Mattoon

I see HF has been on Twitter theorising that Ashley has dropped the price because he's trousered the excess cash from the summer to take back most of the debt. At the very least it will rile up the masses.

Lovely but a little bit insensitive, well in a few years. Oh damn!

Oh joy

I'll eat him for free. You're gonna need a couple of dozen mates or a few weeks to commit to that

For me it's pretty simple really, we can all agree that the main culprit is Ashley, no that doesn't mean we can't question some of Rafa's choices but this is Rafa, he knows more about the game than the members of this forum put together and that earns him the right to make mistakes. If this was Alardyce or Pardew then have at you but it's not and if Rafa doesn't think a player is ready to join the first team, unlike Pardew, he won't play them. Our best 11 won't be fielded until he thinks they're ready to be fielded and when he thinks it's best to field them. Just like he did last season and the season before he'll spend the first 10 games mixing up the first team and easing players in, the main reason we don't suffer from injury set backs and why we're still relatively fresh in the vinegar strokes of the season. There's a lot of factors damaging our form at the moment but I'd say 1% or maybe less of that is down to Rafa and only Rafa, come Christmas he'll have had time to get his best 11 together and singing from the same hymn sheet and we'll have enough results in the bag to not be flirting with relegation. Whatever happens and when we do start to move free and gain some momentum my only hope is that the protests against Ashley only intensify otherwise we look fickle and Ashley will go back into hiding safe for another season.

It's also important to remember Rafa is all about rotation at the beginning of the season, under him we've pretty much always started slow (admittedly much slower this season) and kicked on as the season has gone on, also finishing relatively strongly. At a time where most teams are getting injuries and fatigue, the way Rafa mixes it up leaves us stronger towards the end of the season and keeps our injury list relatively low at all times. When he thinks we're ready we'll see his best 11 week in, week out but it's never at the start of the season.

This. Alienating customers and suppliers before he's even properly got his chair under the desk. This isn't SD where you sell last year's fashions to the desperate and skint who can't afford to go elsewhere for their chav clothes. I can understand playing hardball with the supply chains and the landlords to try and cut costs but if you bite the hand that feeds you then where's the money coming from?? Consumer trust is priceless.

Probably. Somebody like Guardiola can afford to make little mistakes, but Rafa has absolutely no room for error anyway. This is exactly what I said in the match thread. Rafa is not infallible, he will absolutely make mistakes, he's human. The major problem is that he's working with such fine margins that the smallest mistake is make or break with this squad, one wrong sub, wrong starting player, slightly wrong tactic or minutes late on a sub will put us in a no win situation. However if he was fully backed like any other manager in this league then those slight mistakes would still see him win because he's superior to most other managers. He's trying to sculpt the next Venus de Milo with a sledge hammer and a toothpick.

Now, fucking now ???? Not yet, January is the real test iyam #wait

Rafa will get it wrong from time to time, it's inevitable, he's not infallible. However there is only one person to blame, if there was investment in the team then he wouldn't be working within such fine margins. Better teams can afford to make small mistakes and still win, one wrong sub, tactic, starting player or a sub made a few minutes too late for us will likely cost us the game. It's ok to be annoyed at the incorrect decisions being made but make no mistake if it wasn't for Ashley those mistakes wouldn't be costly. Be annoyed at the players/tactics but direct all your blame and ire at Ashley.

NUFC is no cash cow, mind. Milk it slightly too much and most of the udders fall off. The club has made a chunky surplus over the last 12-24 months, but everyone knows that to ensure the PL cash keeps coming that money needs to be used on improving the squad and the facilities. The cash cow is the revenue streams that he siphons off, advertising and merchandise to name but 2, all go direct to his true love.

https://talksport.com/football/393641/premier-league-owners-ranked/ Talksport rating Ashley the worst owner in the PL. Media narrative is definitely shifting.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/728424/Newcastle-news-Malcolm-Macdonald-Rafa-Benitez-Mike-Ashley-Premier-League Supermac going in hard this morning.

Good lad, that's quality

Definitely Rafa's fault though...

50:50 - Jenas and Humphries talking sense, Rio and Dunne waffling absolute shite. Worth mentioning Rio has done work for SD in the past and is probably on the payroll, add him to the bad list Yeah that's what I was referring to, saw it earlier on Twitter but couldn't remember who posted it so you saved me a job why would you ask someone's opinion who is clearly biased by who puts the notes in their pocket?

50:50 - Jenas and Humphries talking sense, Rio and Dunne waffling absolute shite. Worth mentioning Rio has done work for SD in the past and is probably on the payroll, add him to the bad list

Fucking mental, isn't it? Weren't some 'pundits' claiming that Rafa's approach to these games only 'ends one way', too? Only team not in the top 6, in the top 6 there. Clearly Rafa doesn't know what he's doing and we should go toe to toe with the likes of Chelsea, better to lose 6-0 and feel like we gave it a shot than 1-0 win/loss or 0-0 and "give them too much respect". Idiots.

Rafa Bingo full house there [emoji23]

Rafa's record last season against the top 6, he's too negative though ammirite!?!

thats amazing

I'd be massively surprised if this did come from Rafa's side, it stinks of passing the buck, Ashley trying to paint Rafa as the antagonist in his little charade. Feels more like a power play to divide opinion than an olive branch.

Tbf what he says to the press isn't important it's what he says in the changing room that matters.

It's on BT, they usually don't. Didn't last season and had a go at Ashley for it, not Rafa. Rightly so. Ki and Diame as a stating cm pair for NUFC in 2018 in the premiership is utterly tragic Who would you play there? As much as his incessant moaning about Rafa annoys me too, I have to back tube up on this and suggest he was referring to Ashley only allowing us to have that midfield and not upgrading our options rather than Rafa's choice of pairing(He has no choice!)

I completely get your frustration mate, don't get me wrong, I feel like I'm in some kind of malaise, waiting for the inevitable, like it's some kind of incurable cancer and I just want it done already. I can't bring myself to enjoy this season and I should be taking in every last second we have this glorious man as our manager, we very well might not get a chance like this in the next decade or more. However I will not ever place this feeling on Rafa, none of this is his fault, he just loves the club, the supporters and the city, the same as the rest of us. Without a doubt there is one man only to blame for any of this and he is the one that should feel every fibre of your anger/frustration, attack him and his shoddy little jumble sale empire in any way you can because him leaving is the only way any of us will feel any pride in this club again. Don't wait for May, May needs to be the deadline to remove this cancer, not the start of some belated campaign.