OTF

My Mrs has had a persistent sore throat and because of the industry she works in felt it necessary to get tested, she registered on a website and went and got the test done about 20 min drive from where we are (Sydney, Aus). She could have just rocked up and got it done too, without pre-booking. Video consult with a Dr, then they conducted the test. Two days later had the result (prognosis negative). They've since opened an additional drive-thru testing centre that's 10 minutes drive away. We've got fewer than 7,000 recorded cases and 95 deaths a bit under half the population (45%). I've been following this thread closely, the incompetence from your government is jaw-dropping and in many ways heart breaking. Many here feel like our government was slow to act and that they have made multiple mistakes along the way, but comparatively looking only at COVID-19 handling we've got it good.

It might not be the case but Lascelles has always come across as slightly thick to me. He's merely protecting his own.

To be honest it hasn't been talked about extensively on here until now (middle eastern ownership) as we've had more than our fair share of ownership problems much more front of mind. As far as Man City go we've been dudded by referees in matches against you guys in fairly recent times (Habib Beye being sent off comes to mind immediately) so I've enjoyed some of our more recent unexpected good results against you. Since you became the richest club in the country I've been happy for you to win because it nails home in a patent way that at the end of the day it's all about money. If you spend enough of it, you will become the best. Manchester United and Liverpool will try to make out that they don't spend like Man City and that there is some intrinsic power in the club that elevates them above others, but the truth once again is money and winning. Players want to be well paid (this is a big part of the motivation for wanting to play at a champion's league club, not just the prestige of the competition) and they want to win. So if this all goes through we will become a much more appealing destination for a higher calibre of player which could potentially lead to the return of champion's league football. TLDR; money has ruined the game, regardless of where it comes from. But, having suffered under Ashley's ham fisted tight arsed operations for an extended period I'm looking forward to the potential for us to show real ambition.

The selective sanctimonious claptrap spouting from all over the place is going to make the end of Ashley's reign even more sweet. At the end of the day their ownership of a sports team does nothing to reverse the history of the country, and there is absolutely no connection worth making to the club itself, much less the supporters of it. The new owners will want it to soften their image and change the focus of their international profile. You wouldn't expect that it is going to be a financial driven decision for them, in that if they invest significantly it will be quite a while before that is recouped. As a supporter of the club and the team I can very easily separate out the football operations from the owner, I've been doing it for years. It's not that I don't care who the owner is, it's that I have absolutely no say over who it is.

Rumour that Mike repurposed some Slazenger apparel into face masks to lessen the bill.

Like a dancing lesbian sex scene? Totally agree.

You've clearly got passion, so I've put my vote in. Some of those team names look like someone passed out on the keyboard.

Don't know about you lot but I want to know who is funding this mob before I put my support behind them.

Exactly. If they want to spunk their money on a football club to improve their public perception it's only successful if people actually start to think, hey these guys are great. Supporting the football team is completely independent of supporting the owner, it's what we've been doing under Mike Ashley. The difference is with Ashley at the helm we had very little to celebrate about the team, with this mob you would expect it will be a different story.

He's the last person you'd want in charge of crisps.

They should keep on Brucie as well. Just think of the ensuing odd couple hilarity.

That's a lot of fingers for some of them to count. Plus the more top rated teams you have the harder it becomes for them to be biased towards them all.

The Raygime has spoken.

Honestly these days even if you had the best scouting network and academy and put together a whole team of world beaters on the cheap their agents would have you bumping their wages routinely to ensure they could skim their lump off the top. So before you knew it you'd be paying market value for players even if you'd brought them through the ranks or found them in a tin-pot league. It will be interesting to see what happens in the transfer windows post COVID-19, you would expect the loss of revenue would flatten the market particularly at the level just below the world class players.

Yeah he's a Sunderland supporter, generally talks a bit of sense except when Sunderland and/or Newcastle are involved. The poor sod, there's probably a clinical name for that delusional level of selective logic. Making it sound like he is giving up on supporting Newcastle because of potential new owners.... to answer his question yes, he's definitely weird.

Pretty hilarious reading that with them talking about not being able to compete financially and not wanting to buy victory anyway - given they currently have the largest wage bill in the entire league by quite a distance!

Nice of them to show appreciation for the people who will be caring for them in the coming days.

They can play a mash-up of Local Hero and Rule Britannia as he takes to the field for his biannual cameos.

Jack Colback.

Hopefully not Robinho.

There's no way we're gettng relegated from here. Possibly deserve to, but won't. Chalk this season off as another victory for Ashley's spendthrift penny-pinching ownership (in the face of rising fan contempt and dissatisfaction at the mostly horrid actual football on display).

Gayle is getting into the right positions getting plenty of chances which is more than we could say for Joelinton when played up top. Gayle is obviously not clinical but he's no stranger to goals, they'd come eventually.

Well, despite our lack of finishing that was an enjoyable game to watch. Not something I've said very much across this season.

Don't try to blame him, it's in his DNA.