Oct
5
Deadline set for potential Toon buyers
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Troubled English side Newcastle United have given interested investors a deadline to table an official bid for the club.
It is understood that there is a group of seven different buyers including businessmen from South Africa, America and the Asia.
The takeover could be completed by the middle of November should serious buyers emerge on 7 October.
Owner Mike Ashley is believed to want about US$355m to US$532m for the club.
Ashley put the club up for sale in the wake of the sudden departure of former manager Kevin Keegan, but has insisted he will hold out for the right price.
A four-page ‘teaser’ document has been handed to interested parties, who have been asked to sign a confidentiality clause, outlining what is involved in buying the club.
On Friday, three South African businessmen liked with a possible US$532m takeover denied they had any intention to buy the club, with billionaire Johann Rupert saying he had “absolutely no interest and no knowledge”.
The South African group were considered to be the frontrunners - with their interest in bringing Keegan back making them popular with the fans.
A Nigerian consortium was also believed to have presented its bid of about US$620 (£350m) to the club, but Richardson added: “I have been told that there is no interest from Nigeria or South Africa”.
Sep
23
Owen still ‘feeling’ KK exit
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Newcastle United striker Michael Owen has admitted that he and his team-mates are still feeling the effects of Kevin Keegan’s departure.
The Tyneside outfit remain without a manager after Keegan parted company with the club at the beginning of September.
The Magpies have lost both games under caretaker boss Chris Hughton, while owner Mike Ashley has said that he intends to sell the club after coming in for strong criticism from supporters.
Newcastle are currently preparing for Wednesday’s Carling Cup encounter with Tottenham Hotspur, and England international Owen has urged the squad to move on from Keegan’s exit.
He told the Evening Chronicle: “We all liked Kevin Keegan and we were sad to see him go. We are all feeling it at the moment.
“But we have got to snap out of the doom and gloom and try and get some confidence and results, and at the minute not picking up the results is hurting the players.
“We are as much in the dark as the fans as to the next move, and it does not make it any easier as Kevin Keegan was very popular with the players and the fans.”