Newcastle in takeover talks

[Asbjørn]

Siste nytt

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/08/22/sfnnew22.xml

[Tommy Sten]

Nevertheless, Belgravia insist they have assets of £1billion and are serious about making a bid for control of St James' Park, to turn the club into one of the most powerful forces in European football.

Tja...vet ikke helt jeg

[Jarle]

Til tross for misledende overskfrifter i engelsk media i dag, går det mot et salg av Newcastle United PLC. Når kilder innad i Belgravia uttaler at de føler seg sikre på et kjøp - og det etter å ha fått avslag i første omgang - sier det seg selv at det foregår ting i kulissene her.

Hvis vi ser bort i fra eventuelle konsekvenser, er jeg akkurat nå veldig for et salg. Ganske enkelt fordi vi da omsider blir kvitt kreftbyllklovnen Freddie Shepherd. Den mannen rir klubben som en mare, og til tross for at jeg tipper mannen sliter med høyt blodtrykk og kolesterol virker det som at et salg er eneste måte å bli kvitt ham på.

Så får vi heller sørge den dagen Belgravia eventuelt gjør lumske ting ut av kjøpet. Akkurat nå er ihvertfall Newcastle ingensteds på vei. Jeg savner å være supporter av en klubb med en langsiktig plan og som lar uttalte ambisjoner vise igjen i spillerkjøp, ansettelse av manager og spill på banen. Per i dag er Newcastle kun en kvasiklubb, og det er jeg drit lei av.

[Asbjørn]

Til tross for misledende overskfrifter i engelsk media i dag, går det mot et salg av Newcastle United PLC. Når kilder innad i Belgravia uttaler at de føler seg sikre på et kjøp - og det etter å ha fått avslag i første omgang - sier det seg selv at det foregår ting i kulissene her.

Hvis vi ser bort i fra eventuelle konsekvenser, er jeg akkurat nå veldig for et salg. Ganske enkelt fordi vi da omsider blir kvitt kreftbyllklovnen Freddie Shepherd. Den mannen rir klubben som en mare, og til tross for at jeg tipper mannen sliter med høyt blodtrykk og kolesterol virker det som at et salg er eneste måte å bli kvitt ham på.

Så får vi heller sørge den dagen Belgravia eventuelt gjør lumske ting ut av kjøpet. Akkurat nå er ihvertfall Newcastle ingensteds på vei. Jeg savner å være supporter av en klubb med en langsiktig plan og som lar uttalte ambisjoner vise igjen i spillerkjøp, ansettelse av manager og spill på banen. Per i dag er Newcastle kun en kvasiklubb, og det er jeg drit lei av.

Trodde aldri jeg skulle ønske et salg, men nå heller også jeg i mot det. Så lei som jeg er pr dags dato har jeg aldri vært som Newcastle supporter. Vurderte sterkt å heller dra på Sparta - Hødd i dag framfor å se at Newcastle blir slaktet på Old Trafford, men av en eller annen merkelig grunn blir jeg hjemme for å se Newcastle.

[Asbjørn]

Siste nytt:

Local heroes?

While the Belgravia Group's interest in acquiring a shareholding in the club remains, speculation around Toon at present is that a second interested party has entered the running.  

This time it's being touted around that a consortium involving some high-profile figures with North East connections is looking to get involved in a partial or full buyout at SJP.

Whether this is fact or fiction remains to be seen - watch this space.  

http://www.nufc.com/

[Kristoffer]

http://www.itv-football.co.uk/Story/0,14272,6107_1626155,00.html

Fansen er fornuftig og skriker om at Fat Fred må ut!
JAtakk til takeover!

[Ã…smund]

En tysker som liker veldig godt fat fred
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=freddy+shepherd&search=Search

[Tønsberg]

En tysker som liker veldig godt fat fred
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=freddy+shepherd&search=Search

hehe.Sett den før,men da den orginale.Sier ikke det som blir skrevet her.

[Ã…smund]

Har sett den før jeg og. Og kan så mye tysk at jeg forstår at det bare er kødd ja. Men syns det ble ganske bra. De fleste engelskmenn forstår nok ikke hva han sier og syns nok dette er gode greier.

[Asbjørn]

Siste nytt fra i går kveld. The  Journal

The Belgravia Group are planning to step up their Newcastle United takeover bid as Glenn Roeder's team continues to struggle in the Premiership.

United's 1-0 defeat at local rivals Middlesbrough on Sunday brought the first chants for the removal of chairman Freddie Shepherd in 18 months and reports of the mounting discontent had made their way to the Belgravia Group's Jersey headquarters yesterday.

The secretive investment group remain tight-lipped about the progress of their talks but, although Shepherd is reluctant to sell his 29% stake, the group have confirmed they will continue to discuss a takeover with all shareholders - not just Shepherd - and are confident a compromise can be reached. It is thought that the key to their plan are the shares owned by Sir John Hall and his family, which total 40.8%.

The Halls are rumoured to be keen to cash in on their stake and have, since 1998, already sold 21.35% of their shares for a total of £20.35m. Shepherd, who does not want to sell, has, in contrast, been gradually building up his own stake in the club from 7% to 29% through his company Shepherd Offshore since the club first floated on the stock market in 1997.

"We are talking with all Newcastle shareholders about a possible bid and we are still hopeful that we can come to a deal which benefits all parties," said a Belgravia spokesman last night. "Unfortunately, because of stock exchange and plc rules, we cannot go into specific details, but we are still very interested in Newcastle United and we want a deal to happen."


The Journal understands that Belgravia will step up their efforts to persuade major shareholders to sell to them in light of the poor results on the pitch which have led to increased supporter unrest. Their hope centres on the fact that Shepherd's resolve to hang on to his shares will lessen if he becomes the target for supporter frustration with the team's poor performances.


There are still no signs that United's embattled chairman is willing to loosen his grip. However, according to some financial experts, that might not save him from a hostile takeover attempt.


"Freddie Shepherd has enough shares to block the Belgravia Group from taking the club private, which is what they want to do," said Tom Cannon, professor of business at Kingston University in Hull. "He can easily stop them from doing that by refusing to sell his shares and that might put them and any other potential investors off.


"But the problem is, with the Halls keen to sell and with lots of small shareholders, Belgravia can easily take their shares beyond the 50% mark and take control of the club.


"Freddie is, to all intents and purposes, no matter what has been said and written about him in the past, a supporter of the club. But if Belgravia chose to take that route, it would put him in an uncomfortable position because he will be the minority shareholder at a high-profile club and that isn't an attractive proposition."


Despite the strict rules governing proposed takeovers of public companies, rumours had been circulating that an offer valuing the club at around £80m had been made in private by Belgravia.


That, though, was denied by Belgravia yesterday, who insist they would have to release the details of any formal bid to the stock exchange.


There have also been reports of a second, North-East based, investment group showing interest in the club because of the lack of progress with Belgravia, although the Jersey-based company remain confident that they are still in pole position as they study the club's finances before deciding whether to make a formal offer.


The spokesman added: "When a bid is made, or if the talks collapse and we end our interest, we will have to make a statement then. At the moment, we are still extremely interested and the talks are continuing."

[Asbjørn]

Er det egentlig noen som ønsker å kjøpe Newcastle United?

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcastleunited/news/tm_headline=right-now-i%2Dm-only-person-prepared-to-do-this-job%26method=full%26objectid=18052001%26siteid=50081-name_page.html

[Tønsberg]

Fat Fred: "Right now it would seem I am the only one prepared to do this job and it is one I will continue to do to the very best of my ability and with the best interests of the club at heart."

Det er vel å sitte på stolen som vanlig,nå skal Freddy leke helt.
 :lol:  :lol:

[Doffi]

eneste som kan gjøre han til "helt" er og få glenn roeder på hue og ræva ut og ansette en kvalitets manager som ranieri eller hitzfeld

[Joakim]

eneste som kan gjøre han til "helt" er og få glenn roeder på hue og ræva ut og ansette en kvalitets manager som ranieri eller hitzfeld

Feil!
Eller joda, jeg skjønner poenget ditt, men han kommer aldri til å kunne gi Ranieri eller Hitzfeld de arbeidsforholdene de ønsker, og dermed kommer de aldri til å bli managere for Newcastle så lenge Shepherd er styreformann.

Det eneste Shepherd kan gjøre nå er å slutte å leke forretningsmann. Nå må han tenke sportslig fremgang, og da kreves det at han gjør alt som står i hans makt for at dagens trenerteam kan snu den negative trenden, og starte det nye året med en lang rekke gode resultater.

Shepherd må nå glemme den forretningsmessige siden ved å eie Newcastle United. Han må nå tenke på klubbens beste. Og foreløpig tror jeg klubbens beste er å stå last og brast ved Glenn Roeder og hans menn, og gi spillerne en skikkelig overhøvling, og minne samtlige av dem på hva det vil si å spille for Newcastle United. Straks de forstår det, så kommer det til å gå bedre.

[Asbjørn]

Shepherd innrømmer at han selger om det dukker opp en Roman. Et langt intervju med Fat Fred kan leses her:

FREDDY SHEPHERD has told the restless Toon Army he will walk away if a Geordie Roman Abramovich knocks on his door.

The Newcastle chairman faced calls for his head after the 1-0 home defeat by Sheffield United on Saturday put them joint-bottom of the Premiership.

But while takeover talks with a Jersey-based Belgravia consortium are ongoing, there is no conclusion on the horizon.

So Shepherd has vowed to ride out the storm and make sure funds are available to drag Toon away from the drop zone.

After jetting back to Tyneside from Majorca, Shepherd set about answering some of the allegations thrown at him by the angry Newcastle fans.

He said: ?It?s a public company and if it was a private one it would be a different scenario.

?I?ve got to do what?s best for the business ? not what?s best for me.

?If a Geordie Abramovich knocked on the door we?d have to do business. I?d do whatever to secure him. But I don?t want to lead supporters up a cul-de-sac because there?s no one

there. I?m living here and I?m doing my best for Newcastle to the best of my ability.

?Whatever that costs, I will do my best for them. I still have to run it.?

Shepherd insists he bears no grudges against fans who demonstrated during the game and outside St James? Park at the weekend.

He added: ?I love them all because I?m one of them and I don?t have any problem with Geordies.

?If things were different I might be out there with them calling out about someone else.

?I don?t get upset by it. It?s up to me to see it through and I?m not going to run away from it.

?What am I going to do? Walk out on this club. There is no one else to sort it out.

?But Newcastle is Newcastle. Expectations are high. I live with it.

?All the money I?ve taken out of the club I reversed back in ? in shares. I am from Byker and I used to fight my way into school and fight my way out. It?s tough but I?m not running away from a fight.?

Shepherd admitted the club?s league position was a concern, but insisted they can turn things around.

Newcastle travel to Watford tonight hoping to secure a place in the last eight of the Carling Cup and are virtually guaranteed to reach the knock-out stage of the UEFA Cup. Shepherd added: ?I?m like the supporters. You do feel hurt but at the same time we?re still in four competitions.

?We?re in Europe, we?re in the Carling Cup. So let?s crack on together as there is 75 per cent of the season left.

?We still have the team to get out of it. If it was Christmas I would be worried but we still have five months of the season.?

Shepherd admitted he has made mistakes since taking over as chairman of the Toon in 1997 but he hit back at the critics.

He said: ?Probably the biggest criticism is that I?ve been too kind to managers with funds and too generous to players.

?I?ve been accused of many things but I can?t be accused of not providing for the manager or giving players great wages. But we are in Newcastle and we are competing against Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United and we are 300 miles from London

?We?re on the verge of the Roman Empire, which is why they built the wall! To get them up here we have certain things against us ? the weather and being so far from London.

?Yes, there have been mistakes but regardless of what people say I have only dismissed two managers. Bobby Robson and Graeme Souness.

?It was Sir John Hall who started Kenny Dalglish but everyone wanted him and everyone wanted Bobby and we bought into that.

?Everyone wanted Kevin Keegan and Kenny. When Ruud Gullitt came there were 5,000 people in the crowd saying ?We want sexy football?.

?The only one the crowd did not want 100 per cent was Graeme.

?I got many emails in the summer saying ?Give it to Glenn Roeder?. Not many said don?t give him the job.?

Shepherd has vowed to support his manager as much as possible in the Januar transfer window.

?I?ll help the manager as much as I can, but once the window shuts all I can do is manage the business as best as I can. I cannot get on the pitch with the players..?

Shepherd denied one popular charge. ?Contrary to what people say, I have never signed anyone,? he said. ?Transfers are a manager?s decision, I?ve not got the qualifications to say to a manager who to fit into his team. I?ve never said that. I?d heard of Albert Luque, but he was Graeme?s signing. It?s just not in my character.?

Nor previously was inviting the press into the boardroom. The gravity of Newcastle's Premiership situation and the disenchantment on the streets led to an invitation to hear the chairman's perspective directly. There was striking confidence within that room looking south over the city that Newcastle will not become the next Leeds United.

There was also the suggestion that January will be busy due to the knowledge that, with £40m guaranteed when a new TV deal kicks in next summer, this is the most important season yet to remain in the Premiership. "Of course it is, any chairman will give you the same answer."