The Footie Thread

[nickjdavis]

This could be interesting...

Possible transfer of Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt to Newcastle for a fee in excess of what we paid for Isak.

Ekitike was someone Newcastle had an interest in a few seasons ago before he decided to leave Reims to warm the bench at PSG. Its interesting as it will potentially mean one of the following...

1) Eddie Howe being more flexible with formation and perhaps not sticking rigidly to his preferred 4-3-3 but possibly going 4-4-2 and accommodating both Isak and Ekitike.
2) Preparing for the departure of Isak...possibly next season.
3) Ekitike is content with being a squad player and not being guaranteed starts, but understanding that there is a requirement for squad depth and support and that his chances will come.

This apparent interest has appeared on the independent nufc.com website, which usually refrains from commenting on transfer gossip unless there is something pretty concrete afoot.

 

[Don Barzini]

Nope not blaming Forest. It is UEFA we have the issue with and possibly our own board if we find out they were at fault at the end of this.

I'll be honest, my feelings about your owner have existed way before this, some logical and some pretty random:

First time I saw him I thought 'dodgy'. The way he went about smashing the PSR rules when you got promoted. The treatment at times of Cooper. The treatment at times of Nuno (the pitch rant says it all for me), the way he has apparently behaved over the spurs / MGW thing, the way he has apparently behaved once he learnt he may be able to get Forest into our place in the Europa and finally, he still looks dodgy. That's what I don't like about him (not the club)

A lot of Palace fans are also hurting that we have been kicked out for duel ownership, when Textor did not have full or influence control and was in fact selling for that very reason. Parish has the final say on all things, despite holding a 10% stake. Its the way he has set it up, to protect us from a potential crook. To lose the place to a man who obviously has controlling interest in 2 clubs (at least) is a hard one to take. The blind trust is lets face it, a farce. How can Marinakis claim he has no controlling influence on Forest when he sits up in the stand like jabba the hut and then storms onto the pitch to confront the manager.......of a club he has no influence over.......

His welcome to South London on the 1st home game will be lively at this rate!

You’re entitled to your opinion of course. But a couple of things.

Cooper didn’t get treated badly by Marinakis. Every man and his dog outside the club (media, pundits etc) was calling for Cooper to get sacked in the first few months of our promotion season, especially after a 4-0 thrashing against Leicester. Marinakis responded by renewing his contract. And then again ignoring the same sort of calls later in the season. Doesn’t sound like poor treatment to me. He stuck with him and it paid off. Relationship/results soured later on and as sad as we all found it, most people agreed with his sacking when it did come.

Treatment of Nuno? What exactly? If the pitch rant “says it all” you really should rewatch the actual footage instead of subscribing to the BS media narrative that he was berating Nuno. Seriously, look at it again carefully and you’ll see him storming onto the pitch clearly agitated but he isn’t coming for Nuno. He’s walking past Nuno and Nuno stops him to find out what’s going on. He then has a bit of a rant. But not AT Nuno. Do you think Nuno would still be there if he did?! I don’t.

I’ve seen so many Palace fans over the last few days laying into Marinakis for exerting some sort of influence of UEFA. Based on what? The fact that he wrote a letter, the contents of which have not been made public? He asked for clarification of the rules surrounding blind trusts and dual ownership since he’s taken action when it might have affected him (as did Bournemouth and Brighton I believe, plus others). How does anyone know he even mentioned Palace? Yet the media spin a narrative that he was complaining and everyone runs with it because it suits them to believe it. UEFA were unaware of their own rules until Marinakis complained?! Really????

I’ve even seen people suggesting it’s dodgy that we’re buying some players from Botafogo because that somehow helps Lyon’s finances which in turn hurts Palace?! Tinfoil hat stuff! I’ve seen no Palace fans moan about the fact that PSG paid monies they owed Lyon early in order to help their cash flow. Why not have a go at PSG?! No, Forest buying some players from a Brazilian club fits the conspiracy theory narrative about Marinakis far better!!!!

Saw a Palace fan ask on Twitter what they should sing at Marinakis when Forest play at Selhurst Park. The best suggestion was this:

Don’t blame it on John Textor
Don’t blame it on UEFA
Don’t blame it on missed deadlines
Blame it on the Forest

 

[Tashyboy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1944652432878768291

It’s a good job he’s good at football

He (Cole Palmer )reminds me of when Peter Crouch was asked “ what would you be if you was not a footballer”.
He replied “ A virgin”.

 

[Aztecs27]

Nope not blaming Forest. It is UEFA we have the issue with and possibly our own board if we find out they were at fault at the end of this.

I'll be honest, my feelings about your owner have existed way before this, some logical and some pretty random:

First time I saw him I thought 'dodgy'. The way he went about smashing the PSR rules when you got promoted. The treatment at times of Cooper. The treatment at times of Nuno (the pitch rant says it all for me), the way he has apparently behaved over the spurs / MGW thing, the way he has apparently behaved once he learnt he may be able to get Forest into our place in the Europa and finally, he still looks dodgy. That's what I don't like about him (not the club)

A lot of Palace fans are also hurting that we have been kicked out for duel ownership, when Textor did not have full or influence control and was in fact selling for that very reason. Parish has the final say on all things, despite holding a 10% stake. Its the way he has set it up, to protect us from a potential crook. To lose the place to a man who obviously has controlling interest in 2 clubs (at least) is a hard one to take. The blind trust is lets face it, a farce. How can Marinakis claim he has no controlling influence on Forest when he sits up in the stand like jabba the hut and then storms onto the pitch to confront the manager.......of a club he has no influence over.......

His welcome to South London on the 1st home game will be lively at this rate!

On the pitch rant/confrontation thing, Ola Aina confirmed on a podcast earlier this week that he wasn’t ranting at Nuno, he was upset with something else and Nuno interjects and he’s talking to Nuno about it.

For the record, I hope you keep your spot but some of the defence doesn’t look good.

Didn’t see the emails: despite the email address being the one provided for Premier League correspondence.

Textor didn’t do you any favours at all with his loose lips ok talk sport talking about things, like how he had no direct influence in the hiring of Glasner and it was definitely a coincidence that Dougie Freedman was taking an interest, despite Textor previously targeting him for Lyon.

I just want a resolution either way.

 

[Don Barzini]

the way he has apparently behaved over the spurs / MGW thing

Oh in my previous reply I forgot to mention, regarding the above.

I guess the way he has behaved is entirely different from the way Palace behaved in this situation is it…?

God forbid a club outside the Protected Six has the temerity to stand up them when they think they’re being screwed over! We can’t possibly have a case right?! There can’t possibly be any devil in the detail of MGW’s contract that the media and pundits don’t know about that means we’re right, can there?! No it’s all got to be about throwing toys out the pram and we should just bend over and take it up the tailpipe without complaint!

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Again what’s the complaint ?

If MGW has a release clause and the player and the agent know it and a club meets it then what’s the issue

Does a club expect a clause to be secret ?

Do they really think the agent isn’t going to mention it to a club

And if the club gets that from the agent and bids the release clause then what’s been broken

 

[Don Barzini]

Again what’s the complaint ?

I don’t know. You don’t know. Neither does anyone else.

Because none of us has seen the terms and conditions of MGW’s contract.

Until anyone has, it’s pure speculation.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I don’t know. You don’t know. Neither does anyone else.

Because none of us has seen the terms and conditions of MGW’s contract.

Until anyone has, it’s pure speculation.

But Forest have lodged a formal complaint to the Prem League with Forest raising concerns about how Spurs knew about the release clause

It’s of course not Marinakis doing it this time because he has zero involvement in the club

I wonder how when Forest buy plays they have agreed terms with the players already or indeed any club when permission to speak to the player hasn’t been granted yet

 

[Don Barzini]

But Forest have lodged a formal complaint to the Prem League with Forest raising concerns about how Spurs knew about the release clause

And if it’s written into MGW’s contract that neither he nor his representatives are allowed to disclose it and one of them have, there’s the problem.

Anyway, I’m not saying any more about it now because as I’ve previously stated, it’s all just speculation. So feel free to have the last word for now Arthur.

 

[Orikoru]

The lights are on, but there’s often nobody at home. He doesn’t give great interviews and press conferences, does he?

On the contrary, I'd rather listen to him over the well-rehearsed media-trained ones any day. I think he's hilarious.

 

[Orikoru]

Again what’s the complaint ?

If MGW has a release clause and the player and the agent know it and a club meets it then what’s the issue

Does a club expect a clause to be secret ?

Do they really think the agent isn’t going to mention it to a club

And if the club gets that from the agent and bids the release clause then what’s been broken

Agreed! Seems pretty pathetic from them to agree to a release clause in a player's contract, then have a tantrum when a club activates it. "Ooh no it was meant to be a secret!" Embarrassing. Maybe it just stings because they thought he'd be going to City and didn't begrudge him that, but now that it's Spurs they're butthurt.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

And if it’s written into MGW’s contract that neither he nor his representatives are allowed to disclose it and one of them have, there’s the problem.

So a release clause that no one is allowed to know about

Anyway, I’m not saying any more about it now because as I’ve previously stated, it’s all just speculation. So feel free to have the last word for now Arthur.

Everything speculation for goodness sake , transfer rumours , contract rumours etc it’s all speculation

All clubs involved in it , not sure why teddys get thrown when Forest are involved

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Agreed! Seems pretty pathetic from them to agree to a release clause in a player's contract, then have a tantrum when a club activates it. "Ooh no it was meant to be a secret!" Embarrassing. Maybe it just stings because they thought he'd be going to City and didn't begrudge him that, but now that it's Spurs they're butthurt.

Forest and some of their fans are appearimg to be a little bit niave these days - there is this “little old Forest” battling against the big guns attitude

I have no doubt that Forest were ruthless when getting players from teams below them

A lot of it comes from the owner ( who has zero involvement in the team ) and the way he acts within the sport

 

[road2ruin]

I think Forest have dropped a bollock slightly, they've realised this and they've got the hump. The release clause is part of the contract that all parties know about, it's always going to be impossible to keep secret and if there is interest in the player his representatives are always going to make it known. Why wouldn't they, it's in his contract! Surely it's no different to me going for a job interview and telling my potential new employer that I have 3 months notice (for example) as part of my existing contract. Forest probably feel that in today's market he's worth more than £60m which may well be the case but that's not what the release clause (that they agreed to) says.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

I think Forest have dropped a bollock slightly, they've realised this and they've got the hump. The release clause is part of the contract that all parties know about, it's always going to be impossible to keep secret and if there is interest in the player his representatives are always going to make it known. Why wouldn't they, it's in his contract! Surely it's no different to me going for a job interview and telling my potential new employer that I have 3 months notice (for example) as part of my existing contract. Forest probably feel that in today's market he's worth more than £60m which may well be the case but that's not what the release clause (that they agreed to) says.

Think that’s imo prob the best summary

He is a quality player who is worth a lot more than £60mil so by kicking up a fuss they maybe looking to force Spurs to cough up a bit more to make any legal proceedings go away

 

[Rlburnside]

Think that’s imo prob the best summary

He is a quality player who is worth a lot more than £60mil so by kicking up a fuss they maybe looking to force Spurs to cough up a bit more to make any legal proceedings go away

Well if that’s their intention they won’t force Levy to pay anymore than he wants too

 

[Swango1980]

And if it’s written into MGW’s contract that neither he nor his representatives are allowed to disclose it and one of them have, there’s the problem.

Anyway, I’m not saying any more about it now because as I’ve previously stated, it’s all just speculation. So feel free to have the last word for now Arthur.

But this "if" is absurd.

A club does not request a release clause into a player's contract, surely? It is in the club's interest to have no release clause, and then they are absolutely free to accept or decline whatever offer they wish.

It is in the player's interest to have a release clause, so that if a better opportunity comes along, there is a get out for them to go and take it. So, if the player asks for a release clause to be included in their contract, the Club will try and negotiate that clause to as high a fee as they can.

So, why on earth would the player get a release clause put in their contract, and then happily be told that nobody must ever find out about it? It makes the release clause pointless. It was earlier compared to estate agents not releasing information on a lower offer than sellers would be prepared to accept on their house. That, obviously, is a really bad comparison. Because the house itself has no opinion on the matter either way. The house does not set a "release clause" The house is not seeking better owners. The estate agent is not working on behalf of the house, they are working on behalf of the owners of the house.

 

[Billysboots]

On the contrary, I'd rather listen to him over the well-rehearsed media-trained ones any day. I think he's hilarious.

I didn’t say he wasn’t hilarious!

 

[Tashyboy]

Oh in my previous reply I forgot to mention, regarding the above.

I guess the way he has behaved is entirely different from the way Palace behaved in this situation is it…?

God forbid a club outside the Protected Six has the temerity to stand up them when they think they’re being screwed over! We can’t possibly have a case right?! There can’t possibly be any devil in the detail of MGW’s contract that the media and pundits don’t know about that means we’re right, can there?! No it’s all got to be about throwing toys out the pram and we should just bend over and take it up the tailpipe without complaint!

But this was City when we tried to get onto the top table. Now all of a sudden we have gone from being liddle City to “ ruining football”. How’s that work out.
Newcastle have as much buying power potential as City have yet they are running there business with the handbrakes on thanks to the Implementation of FFP. Coz it’s to protect clubs. Yeah them clubs being the ones at the top table.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

But this was City when we tried to get onto the top table. Now all of a sudden we have gone from being liddle City to “ ruining football”. How’s that work out.
Newcastle have as much buying power potential as City have yet they are running there business with the handbrakes on thanks to the Implementation of FFP. Coz it’s to protect clubs. Yeah them clubs being the ones at the top table.

When were Man City this “liddle” club you keep going on about ?

And people never have an issue with any “liddle” club doing well

What people have an issue with is when a club is potentially systematically financially cheating the system and have found ways to get around that cheating by using their sovereign wealth to spend millions on lawyers