Minhosa

Wonder how long his own website goes on for? Can't imagine the PR Machine that is NUFC liking him having an independent voice.

Agree - head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch (particularly first half).

Even if we stay up Benitez might just say "Sorry, either it all changes or I'm gone." I wouldn't blame him for doing so now. If that happens then there should correctly be a lot of vitriol aimed at the owner. Once again though, that probably won't happen. Honestly, and I've thought this since the appointment, I think if we stay up he'd go because the club would want rid of him. He's far too much of a threat for them. They've brought him in to get them out of the shit (ten games too late btw - typically, trying to do things on the cheap and gamble on SMc) and, if he does, they'll let him go. In the Championship, there is no way they would pay him a premiership salary so he'd be off anyway. It's a crying shame though because a proper owner/board with just an ounce of ambition would talk him into staying by convincing him to use the season to sort out his side, structure the club and get the systems right for returning to the big time. John Hall (or, dare I say, FS) would talk him into it, no problem.

That's a fair article. It takes a special kind of cunt to dampen the good feeling we've enjoyed so rarely since he (Ashley) arrived. It just goes to show, once again, the HUGE disconnect between owner and club. There is no positive in our connection with Mike Ashley. Absolutely none.

Yep this is it. Just so typical of NUFC and Ashley to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Just three isn't it?

Colo will go this time. De Jong would be earning too much money for the Championship and Saivet would go imho. I'd be amazed if we kept Riviere but stranger things have happened.

Might be a slight problem here... Yeah - it's a post from last May for one.

I forgot a few on your list of 'goers'. I think Shelvey would stay, he's been quoted as saying he'd want to, but I guess the club may feel the need to cash in. I think Townsend would stay also. I'm fairly sure Anita would go. Same for Saivet. Agree on Mitro, gut feel is that he'd like to stay. The gutting thing is that there is no way NUFC would pay Rafa's money in the championship and he'd be the biggest loss of all. Literally, the only glimmer of hope throughout pretty much the entire Ashley era and we'd lose him for the sake of a few million and him wanting to work for the club. That would never happen under an ambitious board/owner. I'd sell any player if I thought that money would contribute to Rafa staying.

Who are certainties to leave? - Janmaat will be off anyway. - Mbemba - would like to think he'd stay and form a good understanding with Lascelles but guess he's on big money. - Taylor - would probably be released due to wage demands/contract status. - Krul - probably been looking at going for a while truth be told. - Perez - a cert to be sold imho. - Riviere - no loss. - Gouffran - no loss. - Cisse - see Krul. - Tiote - see Cisse and Krul. - Colo - see Cisse, Krul and Tiote. - Aarons - probably off anyway imho. - Mitro - you get the feeling that he'd accept a bit of responsibility and want to put right this season. Whether club would keep him remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, if the club are expecting a fire sale and to generate a big lump of money, then they might be in for a shock as there's not too much value there. Also, when you look at the number of established players who clearly aren't happy and/or wouldn't be arsed to go that might give a pretty big hint as to why we're in the current predicament.

I can only imagine Rafa doesn't fancy him because of the amount of possession he concedes with his needless fouls.

How quickly the media have forgotten 'The buck stops with me' Yes. And him too by the sounds of it. Can't wrap my head around this at all but, know for sure, that this is not without agenda.

Totally agree. The question I've got is why now and what is the actual message? Forget what he's saying and ask what he's actually meaning to convey. It's clearly an attempt to absolve himself because (and I said this yesterday after watching him on SSN) he fancies us to go down. Watch the interview on YT or wherever and you can tell he thinks it's a massive long shot that we'll survive. Does anyone remember that story from last season about him having analysts working on whether we'd survive or not? Basically predicting the likelihood of staying up/going down. You have to wonder whether they're doing the same exercise this season and they don't like what they're seeing/hearing. I don't buy that he's just shooting from the hip. I just don't think that's him. He's always been hugely wary of the media so I really don't think he gives them this, for nothing, he's certainly getting something out of it. The question is what? NUFC Fan sympathy? Not going to happen. Wider empathy? Perhaps but even he must see that that ship has sailed. Is it an indirect message to Rafa about money? Very possibly. Once thing is for sure, RB would not appreciate the owner coming out like that. Is it a message to potential buyers? Also, very possibly. There's something in the wording of 'we're stuck with each other' that almost infers, I've tried to flog'em, I can't, we're stuck together that almost invites interest/cold enquiries. The headlines this morning of 'I wish I'd never bought NUFC' (from his preferred media partner btw) are so unhelpful, so damaging that you have to wonder how he's completely missed the point with us. It was so simple. If he'd told his board ( btw) that they should appoint a manager with serious credibility from day one then we'd never be where we are, the fans would be relatively happy sitting in mid-table knowing that they'd actually started to invest properly and he'd be generating even more profit thanks to the TV deal etc. He's made a real job of this. It's actually quite hard to get it this wrong but he has. All of the absolution in the world won't get away from the fact that it's not easy to fuck it up this badly. The message, the tone, everything has changed so dramatically from the May2015 interview, especially given he's not had any stick at really since, makes me think he's got an agenda surrounding this interview and I can only conclude it's to either smoke out some interest from buyers or to manage expectations should we drop.

Bollocks. He should've turned up when they asked him. Why? A lot of people in this country massively resent success.

He's got an entirely valid point about this MP's carry on btw. It's turned into a bit of a point scoring witch hunt.

Never a foul tbf to him.

Just seen it. Weird indeed. His facial expression and the tone of his voice throughout the reply, when asked about possibility of staying up, seemed to indicate that he thinks it's unlikely.

Ssn. was about a minute long. Thanks. Will stick it on now in case they show it again .

Eh? Where was this?

I was massively against signing him but I've been happier with him that I thought I'd be. Likening him to Cabella is harsh imho. He tends to do one/two stepovers and then look to deliver early into the box. Cabella never got to the delivery stage. I think he's probably frustrated that he's not got much to aim at in there if Mitro's not caught up with the play. Jury is out massively from my perspective but, overall, he's been a bit more of a hit than a miss to date.

I like him.

Exactly. This clamour for him to be moved into the middle, where he'd have even more responsibility, is totally bewildering.

10. Proper fucked.

He should take enormous credit for that point. The best sub, imho, was De Jong who he had hover between the lines which confused Kirchoff, who was by far the best player on the pitch, especially in the first half. If the four mins added time wasn't wasted with them time wasting, cramp/mitro shite, I think we win the game. I've seen us win with that kind of momentum so many times. Such as shame.