might still be in place now. Should I not have been allowed to judge that regime because Britain was one of the main instigators of slavery 3 or 4 hundred years ago? Ridiculous argument.

13.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 12:54:44
Good point MancMan. Roughly only 3% of our oil is imported from Saudi. Norway is about 65%.

14.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 13:22:24
The takeover at NUFC really is a new low for sport. The Saudi Arabia PIF owns 80% of the shares in Newcastle. Amanda Staveley can wrap this up in words anyway she wants but NUFC is now backed by a brutal fundamentalist regime.

15.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 14:12:00
To me it sounds a little sour grapes to me. Pretty sure you wouldn't be so upset had we been sold to them.

16.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 14:55:46
Angel, that's an interesting take. We'll ignore the fact that I'm pretty sure neither Tony or Stevie are "English".

What I find interesting is the way you generalise England's historical (and current) atrocities with individuals from that country.

I was born in Bristol, a key operator in the Atlantic slave trade. Of course it was abolished over 200 years ago. So as a Bristolian am I not allowed to detest slavery, should I as a person who is likely to have had a distant ancestor participate in it, just ignore the social norms of the world I grew up in and try and defend something that I am steadfastly against?

Likewise am I responsible for our current governments actions, even the ones I am against? Or the actions of other "British" billionaires for whom I have never had any contact or influence over?

Am I responsible for every crime or ill deed committed by another British person because we happen to have been born on the same patch of land dictated by political boarders?

It's ridiculous to assume every British person would support the slave trade, likewise to assume every German supported/ supports the person party, or every white American is racist.

As mentioned above every nation has committed atrocities at some point in their past. The people to blame for those actions are those who committed them. The judge, often generations later, the people of today by the actions of their ancestors is frankly ridiculous.

It's almost certain that every single one of us has an ancestor who has committed murder or worse. Should we all be made to serve custodial sentences for our ancestors crimes based on sharing some DNA?

You are quite right to point out that the English have committed terrible acts of cruelty, and committed heinous crimes. But only judge those who have committed those acts and not everyone else by the mere association of having been born on the same speck of mud, often hundreds of years apart.

17.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 15:05:34
RedWhiskey, in fairness those who feel disappointed by the Newcastle takeover said the same things when the Saudi's were linked to buying our club. So they at have a continuity of opinion. Whether they would have continued to feel so strongly if our club had actually been taken over by them at that time remains the impossible question to answer.

How would we really feel and react if the club we have loved out wholes lives fell into the hands of a despicable owner, who had committed terrible atrocities. I'd like to feel that I would walk away and not give them my hard earned money. But could I really walk away from the club I have loved my whole life? I don't know, fortunately I have yet to be put in that position to test my moral fortitude.

I think the whole thing could best be described as a great day for Newcastle fans who just want to see their team do well, but a terrible day for football as a whole as it signals another nail in the coffin of the sport we loved as kids.

18.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 15:21:48
Shappy I don't think anyone is saying you're guilty for the sins of your grandfather, but more the hypocrisy of condemning the premier league and football fans because a regime they have a problem with is now involved in football. When the fact remains that the UK have been in bed with the Saudis for a very long time. Only a couple of months ago they sold £1.4 billion in arms to them, bombs and missiles that will no doubt kill thousands of innocent people.

Where do you draw the line? It can sit uneasy with you, you can not Like it but your only recourse is to stop watching the premier league. If that is what your choice is then fair play, but you shouldn't be on here condemning the actions of everyone involved and then continuing supporting the organisation you have an issue with.

Football and politics should not mix for this very reason.

19.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 15:37:27
Certainly Mumbles there can be a level of hypocrisy, or at least a perceived hypocrisy.

Ultimately this is a football forum and we probably don't know the thoughts and actions of individuals on things like the UK arms deals etc.

I certainly don't support sending weapons to Saudi Arabia. But that has nothing to do with football so it's not an opinion I'd be likely to discuss on here.

Personally I think sport should stay away from politics. It should be a welcoming distraction from the toils of every day life. Bringing anything other than the team you support in as a dividing line is unhelpful and tends to lead to more trouble then it's worth.

I accept that while many football club owners are not beyond reproach, and have done their fair share of shady deals, the fact remains that they are not the leaders of a country, they might inflicted suffering on people to line their own pockets, but they do not do so merely to push some idealistic doctrine and enforce compliance.

Like I said I'd have been very disappointed if they bought our club. Yet I find myself both happy for the Geordie fans who I feel a certain amount of attachment to, as well as sad because it feels like another bridge has been crossed in removing the heart and soul from football.

20.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 15:45:12
They shouldn't mix, Mumbles, you're right. But sometimes they have to. One of the factors in forcing the disgusting Apartheid regime to change, was a worldwide sporting boycott. It helped show up that lot for the racists they were. In cases like that, sport, due to its popularity, has a huge role to play in politics.

21.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 16:16:48
Sorry Red, but if Saudi Arabia were funding United, I wouldn't be supporting them in anyway. The situation at Newcastle is making me question football in general. It's not sour grapes, I find it unacceptable. Oligarchs, billionaires, private equity firms, consortiums are all bad enough but this is shocking really.

22.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 16:51:20
Hi shappy, I wasn't speaking about or to either of them. It was in reference to the many different takes I have seen from English people.

How's it up there on that high horse of yours you wally.

23.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 17:38:52
I'll tell you one thing angel, the elevated position allows for a greater perspective.

24.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 21:42:23
Do people realise pif are invested in a popular social media company that millions use everyday or a children's entertainment company with theme parks, when your takeaway comes or you need a ride they are invested in that too and lots and lots of other things .
Seems unfair to use these things but then tell a geordie his club is a disgrace if he gets any benefit from cash from the same source as these things, whilst everyone else happily uses the things that they want to use with investment by the same fund .
If we shouldn't deal with Saudis then don't deal with them but let's not have a some things are okay and some not depending what it is and if and how we personally use them .
I sound like I defend the Saudis and I don't mean to inequality and human rights are a disgrace .
I don't think it's even a debate about some of Saudis ethics and beliefs but why should newcastle united draw a line in the sand about it when so many companies way bigger than them and countries including the UK don't.
It would seem a little unfair to me saying to geordies take the moral high ground and ditch your club while other football teams, bigger businesses and the government deal at will with them .

25.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 21:56:47
Are we running out of things to argue about?

26.) 10 Oct 2021
10 Oct 2021 22:03:43
I've got an idea, did Rooney ever fulfill his potential and was he world class.

{Ed014's Note - or is the failed Cardiff manager taking the club forward?

27.) 11 Oct 2021
11 Oct 2021 08:25:14
All the stuff above, yet most, if not all, of you will no doubt cheer your team, probably most for England, when they play the World Cup in Qatar.

28.) 11 Oct 2021
11 Oct 2021 15:16:02
Spot on slate151 great post. As I said most will turn a blind eye when it suits them.

29.) 11 Oct 2021
11 Oct 2021 18:41:45
Slate, it's nothing against the Geordies or drawing a line with their particular situation. I love the place, and the people are good working-class folk It's just a personal opinion on the Saudi regime. I don't agree with the UK govt, or any govt for that matter, selling arms to them either, even though I know it's all based around Realpolitik in that region. If there was a thread on selling arms to them, I'd be the first one on here criticising that too. As an individual, with no influence over govt policy, I don't see how it's wrong to call out a regime that acts outside civilised norms. Especially when it's obvious they're using things like buying football clubs to try and give their behaviour a veneer of respectability.

30.) 11 Oct 2021
11 Oct 2021 21:57:34
Nou the horse has bolted City have Saudi owners, read Richard Arnolds quotes on our own website in 2017 about our long standing partnerships in Saudi and it being an honour to help the kingdom being part of Saudi 2030 vision announced by Crown prince bin salman .
Are geordies really going to say we don't want your investment in the team, the surrounding areas, the academy and the training facilities and instead we will know our place and take our regular beatings off clubs owned by Saudis or snuggling up to them .