According to various new sources, an Iranian tycoon based in Dubai, Sirous Mahjoob, is about to buy Newcastle United. I first heard little snippets about this last night, but they were from sources I have found to be unreliable in the past, so I dismissed them, but as today has gone on more reliable sources have started to tell me that this is true.
As well as buying the club Mr. Mahjoob wants to bring back Kevin Keegan as manager, as he does not believe that Alan Shearer has enough global appeal, its also said he would be bringing in legendary Iranian football hero, Ali Daei, the worlds all time leading international goal scorer, as a coach. Daei is nicknamed “Shahriar” by the Iranian fans which means “The King” in Persian, and was up until recently the manager of their national team.
According to a spokesman for Mahjoob his reason for wanting to buy the Toon is to:-
“Without any question my love and passion for my country has made me want to create a bridge and a good relationship between Iranian football and British football. With this I could be part of making Iranian football grow”
And according to the same spokesman, Mahjoob would be planning on using Iranian coaches and players, to help them get experience at the highest levels of football, nice to know we are still held in esteem by someone! But I can’t see King Kev returning if that’s what Mahjoob has in mind, so lets not even entertain the possibility.
All of this comes on the back of comments by Derek Llambias that the club could be in the hands of new owners by next week, last night he said:-
“We are dealing with several people and giving most of our time and attention to the sale.”
“You must remember that some parties make offers but when it comes to putting up proof of funds they are a long way from sealing a deal.”
“But I can say we are very close to completing a deal and it could happen next week.”
Now many people have pointed out that Mr Mahjoob is not exactly plastered over the web, however, tycoons from that part of the world are notoriously secretive, so I am not surprised that there is not all that much of him on the web. But lets look at the facts:-
- Llambias says the club could be sold next week, ok fair enough he is usually talking out of his behind, but looking at the rest of the situation, this starts sound less and less like bull.
- The sales embargo seems to have been lifted, with Oba and a couple of others likely to be off very shortly.
- No appointment of Shearer as manager, so perhaps one of the bidders was dead set against him being manager.
So maybe, just maybe this is all true, and very soon we will be flying the Iranian flag over the Gallowgate End. My Iranian friends will be happy, especially the Toon Mad one!
Some fans however have been quite negative of the possibility of Iranian ownership of NUFC, using some quite offensive language and stereotypes about Muslims and Arabs, even though Iranians aren’t even Arab, they’re Persian!
This is not at all acceptable, some of the nicest people I know are Persian, they are a very open and welcoming people, so we should not be afraid of them, and rather we should welcome them with open arms.
I would welcome them if its true, but perhaps that’s more because I am imagining a Naw-Ruz party on the pitch at St James!
Oh well lets see how this one pans out then, but I am praying its the beginning of the end of the Mike Ashley nightmare!
Michael
