Premier League 2022/23

[Lineker]

Quote

Investors linked to the Qatari royal family will bid to buy Manchester United on Friday.

Investors from the US and Saudi Arabia will also bid for the club, Sky Sports News understands, alongside Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS group, which has already made its desire to bid for United public knowledge.

The Raine Group, which is organising the potential sale of the club on behalf of the current owners, the Glazer family, has asked for initial bids to be made by 10pm UK time on Friday.

The Glazers want at least £5bn to sell the club but an insider has told Sky Sports News that no party will want to go big with their initial offer.

A Qatari bid for Manchester United would lead to significant investment being made in the team, Old Trafford and the city of Manchester.

Old Trafford and United's Carrington training ground need to be redeveloped and the Qataris are ready to spend significant sums in restoring the team and the club's infrastructure to its former glories.

Although the Glazer family wants at least £5bn for United, Qatar is determined not to overpay. One insider says "they will not dance to the Glazers' tune".

The Qatari bid would have the blessing of the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who is a Manchester United supporter.

Qatar and the bid from Saudi Arabia are expected to be the only ones that would not rely on borrowed money to finance the deal.

Elon Musk, one of the world's richest men, has so far stayed silent on reports that he is considering making a bid. Musk is a United supporter and has joked in the past on Twitter - the social media platform he now owns - about buying the club.

Another bidder who has declared his interest in United is petrochemicals billionaire Ratcliffe. He is working on a deal with US investment banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

If Qatar were to buy United, they would also remain committed to Paris Saint-Germain, which is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investments Authority.

To satisfy UEFA rules about multi-club ownership, Manchester United would be owned by investors or funds linked to the Qatari royal family.

Qatar is determined to buy or own a stake in a Premier League club this year to build on what they see as the success of the World Cup.

 

https://news.sky.com/story/manchester-united-takeover-qataris-to-bid-for-club-amid-interest-from-usa-saudi-arabia-and-sir-jim-ratcliffes-ineos-12812733

[Lineker]

Quote

A 35-year-old man has admitted assaulting Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of the north London derby.

Ramsdale, 24, was kicked in the back shortly after the Gunners beat Tottenham 2-0 in a Premier League match on January 15.

Joseph Watts pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court to assault by beating, going on to an area adjacent to the playing area and throwing a missile on to a football playing area.

He also threw four coins towards the pitch.

Watts, of Dalston in Hackney, east London, appeared in person to confirm his name, age and address before entering the pleas.

 

[METALMAN]

https://www.ft.com/content/db28ad76-7175-412e-a3f7-674c514e3de7
 

 

[Colly]

 

[Naitch]

Surely they could've used the actual points per season rather than expected points?

Also, lol at Norwich being the opposite - the worst statistical outlier.

[Colly]

I've mentioned this in the Newsroom, but John Burn-Murdoch is basically my work crush, he does amazing health stats visualisations whilst looking a bit like Nicholas Hoult off the films. For him to drop to the level of 'expected points' and to put this utter waffle in a methodology section has ruined my weekend.

"On-pitch performance is measured using expected points, or the number of points a team would be expected to win based on the quantity and quality of its shots in each game. This metric is used instead of actual points because it is a more pure measure of on-pitch dominance, and less influenced by the random variation that can produce results that do not reflect the balance of play."

Get to fuck, it's a half arsed dot plotting tool that measures distance from goal and sums an arbitrary number. And that's xG, I assume expected points is just applying that to wins and losses (not sure how likely you are to expected draw).

[gunnar hendershow]

The thing about that chart is I assume if you went with actual points earned City would also be extremely well above the trendline. You basically have them and the golden age of Fergie's United squads for most dominant English club sides in most of our lifetimes.

[Baddar]

It has begun.

[Szumi]

 

 

[The Lusophone]

Will Arsenal fans stop whining now?

[FLiam]

United have received an official bid from some rich Qatari guy. Apparently owns a big back, wants to build a new stadium and all sorts of things.

[The Lusophone]

53 minutes ago, FLiam said:

United have received an official bid from some rich Qatari guy. Apparently owns a big back, wants to build a new stadium and all sorts of things.

Older brother of the Emir. It's state ownership no matter how they try to spin it.

[Colly]

I'm sure the Premier League will believe there's a separation between owner and state, and I'm sure they can explain exactly why they think that.

 

[Colly]

Probably expected at this point, but not good.

 

 

[Adam]

It is very sad, this earthquake has caused an almost unimaginable amount of death and destruction.

Atsu's was a nomadic career really, swallowed up by the Chelsea loan cycle. He didn't play much for Everton but I'm glad he found his way for a while at Newcastle. I also didn't realise he won Player of the Tournament at the AFCON in 2015 as Ghana reached the final.

It's fitting and somewhat spooky that on his final day, he scored a last minute winning goal for Hatayspor.

[Colly]

Genuinely baffled as to why diving has completely stopped being punished.

[FLiam]

The wheels have really fallen off.

[gunnar hendershow]

I would like to apologize to our Arsenal supporters. I put money on them today, so this is all my fault.

[Baddar]

This game has felt like if Arsenal up it, they can score goals. But they're conceding far easier than they've been doing recently.

[Cymbols]

30 minutes ago, Colly said:

Genuinely baffled as to why diving has completely stopped being punished.

That Nketiah one was real bad.