Newcastle takeover collapses and the fans are now demanding why

Yet another Newcastle takeover has collapsed, but this one feels different. Usually when a takeover doesn’t work out the Magpies fans moan about it on forums, grunt and move on.

Knowing that they are stuck with current owner Mike Ashley yet again (as is widely known Newcastle fans have very little love for Ashley throughout the years). But after the latest takeover bid ended and the Saudi consortium pulled out fans have gone that one step further. They organised a petition and have now got an impressive 75,000 signatures wanting to know the ins and outs as to why their club wasn’t sold this summer.

The Newcastle trust of fans have sent pleas to the FA about why such a deal that looked like it was going through for the past 17 weeks has collapsed. They have even sent a letter to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

It’s refreshing to see fans want some clarification. One wonders what has happened behind the scenes. The Saudi takeover was always going to be open to investigation by the FA. This is a normal process to see if the new owners are proper and fit and not investing money illegally. No one but the FA at this stage know why the deal has collapsed, so the petition is a step in the right direction. What is also interesting is that Newcastle’s former player and a much respected one from the 1990s Rob Lee has also got involved adding his weight to proceedings.

Current owner Mike Ashley has faced years of verbal abuse over his running of the club, from the managers that he has brought in, not spending enough money for the size of the club and even at one point changing the name of the infamous ground from St.James’ Park to the Sports Direct Arena. Sports Direct is his company outside of football.The name change at least didn’t last.

It has been reported that Ashley who has usually been very stubborn about selling the club really wants out this time. He has even been in touch with the consortium since the collapse and is hopeful that a deal could be revived. This would make sense given that the club are up for sale for around £300m.

One person who may have been quietly happy about a non sale is current manager Steve Bruce. Bruce has done well in his debut season in the dug out, and the fear for him would be new owners, new manager, especially as the owners were going to bring a lot of money to the table.

This story clearly isn’t over. But with just over a month until the new Premier League season starts fans and Ashley will want a conclusion.

Challenge the best EPL Fantasy Managers at www.fantasy-premier.com

UEFA need to show zero tolerance to racism after Bulgaria-England game

It was suspected that it would happen before the game and then it did. England played Bulgaria away from home and the nations black players had been warned that racist chanting could happen during the game. But this time there was a plan of action at hand.

Sure enough the racist chants bellowed out throughout the stadium in under 30 minutes and it was heartening to see something different happen- the game stopped, the referee abide, talked to England manager Gareth Southgate and also a group of racist fans were led out of the stadium. Finally some action whilst the game was going on had occurred. Black players who have had to endure vile chants usually monkey gestures were taking that fight back.

One had to feel sorry for Tyrone Mings, who had earned his place finally in the England team. This was his debut for the national side and it should have been a memorable and proud one. Sure England won 6-0 and Mings played his part but it all got overshadowed by the racists.

After the game UEFA charged both sets of fans- England for chanting during the Bulgarian national anthem and Bulgarian fans even if in the minority and their racist and also Nazi salutes. But what will be the outcome?

Simply put UEFA have been pretty useless at dealing with racism. Getting the worlds best players to partake in anti racist messages does not work, banners do not work, adverts do not work, fines do not work, banning certain fans does not work. having sections of the ground closed off does not work and even playing behind closed doors does not work. So what is the solution.

Maybe simply there is none. Racism has been with us for centuries why would it go away in 2019? It won’t and to think it will is living in dreamland. But Bulgaria need to be punished as does any other nation and football club by that matter. The punishment needs to be to stop that supply- that means to actually stop the football club or nation operating. In effect suspending a business.

Bulgaria should be thrown out of the Euro 2020 qualifying and then banned from partaking in the qualifiers for the next World Cup. With every other friendly game played outside the country. It might seem harsh but a message needs to be sent.

As for clubs, stop the fines and start docking points. As much as 10 points, punish those clubs if they are on the verge of European football and those 10 points drop them out of contention or could be the difference between being relegated or not.

No matter what colour you are or religion, you have the right not to be harassed on a football field and in the wider spectrum society. We will never get rid of racism, but we need to reduce it, and the only way of doing that is by having a zero tolerance attitude.

Tottenham’s new stadium delay could prove a blessing

newspursstadium2Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has reportedly taken up the FA’s option for Spurs to remain at Wembley Stadium until 2019, delaying the opening of their new White Hart Lane ground amid “construction concerns”. The news will come as a blow to the club who were hoping to play the first game at their new stadium against Liverpool in a shade over a month’s time, and for the time being only the next two matches – and an NFL game scheduled for the venue in October. The home games against the Reds and Cardiff have been relocated to the national team’s stadium, though some reports indicate that Spurs paid a “significant amount of money” for the option to remain at the ground “for a small number of Premier League and Champions League group games”.

Continue reading