My Saudi takeover theory - Should we have seen this coming sooner?
Many, many others have had their say and will continue to have their say on the Takeover, discussing what happened on a crazy week for Newcastle United and what happens next.
Now that it’s through I’m happy to be patient and watch the fallout, but here's my two cents.
The electrifying pace of what's unfolded over the past few days has made me think that certain other things that were happening make so much more sense now, and could explain a lot though if things have been going on behind the scenes.
What it also proves is that even those 'ITK' really aren't, as we can never be party to what's being discussed unless we're actually there. Things like Ashley and Charnley's invisibility and silence. The lack of investment over pre-season when we were clearly needed.
Indeed, in all the euphoria of Thursday, I also noticed that once again Lee “Lucan” Charnley was conspicuous by both absence and silence.
Exactly where is he? Is he actually all right? Do we really care? I hope he’s okay and looking forward to his next challenge.
He’ll probably get a substantial pay-off. Not bad for being useless and totally non-engaging in a role that demands efficiency and communication. I mean no-one has even mentioned him since Thursday, which is quite apt. It really does appear he’s disappeared off the face of the earth.
But, like I say. Do we care? Not really. A blind man could see that the lack of investment pre-season, during the transfer window and not sacking or paying off Bruce was hard to comprehend if not impossible to understand.
Easy to say after the event, but perhaps Ashley refused to spend over the summer or pay off Steve Bruce after our winless start because he really did feel this takeover was going through...and quickly!
Bruce himself has looked ever more desperate week by week and some of the bizarre statements he made now make me wonder what he REALLY meant. "Ticking over" seems to make so much more sense now, for instance!
Now that Ashley’s gone, it makes you think, was he just holding the fort - albeit it badly - because he knew new owners were on the way and a payday (which wouldn't be Ashley's problem) coming his way when it all went through?
Will Bruce go next and if so who will replace him? Personally I’d bin him now and put Graeme Jones in charge until the new owners find the man they want - and they will. After all, in football, money talks.
One thing’s for certain - we heard more from Amanda et all in one day than we heard from the previous regime in 14 years and furthermore, it was all positive.
