Many Newcastle United fans have reacted negatively to the news that the club will be the first to put staff on furlough.
With talk of a Saudi Arabian takeover back on the cards, it was almost simultaneous the announcement that the club will be using on furlough.
According to the Guardian, employees were notified via emails from the managing director, Lee Charnley, explaining that football’s shutdown meant that they would need to apply for the coronavirus job retention scheme, which will see staff claim 80 per cent of wages to a maximum of £2,500 a month.
Allegedly, this includes scouts, academy coaches as well as workers form the club’s foundation charity.
Would you pay £30m for Edouard?
Only if he was less
No thanks
Yes please
Many fans responded to the news pretty negatively, with one calling it an “utter disgrace”.
Here are some of the replies below…
That’ll be Penfold on furlough then… surely making cups of tea is not critical..?
— Eddie Temple (@TempleEddie) March 31, 2020
Still charging for tickets. Millions in the bank and they want the government to pick up the costs of wages??? How’s that work ??
— Ken.Smith (@Kensmith9999) March 31, 2020
So the Saudis can bring in their own guys incognito!
— Ashley Merrington (@ajmerrington) March 31, 2020
Spurs have done the same, Dark days at Tottenham??
— mark 88 (@markste76948257) March 31, 2020
It’s an utter disgrace that someone worth all that money plus the wages first team earn and then however much the club actually generates that this is happening and using government or tax payers money to pay their wages. Disgraceful
— Mark Vasey (@Delvaseyo) March 31, 2020
Probably because he’s not allowed to keep @SportsDirectUK open
— Gerry (@gerryd84) March 31, 2020
The Daily Telegraph reports that the Premier League have been notified of a potential deal involving Amanda Staveley, Jamie Reuben and Yasir Al-Rumayyan – with the latter being the man that fronts the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) – meaning that a fit and proper persons test can be done to see if the potential owners are suitable to take over a Premier League club.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan and the PIF allegedly want 80 per cent of the stake in the club, while both Reuben and Staveley want 10 per cent.
Any potential progress may be delayed by the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, but things are reported to be ongoing again – even if Newcastle fans will refuse to get carried away by it.