It's a pretty sad day when Newcastle United can be used for sportswashing by the Saudi Arabian state, via its sovereign wealth fund, even if the state won't be involved in the day to day running of the club. It's a move rightly condemned by Amnesty International. I wouldn't want the regime whose 'rogue' hit-squad murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi anywhere near West Ham. There are plenty of people who want Sullivan, Gold and Brady out, but with the way football has gone, and bearing in mind the ridiculous lack of ethics in the Premier League's fit and proper person's test, we'd likely end up with someone far worse.
Sullivan and Gold have made mistakes, but they don't participate in human rights abuses, unless we count Sully's dodgy Russian coat. The new stadium was oversold and had a lot of initial problems. Some of GSB's mistakes have resulted from giving the fans what they want, ie appointing Pellegrini and signing lots of overpaid Fancy Dan attackers. They got that wrong and also blundered in appointing Avram Grant, but they appear to have got it right with Moyes this time round and have found money for £50m worth of signings this summer, so deserve some credit for that. Any likely buyer is going to be from the Middle East, Russia or America without any great love of the club and will probably have some very morally dubious history. We should be careful what we wish for.
The only real solution to football's ills is to move to something like Germany's 51:49 model where fans are guaranteed a 51 per cent ownership of their clubs.
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