The Premier League - 2021-2022

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by The Voice of Reason, Apr 26, 2021.

  1. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    This does raise a fair point, which is that they basically just found themselves in the position of Spurs immediately after having just sold Kane (had they done so) in perpetuity - City had it first and had to work quite hard, refusing to splash out the top, top fees for several years (laughs in £50m spaffed on four individual full backs each), to get anyone to quote them a semi-realistic fee.

    That won't make it as easy a job as it could be to attract the players they will be envisaging, particularly when taken hand-in-hand with the current FFP restraints and the relative lack of desirability of the north-east as a destination for players and their families to move to.
     
  2. Jumbolina

    Jumbolina First Team

    Well he’s not getting it at Spurs so might as well triple his bubble at Newcastle?
     
  3. Jumbolina

    Jumbolina First Team

    Game changer for City was the year they signed Aguero/Toure/Silva in one swoop.
     
  4. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Back when Aguero's fee still seemed like an enormous amount. Halcyon days.
     
  5. V Crabro

    V Crabro Reservist

    Wouldn't it be magnificent if the 1881 could arrange for a massive image of Jamal Khashoggi to float across the Rookery just before kick-off of our next home game with NUFC.
     
    Happy bunny likes this.
  6. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    T'woud be glorious, yes.
     
  7. BigRossLittleRoss

    BigRossLittleRoss First Team

    I wonder what somebody has to do to actually fail the right and proper owners test.
     
  8. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Has anyone actually failed it ?!
     
  9. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    ‘Fit and Proper’ you’re not allowed to have a criminal record apparently, or have committed a crime that would constitute a crime in the U.K….. hmmmm.
     
  10. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Yes just as well these investors are not connected in any shape or form with the Saudi state.
     
  11. V Crabro

    V Crabro Reservist

    If all of the 19 other PL clubs have concerns about the Saudi takeover of NUFC, how was it able to take place? I thought that there was a requirement for 14 clubs to approve?

    Or do the clubs permit PL management to take certain executive actions, without the need for further approval?
     
  12. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    I believe that was something they wanted to introduce with the ESL (the potential for clubs to veto potential new owners) but as it stands I don’t think the clubs themselves vote or have a say on it. They just have to pass the ‘fit and proper test’ which is really just about having the cash rather than any sort or morality test.
     
  13. Forzainglese

    Forzainglese Reservist

    Not have money.
     
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  14. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Clubs don’t vote on takeovers as far as I’m aware.
     
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  15. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    Correct. I think they agreed to continue allowing the EPL board to have full control over the 'fit and proper test' process at the most recent general meeting.
     
  16. westbridgfordhornet

    westbridgfordhornet First Year Pro

    19 Premier League clubs: "This is an absolute disgrace. How come this NUFC takeover suddenly passes the 'fit and proper test' criteria when it clearly didn't a few months back and all that has happened is a bit of window dressing to pretend that Mohammed bin Salman is now at arms length on this deal in terms of both control and finance? Are we going to just forget about the Premier League's stated stance on issues involving human rights and club ownership suddenly?"

    Premier League Board: "We've looked very hard at this deal and discussed our concerns with the various key players involved in the consortium...and...and..

    [​IMG]

    ...and...ooohhh look, a cat wearing an ill-fitting wig. Well I'll be, that's incredible. Sorry what was your question again...?"
     
  17. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Fun fact, I’ve spoken to Amanda Staveley on the phone before in an old job. Her address was Park Lane, I remember looking her house up and it was worth £40m.
     
  18. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    Oh please, yes!!!!
     
  19. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    Norway's sovereign wealth fund is worth half as much again as the Saudis'. They squirrelled away their North Sea oil revenues, just like we didn't. Maybe Gino could get Zinc to have a word ....
     
  20. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    More about the top teams not wanting a new competitor and the rest of us not wanting to lose a relegation candidate, I would guess. But if there is a smudgeon of concern about human rights and the iffiness of the approval process, I should be a bit pleased.
     
  21. Johnny Todd Sings

    Johnny Todd Sings First Year Pro

    Sport is used by unpleasant regimes to gain respectability or prove something at home. Someone on here has already mentioned bread and circuses. By the same token sport can be used against those regimes. If football fans, or the clubs, in the EPL really care about the ownership of Newcastle they can make it very clear in televised games, which will be watched in Saudi. This tactic worked in the 80s against South Africa when massive demonstrations in New Zealand against the touring South African rugby team gave a massive boost to the anti racist groups in South Africa.

    I can't see this happening, though. Other people who are deeply connected with questionable regimes seem to be accepted as club owners.
     
    Heidar likes this.
  22. Heidar

    Heidar Squad Player

    You never know. Sky sports refused to call it the Sports Direct Arena and it was swiftly reverted back to St James' Park. Although I'd imagine that there is far more censorship involved where Saudi is concerned.
     
  23. scummybear

    scummybear Reservist

    But the point is they're not mistakes in the past, they still own the clubs. If you retrospectively banned those owners too then it'd be equal, but to choose to start now and leave those in control of their clubs is not.
     
  24. NemoNemo

    NemoNemo Reservist

    I've just looked into the financial strength of the other owners of the PL teams and I really didn't realise how out of our depth we really are in comparison. Norwich are bottom with Gino apparently having 4 times the wealth but there are only a couple of teams (us included) where owners wealth is not counted in billions...
     
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  25. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Indeed - that's why for their model to work at all, as @hornetboy1 has recently banged the drum of in a post, they cannot hope to compete financially ever, so they need to earn their advantage in a different realm - decision-making. They need about 90% of their major decisions to be correct and successful, and moves to work out - essentially, they need to be strategically excellent.

    It's what makes the last few years, with their refusal to invest in areas that overwhelmingly clearly require it, even as late as this summer; allowing themselves to be in thrall to certain players who shouldn't have been on the pitch but always were; or hiring/keeping amateur coaches so clearly out of their depth it's hard to believe, among other things, utterly baffling.
     
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  26. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    It’s worth looking at the Championship too, Gino wouldn’t be anywhere near the richest owner in that league either.

    Edit: having just checked he’d be bottom, there are owners in League 2 with more net worth.
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2021
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  27. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

  28. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Well I'd go for Villa as our performance of the season so far, Norwich was decent although they were so far off Prem level, it's hard to really judge it as our best performance. As for his words on the 'Watford Way', well, it's telling that he didn't say anything about our current style of play...
     
  29. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Oh, it's Matt Rowson from bhappy - certainly agree with his choice of 'funniest moment so far' - very good work for getting that in there...

    I'm not too sure what there is to agree or disagree with, to be honest - it's very largely uncontroversial. I'd probably disagree that our best performance was at Norwich, because they are abysmal and we're cosmically incapable of losing to them, but even in taking that into account the game could very much have swung either way and we were drawing with 2/3rds of the match gone - we did what we needed to do after that, based on having higher quality players on the pitch.

    But, with that being said, the other option would be Villa, and whilst it was to my mind undoubtedly a better performance, it is tempered by the way it almost fell apart in the same period the Norwich match was secured, and learning subsequently that Villa were light on preparation and somewhat debilitated by a COVID outbreak.
     
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  30. scummybear

    scummybear Reservist

    I was thinking about this the other day, because our owners are relatively 'poor' but we've been fairly successful in recent years, does this mean that we're an attractive prospect for future investment from overseas? Buying out around 3/4 of the current premier league clubs would be well into the £100M's, whereas I'd imagine we'd be well below that. The main limiting factor being the ground... Which obviously Gino has looked into moving.
     
  31. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    But then it would be very easy for us to become a run of the mill Championship club and then there's little chance of anyone making any money out of us (unless they're an absolute shyster lol)
     
  32. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    I think his point is that a small club like us costs a tiny fraction of what it would cost to buy a more established Premier League club, which could serve to entice an investor who doesn't want to pay the premium for a side with a more established top tier price tag.

    I do think the club could potentially be a lot bigger than it is with the right investment, but that would start with a new stadium. There's no way we can ever progress significantly if we stay at the Vic.

    Having said that, I really don't want what Newcastle and Man City have. If the Saudi PIF had taken us over I'd probably stop supporting the club. I'm amazed so many Newcastle fans are on board, well over 90% according to their fan groups. That really depresses me.
     
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  33. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    It would cost a fraction of the money to buy us but they would also see the wealth of the owners they were up against and therefore how difficult it would be to retain prem status. We would be cheaper to buy but worth a fraction of that value when inevitably back in the champ. Unless of course they were also well oiled billionaires….but then they would also be less worried about the purchase price…..
     
  34. toffeeblue9

    toffeeblue9 First Year Pro

    That hurt
     
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  35. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Newcastle fans do not care where the money is coming from. It could be Nazi gold for all they care, as long as they can buy expensive players, that’s all that matters to them.

    The thing that I hate is they all pretend is not about that, and it’s all about getting rid of Ashley. They are a despicable bunch, writing banners saying they hope Bruce dies of Covid and all that type of stuff. That’s the real Geordie fan for you.
     

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