Rumours "not true"According to The Chronicle, they were contacted by one of their ‘usually reliable sources’ who said that one interested group had reached written agreement about buying the club and ‘other sources’ close to Sheard’s American bidders said that the deal is close to crossing the finishing line.
Both Derek Llambias and Seymour Pierce deny these rumours though, simply stating that they’re “not true”. Jonathon Brill – Ashley’s excellent PR man – just said that “talks are ongoing”.
Whilst I know the press do manage to bribe secure reliable sources sometimes, they don’t appear to have done so when it comes to anything to do with the Toon takeover situation.
The whole thing has be plagued by one unreliable rumour after another and it hasn’t been helped by the blatant publicity-seeking exhibited by some consortia under the guise of supposed bids.
My guess is that Sheard’s bid is a non-starter, just like those of The Profitable Group, Graham Roberts and Freddy Shepherd. In fact I think Moat’s bid is the only one that’s likely to be (or have been) a serious contender. (more…)
Is it really a year?It was about a year ago today, just after the 2008 summer transfer window closed, when Newcastle United went into the free-fall it has yet to recover from.
To be fair, the club wasn’t exactly setting the world alight before that and, arguably, the last period of stability ended when Sir Bobby Robson was given the sack. Freddie Shepherd had been spending the club into debt and had installed the revolving door for managers with both Roeder and Souness serving for less than a season before Shepherd settled on Sam Allardyce.
Then along came Ashley. Initially he was partnered by Chris Mort, who had helped Ashley with the takeover, and in January 2008 the pair sacked Allardyce, sensationally appointing Kevin Keegan as manager. A lot of people felt Mort was a good communicator who built important relationships with the fans, keeping them informed of the goings-on at St James’s Park and setting up things like the Newcastle United Foundation to bring the club into the community. Mort left in June 2008 and was replaced by Derek Llambias and thus began the regime of ‘Dastardly and Muttley’ at Newcastle United and it has been like Wacky Races ever since. (more…)
Hughton making the most of itWe waited with bated breath, following weeks of anticipation, even though the outcome was almost inevitable. Despite rumours of several incoming loans and transfers, today’s 5pm transfer deadline passed with only one addition to the squad and undoubtedly the biggest positive most fans took from today was that it appears that we managed to keep hold of everyone currently signed on.
Peter Lovenkrands proved to be the only body we managed to get on board before the summer transfer window slammed shut. Opinions of Lovenkrands are fairly high, ranging from those who think he’s canny squad player to others who think he will set The Championship alight. I’m at neither end of the spectrum but I suspect he will get more joy at this level than he did in The Premiership.
The problem is, that he represents what’s wrong with this football club, like they’re making it up as they go along. It seems both we and Lovenkrands flirted with the idea of a longer contract but could never agree and yet we had to go back, cap in hand because the situation was so dire that we had few other options. He’s a good option, no doubt, but it’s frightening that’s he so far the sum total of all our transfers-in activity. And how much has Hughton been kept in the loop as his public statements have cried out to the board to signal the arrival of new recruits while at least his pleas to stave off the sale of anymore of the current squad presumably were honoured. Who knows what ideas Hughton had and how many of the names mentioned in the public domain were on his wishlist? (more…)
Third coming or nonsense?The Sun is reporting (also on Sky) that some gadgie called Sirous Mahjoob might take over Newcastle United and install Kevin Keegan as manager. Again.
In the ‘news’ as scribed by The Sun, Llambias said:
“We are dealing with several people and giving most of our time and attention to the sale.
“You must remember that some parties make offers but when it comes to putting up proof of funds they are a long way from sealing a deal.
“But I can say we are very close to completing a deal and it could happen next week.”
Which is good news I suppose. Llambias then goes on to say why it’s foolhardy to employ a permanent manager at the moment:
“It’s Catch 22 – anyone who signs a deal will want their own choice of manager.
“Look what happened when Mike took over, Sam Allardyce was already in place and he didn’t want him.”
Then there’s a report from someone said to be a spokesman for Sirous Mahjoob: (more…)
Llambias: 'More than two bids at £100m'Derek Llambias has informed local rag, the Evening Chronicle that “more than two bids at £100m” have been received for Newcastle United, and insisted that the price for the club was never going to be less. He added:
“At the moment we are in the hands of lawyers and it is all ongoing.
“We are giving interested parties all the help that they need.”
Of course, Llambias did not reveal the identity of the bidders, as this would almost certainly breach the protocol of the sale process.
The Chronic also reported that Llambias has once again pooh-poohed the credentials of highly questionable Singaporean land bankers, “The Profitable Group” as serious bidders for the club. However they report that “The talk in the capital today was that the group, who have former England man Steve McMahon on board, had put in a bid on Friday”. (more…)
