Mick

My hope is that the players have some self respect, it was too easy for McClaren to take the blame and they will be less able to get away with that if we manage to appoint Benitez.

That sounds about the way I see it going.

I have a feeling that everything will be sorted today.

Still at 10 but will downgrade to 5 if we get Benitez.

I agree with this - IF Benitez signs, he will be faced by an incredibly difficult situation. Not only have the dumbclucks in charge left it too late(he should have been in after the Chelsea game) to give him a fighting chance but he will be dealing with a bunch of players who are probably the most spineless he has had to manage in his whole career. Not only are they spineless, but some are already making plans for themselves at what they consider to be better clubs than NUFC and have zero reason or motivation to rouse themselves for the fight ahead. Also, as this mackem says, Allardyce has had much experience of facing possible relegation and the players he has at Sunderland may not be as talented as some of ours but they DO seem to have more stomach for the fight - we shall see how much Newcastle players want to stay up when we watch the Derby very soon and we CANNOT afford to lose that. Given 2 sets of similar players in a mid-table situation, you would choose Benitez over Allardyce every day of the week, but these clubs are not in that position. IF NUFC stay up, Benitez would do a great job given time and finance to get the players he needs, but he faces a really tough gig if he becomes manager. Nobody could condemn him if we still go down because he has very little time to sort things out and that is not his fault. I would never chose fat Sam over Benitez under any circumstances. If we do get him, and I think we will, our unmotivated players will all get a bounce and I can see the players improving enough to get us out of trouble. I think the derby atmosphere will be very similar to the first derby after we were promoted and that will also boost our performance . This might sound daft but a fit and motivated Cisse could keep us up on his own, we just need somebody to find that player.

Getting pissed in Soho is nothing special.

This club will be perfect for Benitez, absolutely perfect. As a fan-base we're sick of having 2nd rate shite picking our team and we will give a manager with a proven track record all the time they need because we will know he's capable of building something positive. The club has stuck by shite managers well past their sell by dates and he will know that he will be given all of the time he needs to get the job right. The only negative is the setup and I think he will have that sorted before he agrees to come. I can't wait for the announcement and I can't wait to be positive about the club again. It's a pity its taken the club so long to ditch the failed way that it's worked as we've been put through some right bollocks because of it and have had to put up with having no hope. I think the near £80 million spend has made us a club once again that good managers will even consider, a few more adjustments and we could become a proper football club again.

It's as if they can only do one thing at a time, they're incompetent morons.

I think we can all relax now, it's almost certain that our nightmare is over.

It's official then.

Has he been on another planet all week? He's learned that he's losing his job from the media, welcome to last week.

Just the yellow ticker at the minute.

the first and last quotes.

It's not true.

And some people say they would never hope for a defeat.

Cryptic as f***. Primary Rights holders? That will be our media partners at a guess.

It's Man City, write it off.

Raoul Moat or Barry Moat?

Ashley didn't get involved back then other than to rubber stamp what was happening.

The first link translates to: Benitez signed with the 'black magpies' for three seasons in order to bring the team relegation.

As if we're keeping Janmaat.

Could you imagine any of our directors standing up to Benitez? Personally, I can't.