KaKa

Ridiculous from Coutinho. Terrible miss.

Already been said the delay is due to the back room staff, which makes perfect sense.

They not only have to be contacted but then have to agree terms too.

The guy is bringing in all his own staff!

Maybe not.

Miss.

Henderson is so dense man. Going to get sent off.

This "You'll never walk alone" thing to serenade a bunch of footballers is incredibly cringeworthy.

Great set of games today. Should be fun.

Good job we lost to Bournemouth

Really good point actually. Even a draw would have had them still hoping McClaren turned thigns around I reckon.

All sources ...

:lol: He got his steak beak in that bag?

Looks like he's got more than just one.

We have to stay up man. We deserve a change in fortune as fans.

 

That's how it works.

 

It's going to make the remaining games incredibly stressful now. The potential of so much good if we stay up, now makes things so crucial. Scary.

 

100%. I was watching sort of passively hoping everything would burn. Now I actually will feel sick watching games. Good to have it back though

Yup. Have had a very mild interest in what ultimately happened, but now it's going to be painful.

We have to stay up man. We deserve a change in fortune as fans.

 

That's how it works.

It's going to make the remaining games incredibly stressful now. The potential of so much good if we stay up, now makes things so crucial. Scary.

We have to stay up man. We deserve a change in fortune as fans.

Women really hate each other man. It's quite extraordinary.

Negociations have not been easy as Benítez has demanded additional control over certain aspects of his role, with the hope of formulating a long-term project at the club.

Nice.

Do Greggs sell anything with chorizo in?

Looks like the delay is more from Rafa's side so he can contact potential members of his back room staff, which is fair enough.

One point of note in all this. When Ashley first came in he pretty much let Fat Sam get on with stuff as manager, so he has done it before. Was just with the wrong guy. His bung taking deals likely scarred Ashley hence the switch.

Hopefully he affords Rafa the same freedom, and we should be fine. Staying up is crucial now though. We have to pull it off. Imagine if we do and Palace go down man.

Please play this guy in the number 10 position. Saivet and Sissoko central midfield.

It's a shrewd move by Rafa if there is any indication from the club that they are willing to cede on this current structure and give him the title of manager with more autonomy on transfers.

If he keeps us up and gets the job longterm, he'll be in a pretty sweet position. The whole city will be behind him, a boatload of cash will be coming in with the new TV deal, and he'll have a strong say in all footballing matters.

Look at what Leicester have done this year. Not to mention Spurs and even West Ham. There are opportunities to make some impact in this league for sure.

If this comes off kudos to Rafa for having the guts to take the chance. Really hope he goes on to do really well if so.

If it is Benitez it's guaranteed to be a short term deal. No way he hangs around to manage us in the Championship. Win win situation for him really. We go down and he'll not take much flak as he came in so late, and he can just walk away.

Of course. Why on Earth would he manage in the Championship. No one would expect him to do that at all.

If Rafa came in and kept us up they'd really have some set of balls to then not keep him. The whole city would be in uproar. It would be madness.

The Guardian article a few pages back was hugely encouraging. It intimated that there is an acceptance that the structure is not allowing the managers to succeed.

If this is true and they are willing to overhaul that going forward, as the article suggests, then approaching a higher calibre manager like Rafa is more likely than it would have previously been. In fact that article even states that Mike will only sanction a manager that is a clear upgrade on McClaren, and so the likes of Pearson and Redknapp have not been considered.

Last of all the article hinted at them wanting a manager with more international experience due to the international make up of our squad, as they think this will help in bringing the team together better.

All very encouraging. Let's hope the article is on the ball.

Charnley really has to go. He's a major problem.

Charnley and Carr really need to be on their way out too. Not sure why they are supposedly being tasked with this decision. They should be flung out as well.

It's damned near 7pm and nothing backing the guy. Has to be minced meat surely?!

Terrifying thought about who comes in if so. Stressful stuff.