Various: N-O has lost the plot over potential end of Mike Ashley's tenure

I'm not any more but what will be etc.

I’m still 100% confident but I barely check up on it now. If they are still talking with the PL it won’t be announced anytime soon

I'm maybe not still completely 100% confident but only dropped by 1-2%.

More like Yorkie, I'm just weary of it all.  Tried listening to that Athletic podcast with Caulkin on it and only got 5 mins in then brain switched off to it.  Can't even be arsed with project restart.

Hoping that when it is confirmed it will give me that shot of adrenaline but right now... just 'meh!'.

The prospect of more games of Bruceball under Ashley isn’t helping

My confidence and thoughts are up and down but trying my best not to let it out on here or get to me. I’m less invested in it now. At the start it was every minute checking (timed perfectly with furlough) now it’s about every 30 or so 

Also at the start it was all about having something to celebrate, so I was getting quite a bit of drink in, then going through it and having to buy more. Now I’m limiting myself on that and when it does come it’ll be a relief rather than a real celebration.

I’m pessimistic by nature so even though I’m certain it’ll go through I’m also prepared for it not to. Overall I’m at 80-90%, down quite a bit as the weeks tick on.

I'm at the point now that the last 3-4 weeks have been so shit that my outlook is as negative as it ever has been. I really couldn't care less if this happens or not.

I'm sure that'll change when I work out how to be more positive again, but the only interest I've even got in football these days is this place.

I've been confident throughout. I feel even if this is rejected by the PL first time around they'll still find a compromise.

I actually think the dick swinging by Qatar will have made them even more determined.

Confidence has certainly taken a hit but still think it’s more likely to happen than not.

I don’t think the WTO thing has anything to do with it.

They already have a version of it, plus I don’t think it would hold much weight when the French court dismissed the case. President has already been set and at a greater level.

I also don’t think it will impact PIF, a direct link between the Saudi government and PIF would be tedious at best, and then to link PIF with the piracy, even more so.

Additionally as this is supposed to be a confidential process, I’m sure there would be some sort of recourse for the Premier League if they blocked it due to knowledge of the takeover getting out and people coming in to object. There are reasons why it is supposed to be a confidential process, and I believe this is one of them.

A lot of what you read in the papers is easy for the journalists to write, and in a time when theirs been little to write about. I think there is a reason why so many of these journalists follow up their articles by saying it’s unlikely to prevent the sale, or contradicting their own arguments, they are covering their backs because they know what they are writing is not worth the paper or indeed bandwidth it uses.

I think it’s worthy to point out that there is agenda’s. Ok so there may not be a mass conspiracy against Newcastle, and the likes of Delaney may have spoken out about Man City. However this isn’t a conspiracy against Newcastle from him, this is pro-Qatar stuff that he writes. Man City will be spoken about by him, but let’s see what he says when the Qatar’s come in and buy Leeds. Let’s see if he speaks out and where his opinion is there.

Myself. I am frustrated that it’s taken so long, I have spent 3 months in my house with nothing to keep me going aside from the takeover. I do think the Premier League have taken the piss, but that’s the football authorities for you. They are so out of touch with reality that it’s unbelievable. They are a law unto themselves, and until the real law comes around and says that the are preventing a free economy etc, then they will continue to do this.

I’m not any less confident in the takeover, more frustrated sure, and excitement will likely be replaced by relief when it happens, but I’m still sure it will happen.

Come to think of it I actually had a dream last night that this all got confirmed and Staveley was on the pitch with Shelvey. It was a peculiar amalgam of the news being confirmed, but revealed in the form of an on-pitch trophy presentation with an empty stadium. Shelvey had this shite chrome and plastic trophy and was quite emotional, meanwhile Staveley was stood rigidly on her own on this little platform, looking absolutely robotic - dead eyes looking straight forward. I remember thinking, oh God, we've all been duped, she's a Terminator or something. It was quite anxiety-inducing.

So yes I'd reiterate that I'm feeling quite weary about the whole thing.

It'll happen out of the blue. We'll have days or weeks of nothing. No news or no updates and then POOF! deal announced.

Then we'll hit our second wave, go back into a more strict lockdown and have to wait even longer for football to restart and to peddle Bruce.

If it hasn't been completed by the time we return to play, then I won't be confident in it happening at all

If it hasn't been completed by the time we return to play, then I won't be confident in it happening at all

I'm sorry Stifler, but there's some comments I'd lke to make here:

I don’t think the WTO thing has anything to do with it.

They already have a version of it,

Yes, they have the draft report, and it's a decent assumption that it won't be substantially different from the final report unless it's a preliminary report as opposed to a draft one.

plus I don’t think it would hold much weight when the French court dismissed the case. President has already been set and at a greater level.

1) The investigation was commissioned after the court case, because Qatar were unhappy with the ruling.

2) Different jurisdiction, different rules of evidence, different standards of culpability

3) A precedent in a foreign case doesn't have to have any bearing at all on the O & D test

I also don’t think it will impact PIF, a direct link between the Saudi government and PIF would be tedious at best, and then to link PIF with the piracy, even more so.

This is the whole issue, and I don't know how you can so glibly dismiss concerns when the King's son is neck deep in PIF and Saudi Arabia's campaign against Qatar. The link is there. The opportunity to reject it is there in the rules.

I don't think they will, but that's because I'm deeply cynical as opposed to optimistic...

I'm sorry Stifler, but there's some comments I'd lke to make here:

 

I don’t think the WTO thing has anything to do with it.

They already have a version of it,

 

Yes, they have the draft report, and it's a decent assumption that it won't be substantially different from the final report unless it's a preliminary report as opposed to a draft one.

plus I don’t think it would hold much weight when the French court dismissed the case. President has already been set and at a greater level.

 

1) The investigation was commissioned after the court case, because Qatar were unhappy with the ruling.

2) Different jurisdiction, different rules of evidence, different standards of culpability

3) A precedent in a foreign case doesn't have to have any bearing at all on the O & D test

 

I also don’t think it will impact PIF, a direct link between the Saudi government and PIF would be tedious at best, and then to link PIF with the piracy, even more so.

 

This is the whole issue, and I don't know how you can so glibly dismiss concerns when the King's son is neck deep in PIF and Saudi Arabia's campaign against Qatar. The link is there. The opportunity to reject it is there in the rules.

 

I don't think they will, but that's because I'm deeply cynical as opposed to optimistic...

was it not also partly instigated as premier league etc haven't been able to get a law firm in SA to take on the case there?

I don’t think the WTO thing has anything to do with it.

They already have a version of it, plus I don’t think it would hold much weight when the French court dismissed the case. President has already been set and at a greater level.

I also don’t think it will impact PIF, a direct link between the Saudi government and PIF would be tedious at best, and then to link PIF with the piracy, even more so.

Additionally as this is supposed to be a confidential process, I’m sure there would be some sort of recourse for the Premier League if they blocked it due to knowledge of the takeover getting out and people coming in to object. There are reasons why it is supposed to be a confidential process, and I believe this is one of them.

 

A lot of what you read in the papers is easy for the journalists to write, and in a time when theirs been little to write about. I think there is a reason why so many of these journalists follow up their articles by saying it’s unlikely to prevent the sale, or contradicting their own arguments, they are covering their backs because they know what they are writing is not worth the paper or indeed bandwidth it uses.

I think it’s worthy to point out that there is agenda’s. Ok so there may not be a mass conspiracy against Newcastle, and the likes of Delaney may have spoken out about Man City. However this isn’t a conspiracy against Newcastle from him, this is pro-Qatar stuff that he writes. Man City will be spoken about by him, but let’s see what he says when the Qatar’s come in and buy Leeds. Let’s see if he speaks out and where his opinion is there.

 

Myself. I am frustrated that it’s taken so long, I have spent 3 months in my house with nothing to keep me going aside from the takeover. I do think the Premier League have taken the piss, but that’s the football authorities for you. They are so out of touch with reality that it’s unbelievable. They are a law unto themselves, and until the real law comes around and says that the are preventing a free economy etc, then they will continue to do this.

 

I’m not any less confident in the takeover, more frustrated sure, and excitement will likely be replaced by relief when it happens, but I’m still sure it will happen.

It's 'precedent' Stiffy, and it seems pretty likely that the WTO report has had some influence on the delay in the FA's decision. 

I don’t think the WTO thing has anything to do with it.

They already have a version of it, plus I don’t think it would hold much weight when the French court dismissed the case. President has already been set and at a greater level.

This simply isn't true though. The French court case ruled that Arabsat was indeed carrying the signal, and they're headquartered in Riyadh. The bit you're citing is that they said that because Arabsat doesn't really have much impact in France, they couldn't award damages because in France there wasn't "clear and illegal disruption" to French revenues and broadcasts.

It's not like Arabsat were found innocent, quite the reverse. They just couldn't be sued in Saudi because they were blocked from doing so by the Saudi government, so they tried to sue in France. And although the French court was happy that Arabsat were carrying a pirate signal, the reach of the satellite signal wasn't strong enough for it to impact French revenues.

People need to stop painting this like the French court looked into Arabsat and found it was absolutely fine.

the pl should be distancing totally from any sa quatar rivalry, it has no bearing at all on there directors  tests , its time they grew a pair and rubber stamped this thing

I don’t think the WTO thing has anything to do with it.

They already have a version of it, plus I don’t think it would hold much weight when the French court dismissed the case. President has already been set and at a greater level.

 

This simply isn't true though. The French court case ruled that Arabsat was indeed carrying the signal, and they're headquartered in Riyadh. The bit you're citing is that they said that because Arabsat doesn't really have much impact in France, they couldn't award damages because in France there wasn't "clear and illegal disruption" to French revenues and broadcasts.

 

It's not like Arabsat were found innocent, quite the reverse. They just couldn't be sued in Saudi because they were blocked from doing so by the Saudi government, so they tried to sue in France. And although the French court was happy that Arabsat were carrying a pirate signal, the reach of the satellite signal wasn't strong enough for it to impact French revenues.

 

People need to stop painting this like the French court looked into Arabsat and found it was absolutely fine.

Indeed, and hopefully that helps.

It's main shareholder is Saudi Arabia though, it's headquartered in Riyadh, and Qatar only have a 9.8% stake. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait together have a 51% shareholding which seems significant, in that if they vote together they can do what they want. These things are not normally accidental.

But this isn't about Arabsat as such, it's about BeoutQ. The French court ruled that yes, that was being transmitted through Arabsat. The big question is who is behind BeoutQ?

I don’t think the WTO thing has anything to do with it.

They already have a version of it, plus I don’t think it would hold much weight when the French court dismissed the case. President has already been set and at a greater level.

 

This simply isn't true though. The French court case ruled that Arabsat was indeed carrying the signal, and they're headquartered in Riyadh. The bit you're citing is that they said that because Arabsat doesn't really have much impact in France, they couldn't award damages because in France there wasn't "clear and illegal disruption" to French revenues and broadcasts.

 

It's not like Arabsat were found innocent, quite the reverse. They just couldn't be sued in Saudi because they were blocked from doing so by the Saudi government, so they tried to sue in France. And although the French court was happy that Arabsat were carrying a pirate signal, the reach of the satellite signal wasn't strong enough for it to impact French revenues.

 

People need to stop painting this like the French court looked into Arabsat and found it was absolutely fine.

Arabsat is owned by many Middle Eastern countries, Qatar included.

This is what it all boils down to who was responsible for the piracy (it has been closed as we know) and most importantly as far as the takeover is concerned, does PIF have direct links to this piracy broadcast. Does the WTO report have evidence they do?, well, we will soon find out.

The Paris court case is not really relevant. For start, it's against ArabSat and the charges are very specific and technical - broadcasting of pirated content through satellite signal. It also seems like a half-arsed attempt to bring the Qatari battle in European courts, due to BeIN's presence in France. The reported compensation and legal fees indicate that this was settled in a couple of hearings - so it was not some mega corporate lawsuit.

I've read several reports on beoutQ now and while there's no hard evidence so far, there's little doubt that the service was supported by Saudi government for a while. The set-top box was apparently being sold in the shops of the state mobile operators and advertised on Saudi national channels, the "ads" on the main beoutQ channels were basically state propaganda, excerpts of MBS interviews, anti-Qatar/Iran rhetoric and such..

However one of the latest published reports from The Office of the United States Trade Representative (they do a bi-annual report focused on intellectual property issues) claims that the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property has raided stores and offices selling illicit streaming devices and conducted IP awareness campaigns to combat online piracy. So at least MBS is trying to cover shit up. Hopefully that's enough.

Indeed, and hopefully that helps.

 

It's main shareholder is Saudi Arabia though, it's headquartered in Riyadh, and Qatar only have a 9.8% stake. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait together have a 51% shareholding which seems significant, in that if they vote together they can do what they want. These things are not normally accidental.

 

But this isn't about Arabsat as such, it's about BeoutQ. The French court ruled that yes, that was being transmitted through Arabsat. The big question is who is behind BeoutQ?

On the contrary - The French court dismissed all of beIN’s claims against Arabsat:

“the tests carried out at ARABSAT’s request by Atos and Enensys contradict the results of NAGRAVISION’s tests produced by the claimants and show that the beoutQ’s programs at issue cannot be broadcasted in France over the ARABSAT frequencies referred to in NAGRAVISION’s tests (...)”.

I’m curious about the hypothetical impact of a protest outside of SJP about the delay and wider season ticket issues. I think it would put significant external pressure on the PL if there was the threat of fan congregation (even social distant) on a certain date of no decision was made.