Wallace

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/sunderland-poised-sack-david-moyes-9173011

I can't ever remember them getting so much media attention. So many discussions about them on the radio and press articles about how bad they are.

Especially for us in our current state. The whole club needs rebuilding and there are very few managers out there who are capable of that. A lot of the high profile foreign managers work with DoFs and so only need to worry about coaching the first team. We needed more than that.

Sunday newspapers.

I don't think the club will do anything to risk promotion. They are losing Mbemba for the ACoN so to sell Lascelles in January would make no sense. If there were offers for him in the Summer and Rafa thinks he can find better, then he will go. He is doing well at the moment but it has only been the last 6 months so he still has a lot to prove especially in the Premier League. If he continues to improve, he will be in demand due to the lack of good English centre halves. I am not sure of his contract situation but he probably deserves a new one now that he is captain and I bet many of his teammates are earning a lot more than him. Maybe one with incentives based on promotion.

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/aleksandar-mitrovic-set-for-championship-chance-at-newcastle-after-a-ticking-off-from-rafa-benitez-1-8207467?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/10/28/aleksandar-mitrovic-my-father-said-i-would-be-a-criminal-or-a-ki/?

The Hull fans have been boycotting the club this season so I hope that continues and the cheap tickets don't entice them back.

Great isn't it. Leading goalscorer missing - no problem, Mitro is ready to step in.

Tompkins?

I don't think Allardyce left on the best of terms with regards to Ellis Short. I seem to remember the press release regarding his departure was a bit mean-spirited considering he had kept them up. Also I don't think he was too impressed with the transfer budget. Short made a point of saying he had tried to get Moyes on about 5 occasions so he was obviously their preferred choice when they appointed Allardyce. In view of that he would look pretty stupid to have lost faith in Moyes so quickly.

In recent years, Leeds have always charged high prices. I've heard a lot of away fans complain about their prices. I think their home tickets are also expensive compared to other clubs in the Championship.

So refreshing to see that even at 4-0 or 5-0 up, if we lost the ball, how they immediately tried and win it back. All of them are working so hard all of the time.

Well they beat Bournemouth away in the last round so I guess it is possible.

Hawksbee and Jacobs on Talksport used to regularly read out excerpts from the book in a Steve Bruce voice a few years back. Was quite amusing.

Miles Starforth @milesstarforth Newcastle have sold more than 46,000 tickets for tonight's EFL Cup tie against Preston. Staggering. #nufc #pnefc

Rafa certainly sounds as if he is a lot more relaxed with his players these days than he was at Liverpool.

http://www.football365.com/news/premier-league-winners-and-losers-43

I wonder how much extra revenue these increased attendances are bringing in. I know prices are lower but surely by the end of the season they will have contributed hugely to Rafa's salary showing that if you invest properly rather than trying to make short-term gains, it will pay off.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/newcastle-united-rafa-benitez-championship-efl-vs-ipswich-town-a7374641.html

http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/30484/? Didn't realise that Leon Best played for Ipswich and also that Murphy regularly suffers from the calf injury he currently has. A bit different to the normal pre-match quotes from Mick!

From what I understand with the Chinese is that they are being encouraged by their President to invest in football because he likes football and wants the World Cup so he wants to develop the interest in his country. If the next President hates football, what would happen then?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/10/20/newcastle-united-reject-foreign-bids-for-club-as-mike-ashley-put/? Newcastle United reject foreign bids for club as Mike Ashley puts up not for sale sign Luke Edwards 20 OCTOBER 2016 • 5:19PM Newcastle United have rejected attempts by foreign investors to buy the club following its relegation to the Championship and are adamant owner Mike Ashley will not contemplate selling despite the financial impact of losing a place in the Premier League. Telegraph Sport understands Chinese consortiums were at the front of the queue of potential buyers because they believed they would be able to persuade Ashley to sell for a bargain price. There was a widespread assumption abroad that the billionaire would be looking to sell following Newcastle’s catastrophic campaign, which ended with the Magpies relegated for the second time in only seven years. However, the managing director, Lee Charnley, was reassured immediately after relegation that Ashley had no interest in selling and was instructed to reject any attempt to open negotiations. As a result, potential buyers have been dismissed, even those who said they were willing to prove they had the funds needed to tempt Ashley to sell. The message from within St James’ Park is that the club is not for sale this season and it is highly unlikely Ashley will consider looking for a buyer for the foreseeable future. Although he rarely attends games, Ashley is said to be delighted with the way things are going under new manager Rafa Benítez, who has helped repair the fractured relationship between the club and its supporters. For the first time in years, there has been no sign of any protests and St James’ Park has been full for almost every home game. Much of the damage at St James’ Park had been caused by Ashley’s flawed decision making, but he has given Charnley more freedom to run the club in the way Benítez demanded. That has brought an end to a failed recruitment model, while Benítez has been left in charge of the football side of the business. One of the key reassurances given to the Spaniard when he was persuaded to stay after relegation was that Ashley was willing to cover any losses in the Championship, which meant he would not be forced to sell players against his wishes. It is not known how large those losses will be, as Newcastle were able to sell Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham Hostpur for £30m and Georginio Wijnaldum to Liverpool for £25m,which funded their own summer recruitment. Chinese consortiums have been circling around a number of English clubs in recent months, taking control of four in the West Midlands – Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion. Another deal is expected to be ratified in the next few weeks, with Hull City the latest English club to attract buyers from the Far East. Sunderland owner Ellis Short also discussed a possible takeover with a Chinese group, but those talks ended without any sign of an agreement in the summer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3852580/Newcastle-legend-Philippe-Albert-reflects-20-years-chip-lifetime-5-0-humbling-Manchester-United.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Without checking their results, I get the impression that they are getting results against the big teams. Hope that continues on Saturday as they are playing Norwich next.