The latest takeover rumors can help distract from Newcastle’s FA Cup draw

Newcastle United struggled in another FA Cup match, but the latest rumor of ownership change can provide some positivity.

Today, Newcastle United played almost a strong lineup against League One’s Oxford United in the FA Cup fourth round. As Steve Bruce echoed this week, they were going for the win and instead, they played to a dismal 0-0 draw at St. James’ Park. But, that disappointing effort on the pitch was potentially out shadowed by a re-emergence of our old friend: takeover rumors.

The Wall Street Journal reported about the potential sale of Newcastle United to a group led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which also likely includes Amanda Staveley, a previous figure in takeover talks in the toon. With 52,000+ in attendance at St. James’ Park today, the conversation was likely split evenly between the FA Cup match and the takeover.

Today’s result would typically cause anger and frustration for the Toon Army with social media buzzing with criticisms of Joelinton, Steve Bruce, and anyone else involved. There has been and will be a lot of that, but the takeover rumors offer a significant distraction. Optimistic supporters, mostly the ones new to supporting the club, will dive right into the positivity pool. They will dream of the world-class signings coming to Tyneside and trophies. The rest of us, from the skeptical to the extremely skeptical, won’t be expecting the takeover to happen and will make jokes about the return of these rumors. But, there will still be that teeny tiny glimmer of hope inside of us that can’t completely ignore it. Every time these rumors come up, we know it won’t happen, but it doesn’t stop fleeting thoughts of positivity from creeping in.

Instead of every tweet and article today and over the new few days being about a terrible home result vs. Oxford United, there will be time and consideration given to the possibility that Mike Ashley’s reign will finally come to an end.